Read Sydney (Book One) (That Wedding Girl 1) for Free Online Page A

top the time you caught your grandmother eating a can of dog food?”
    “Yes, but the day I woke up with my tattoo is still number one!” I still don’t know how Gabe got so drunk he decided to get an anchor inked on his lower back. He literally got a tramp stamp.
    We stare at each other and giggle softly, and he taps my hand. “See we’re already laughing about it. In time, it will get easier.” He glances at me with kind, reassuring eyes. He can easily switch to a soothingly convincing voice and make me feel better, no matter what.
    “He was the only man I wanted.”
    “No, he was the only man you’d been with,” he retorts.
    I frown at him. “What do you mean?”
    “Come on hun, you were with him since you were like ten. Have you even been with any other guy?”
    He has a point. Adam is the only serious relationship I’ve had. The only other boy I’ve ‘been’ with was Ian Price and that consisted of a sloppy ten second kiss at the final year school dance. Then I met Adam and I was thankful that I didn’t date anyone else before, and I didn’t want to date anyone after.
    I loved everything about him. The smell of citrus and tea tree oil on all his t-shirts, how he makes fun of how I glare at the television when I’m concentrating hard. How he always grabbed chopsticks the wrong way, no matter how many times mum tried to teach him. I thought he was my happily ever after.
    “No I guess not…it makes me sadder.”
    Gabe sighs. “Yes, you guys were cute together, and yes, it sucks that it didn’t work out, but come on, let’s get real. Did you really want to spend the rest of your life with someone so insecure? If he can’t handle how fab you are, then good riddance.”
    “I guess so…”
    “You hate pity, do you want me to sit here with you and feel sorry for you?”             
    I circle my finger around the rim of my glass, looking at it with deep thought. I’ve always been a positive person, heck I learnt to harness it in my years of planning weddings, but this has really shattered everything I believed in.
    “No I wouldn’t want you to. It just feels like the last six years of my life has been wasted, and I have to start over again.” My voice is raspy, and I put the glass down.
    “It hasn’t been wasted! He was a good first boyfriend to have. Shitty in current perspective, but you know what I mean.”
    He wasn’t just my boyfriend . He was my first love, my first lover, my first everything. “We lived together. We were going to be husband and wife. And now I’m dumped, and living alone.” Aside from Adam, the only other people I have lived with are my family. I don’t know if I want to live all by myself.
    “If it gets that bad, you can stay with me. That is if you don’t mind me hogging the bathroom and playing Cher’s greatest hits on continuous loop in the afternoons,” he teases.
    “I’m already familiar with your habits, thank you very much, but I should be okay,” I smile fondly at him and reach for his hand.
    Gabe holds it tightly and finishes the last sip of his drink. “So, what do you want to do? Take off a few extra weeks and go somewhere? I’m dying to top up my tan, I’m looking pasty as heck!”
    I like to relax as much as the next person, but I get bored if I rest for too long. The idea of doing nothing all day long does not appeal to me one bit. I had already scheduled two weeks off on account of my wedding and that is long enough.
    I sit up and cross my legs to face Gabe, already feeling rejuvenated at the prospect of talking about work.
    “No, I think working as soon as possible would be good for me,” I finally declare. I might regret saying that later.
    “What are you going to do about your honeymoon?”
    Something else that I don’t want to deal with. We had planned to spend two weeks at a luscious beachfront resort in Boracay Islands. Clearly that wasn’t happening anymore…
    I exhale loudly. “Can you cancel it for me? Not to