That I’d move to the moon if it meant being with her.
That I was ready to let go of the life I’d been maintaining and start building the one I actually wanted.
That she was my home, not Willowbrook.
That I loved her enough to change everything.
I just hoped she’d let me.
Chapter 26
LEIGH
“Istill can’t believe you’re making us do this,” I said, adjusting the sparkly sash Delaney had insisted I wear that read “Sister of the Groom.”
“Every bride deserves a bachelorette party,” Blake said, already two drinks in and radiating chaotic energy. “And every bridesmaid deserves to celebrate with her.”
We were at a wine bar in the next town over. Apparently Willowbrook was too small for the kind of party Blake had planned, and this place was definitely packed with Friday night energy. Our corner booth was loud with laughter, cluttered with glasses, and decorated with the most ridiculous penis-shaped straws I’d ever seen.
“Where did you even find these?” I asked, holding up the offending straw.
“The internet is a beautiful and terrible place,” Blake said with a grin. “You can find anything if you look hard enough.”
Delaney, wearing a white sash and a little plastic crown, was blushing but laughing. “I specifically said nothing embarrassing.”
“And I specifically ignored you,” Blake countered. “This is your bachelorette party. Embarrassing is literally the point.”
Around the table, the rest of the women were in various states of amusement. Reece sat beside Delaney, calm and happy as always, nursing a glass of white wine. Billie was already planning some drinking game involving cards and increasingly ridiculous dares. And my mom...
My mom was sitting next to me, looking more relaxed and joyful than I’d seen her in years. She and Jasper had been inseparable lately, stealing glances at each other across rooms, holding hands when they thought no one was looking. It was adorable and slightly nauseating in equal measure.
“So,” Blake said, pointing her ridiculous straw at me with the precision of someone who was tipsy but not quite drunk. “Let’s talk about Dex.”
I groaned. “Let’s not.”
“Let’s absolutely do that,” Billie countered. “Because we’ve all been dying to properly interrogate you, and now that it’s official, you can’t escape.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I said, taking a long sip of my wine.
“Liar,” Blake sing-songed. “You’re glowing. You’re different. You’re stupidly, adorably happy, and we want details.”
Was I that obvious?
“Okay, fine. I’m happy. He makes me happy. Can we move on now?”
“Not even close,” Reece said with a small smile. I’d learned that when Reece spoke up, it meant something important was coming. “We want details. How serious is this?”
“We’re...” I searched for the right words. “Seeing where it goes.”
“That’s a very careful answer,” Mom observed, studying me over the rim of her wine glass.
I looked at her, then at the other women, all watching me with varying degrees of concern and curiosity. These women who’d become my family in the span of a summer. Who’d welcomed me without hesitation, who’d included me in everything, who genuinely seemed to care what happened to me.
“It’s complicated,” I said finally. “We’re just... taking it day by day.”
“Because of August,” Delaney said gently. Not a question.
There it was. The thing we weren’t supposed to be talking about. The thing Dex and I had agreed not to stress over. The deadline racing toward us like a freight train we were both pretending not to see.
