“Will you be my girlfriend?”
“Yes.” She tightened her hold around me. “And, FYI, you are far from the worst boyfriend in the world.”
My heart genuinely felt like it might explode from happiness.
An hour later, Lila sat in my chair, her forearm laid out on the armrest, palm facing up toward the ceiling. With one hand, I gently pulled her skin taut, with the other I carefully used my tattoo gun to trace over the simple black design I’d drawn for her.
Tattooing had never felt intimate like this before. I guess nothing I had done before had felt intimate, not like it did with Lila. I couldn’t believe that for all these years, I had no idea what I was missing.
When I was finished, I wiped off the excess ink and had her stand so she could look at it in the mirror. Her smile widened as she took it in from every angle.
“It’s perfect,” she said, looking up at me like I’d hung the stars. I could be with her forever and still never feel worthy of that look.
I admired the new piece, a simple black line drawing of a chrysanthemum. It was my new favorite piece, given the arm that it was attached to. When I’d asked Lila why she wanted that flower, she’d said it was her mother’s favorite. Growing up, she’d always told Lila they were the best because not only were they beautiful, but they lasted longer than most other flowers after they’d been cut. It was something that had always stuck with her, and now chrysanthemums were her favorite too. She liked their resiliency.
It fit her perfectly.
Part of me wondered if she’d be upset if I got the same tattoo, somewhere small on my own arm.
For her.
THIRTY
Lila
“You look perfect.”I dabbed my eyes with a tissue.
“You really do,” Skylar added, hooking her arm through mine and leaning her head against my shoulder.
“Stop that right now,” Charlie scolded the two of us. “I can absolutely not cry off this makeup. I have to walk down that aisle in one minute and I’m already a ball of nerves.” She straightened her white lace bodice and examined herself in the mirror.
Skylar and I shared a glassy-eyed glance before sniffling at the same time.
“That’s it.” Charlie snapped and pointed toward the door. “You two get out of here right now before I lose it.”
“We’ll see you on the other side.” I squeezed my best friend’s hand. Her gaze locked with mine and her face scrunched up a little before she shook her head and smiled.
“Love you,” she whispered.
“Love you, too.”
Skylar and I walked outside the bridal suite, which was really just the primary bedroom of the log cabin Charlie and Nathan had rented for the occasion. The guest list consisted of onlytheir closest family and friends. Small and elegant, which suited Charlie and Nathan perfectly.
“This is beautiful,” Skylar whispered, and I nodded in agreement.
I had become quite close with Skylar in the month leading up to the wedding. After I had cleared all of the unnecessary weirdness from my mind about falling behind or losing my best friend, I’d realized Skylar and I were actually pretty similar. We had bonded at Charlie’s dress fitting, cooing and crying over all the same dresses.
Our friendship had been really cemented the night we all went out for a secondary pseudo-bachelorette party. I had insisted, since I hadn’t actually gotten to partake in the real festivities in Fiji. Skylar and I drank entirely too much tequila at the karaoke bar we’d dragged Charlie to, and started belting our hearts out. Oliver even crashed the party later in the night, and we’d done a terrible rendition ofGirls Just Want to Have Fun.
Harrison had arrived to pick up Oliver and me after Skylar and Charlie had gone home. He’d had a disapproving look on his face, but the subtle crinkle of amusement in his eye was so obvious to me now. He’d berated us for drinking too much, but could barely keep from laughing when Oliver cranked up the radio and we sang along—badly—to some old country song.
That was just what life had been like lately. Filled with messy, happy moments that I couldn’t get enough of.
Now, Skylar and I walked into the great room of the cabin, where chairs had been set up on both sides of a massive fireplace and faced a wall of expansive windows that overlooked the mountains. After we’d arrived last night, a light blanket of snow had dusted our surroundings, making the outside look like a thousand diamonds glittering in the late afternoon sun.
Nathan stood at the end of the aisle. He looked stoic, as per usual, but I could see the gleam of excitement in his eyes.Harrison and Oliver were already seated in the front row. I caught my boyfriend’s eye and winked. He winked back and my smile grew bigger as I walked down the short aisle and stopped by my seat at the front on Charlie’s side.
Then it was time. Everyone stood as Charlie approached the aisle, her parents beaming with pride behind me. No one was surprised when she’d insisted on walking herself down the aisle. That was just the kind of person that she was—fiercely strong and independent.
