Free The Boyfriend Bylaws by Susan Hatler Page A

flipped and I couldn’t stand not knowing a second longer. I pulled her aside from the girls to a few empty chairs by the windows. “Paul DeWitt is my ex.”
    “Huh?” Kaitlin lowered her chin, blinking, as if waiting for the punch line.
    I’d been right. She hadn’t known. “We went out for several months, and six weeks ago, he broke it off with me.” I hated to do this to her, but she had to know before she married him.
    “Did you say I’m engaged to your ex?” Kaitlin leaned closer, put a hand to her belly, then pointed at me. “You’re my maid of honor. Don’t you think you should’ve mentioned this sooner?”
    “I thought you knew…” My heart pounded like a drum against my ribcage. She was turning this around on me? Kaitlin had taken everything from me for ten years, including Paul. And she had the nerve to be mad at me?
    “Who said I wanted to be your maid of honor anyway?” I blurted, years of frustration coursing through me. “I don’t even know why you asked me when you have a gazillion real friends.”
    She jerked backward as if she’d been slapped, then put a hand over her chest. “I asked you because you’re my sister.”
    “Stepsister,” I corrected. I didn’t care that she’d be angry. Everything was always about Kaitlin, Kaitlin, Kaitlin!
    Instead of anger, I watched as her eyes filled with tears, then her face crumpled as she sobbed. Her shoulders shook and she put a hand over her mouth.
    I stared, shocked at her reaction. Where was the anger? The demand for attention?
    Instead, Kaitlin stood gasping for breath, tears pouring down her face.
    Feeling horrible, my own eyes burned. “I’m so sorry, Kaitlin. I didn’t mean it.…”
    “What’s going on here?”
    Great. Now, Nick chose to show up.
    ****
    I’d offered to give Kaitlin a ride home, but instead she went with her mob of sorority sisters. I wondered if she was going to confront Paul. I wondered why I cared.
    I’d thrown the worst Bachelorette party ever. Worse than that, I’d hurt Kaitlin. Even if she was just my stepsister, she was the only sister I had.
    “Elliott Wittle and I scheduled a lunch for next week.” Nick chatted, apparently unaware that I’d destroyed what was supposed to be one of the happiest nights in my stepsister’s life. “He’s interested in expanding The Oasis to southern California. I have an ideal location in mind.”
    “Great,” I said, flatly. I’d gone from the worst bachelorette party to the worst date. Could the guy ever talk about anything else besides work?
    “Isn’t that…Steve?” He pointed to the dance floor where Steve, Erica, and Matt were dancing and laughing.
    My entire body tensed when Erica, who’d been leaning toward Matt, glanced up at me. I hadn’t spoken to her all week and certainly didn’t want to start now. I looked away.
    Nick squeezed my shoulder and nudged me forward. “Let’s go dance.”
    “No, thanks.” I leaned back, breaking his grasp as he stood up. “You go ahead.”
    And he did. I didn’t even care. It made me ache to watch my friends having fun without me. I realized how much things had changed recently. After two years of what I thought was a fun friendship, Erica and I were no longer speaking. She had lied to me, but believing her had been my fault.
    I just wanted to go home. As I stood up, Nick glanced my way and I made a gesture that I was heading out.
    Hurrying out the door, the cool evening air washed over me, but it was only two blocks to my car so it didn’t matter that I hadn’t brought a jacket. I unlocked Betty and was about to slip inside when I saw Matt coming up the sidewalk toward me.
    “What happened to your date?” he said.
    I shrugged, wondering why he’d followed me out here. “It wasn’t much of a date, but it’s over.”
    “Does this mean you’re single again?”
    My heart started pounding and I leaned back against Betty, still holding myself from the cold. “I wasn’t not single.”
    He came up beside me