Great.
Hugging myself, I face her. “He had the sense to make you my maid of honor, right? If this is actually happening, I would like you to be my maid of honor.”
December taps a finger to her lips. “Maid of honor? No. No, I don’t think this wedding is going to have anything like that.” She locks her hands behind her back and tilts her head. “Nowprimary accomplice? That’s a job I gladly accepted.”
Oh dear.
She asks, “How close are you to being done with the vampire story?”
“Another day or two, I think. If that.” My brow furrows. “Why?”
“Dominic said it looked like you were on the verge of conflict last time you were together. He suspected that meant you were ready to give him a new role.”
Such a comment makes my stomach flip. “How…”
“He’s fairly intuitive. It’s a bit chilling, to be honest. I think he’d appreciate it if you’d reserve some affection for what he called ‘plain old him’ before handing him his next cast sheet.”
My lips part. “Is he…going to beplain old himfor the wedding?”
December’s cheeks dimple. “Only kind of.But, my goodness, August. You’resolucky.”
?
What isluck, really?
Sighing, like a forlorn little miss, I tilt a black rose I hacked off a stem in my palm and ponder what all might befall me before the week is up.
According to December, I don’t stand a chance. I shall be married, regardless of my wishes.
Which could either be what she genuinely believes—or another part of the scheme that’s brewing.
After all, it’s easy enough to have Ali send my dear, frightening friend to me with orders to mess with my brain and convince me that a real wedding is happening, whether I like it or not. December would have no qualms about it. Which is part of why I love her so dearly.
Breath leaves me, and I find myself biting my smile as I bury my nose in the flower.
He’s just so…
Everything my stupid heart and brain want.
Ali:You up?
Blinking at the message tone and the words that accompany it, I set the rose I got this afternoon down and scoot my laptop back up on my knees, getting comfy in my bed before I reply.
Me:Always. Why would I ever sleep?
Ali:No clue. Look. I found something that doesn’t suck.
He sends me a link to an anime.
And that’s it. That’s all. I click it. I begin watching. And we talk through every episode while the night slips by. With every joke he makes and every laugh I can’t hold back, I find myself settling into the peace of the possibility of having this forever.
Joy might be boring.
But I don’t know that I’m willing to trade these happy moments in for anything.
Talking to him online isn’t quite the same as having him right here, with me, in a pillow of plush in the backyard or snuggled up together on my couch, but the connection is similar. The bond. The yearning.
Could I stomach a relationship that feels this safe forever?
