“Just go and fucking pee, Sebastian!”
“Alright, alright!”
I hear the door to the men’s bathroom open and close.
“I’m so sorry about that, Cherry.”
“It’s fine,” I reply, my voice shaky. “I didn’t hear him, either.”
“It’s my job to protect you. I should have been listening out.” He lifts my chin up, forcing me to look at him. The moment I do, his face softens, a soft smile on his lips. “We’re not done, by the way. I’m not leaving you unsatisfied like that, but we’ll have to finish it when we’re alone.”
One more tender kiss is planted on my lips before he grabs my hand and leads me back to the group.
Wren notices our return and makes her way over to us. I’m wrapped up in a hug that soothes my fired-up nerves.
“I barely get to see you anymore,” she says into my ear. “I miss you.”
My eyes close and guilt trips my heartbeat. I’ve admitted to myself that I’m avoiding Wren. The thought of lying to my best friend, especially when the lie involves her family, it doesn’t sit right with me, and so I thought the best way to avoid that would be to avoid her. It’s cowardly, and wrong on a lot of levels. The smart thing to do would have been to talk to Finn about it, but I’ve been nervous that it would be a conversation that follows the same template my exes created.
“I want to talk about this thing I’m struggling with.”
“Sounds like your problem to me.”
“Could you help me with it?”
“I have enough on my plate. Not every one of your problems needs to be mine, too.”
Every time I ever tried the whole “vulnerability” thing with someone I’m seeing, it’s always blown up in my face. Now, instead of being self-conscious and insecure, all it’s done is make me bitter and hardened my exterior. Letting people in is something I just don’t do. Not anymore. Yet even though I’ve kept my walls up this whole time, Finn seems to have found a crack large enough for his wide shoulders and long legs to fit through.
“I miss you, too, Wrennie.” It’s not a lie. I miss my best friend more than anything. All of this stuff about possibly developing feelings for Finn is something that I would always go to her about, just as she came to me when she started falling for Gus. But I can’t do that without revealing that our entire relationship is fake.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you something,” she says with a mischievous grin. She drags me back to the booth, sliding in and dragging me in with her.
“Whoa, whoa, slow down there, hotshot.”
I pretty much fall on top of her, landing in the booth with absolutely no grace. My best friend’s rich laugh triggers my own low one.
“Sorry.” She waits for me to adjust myself. “Okay, so as you know, Gus and I are engaged…”
I gasp dramatically, my hand coming to cover my mouth. “Shut. Up. Are you?”
Wren rolls her eyes. “You’re hilarious. My point is…you remember I told you I wanted something big but also not too big so it doesn’t overwhelm Gus?”
“Yes, and I’ve been looking for ages for venues. As your maid of honor, I’m taking this so seriously.”
“Oh, I know you are. That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
She takes a steadying breath and bites her lip. She’s a dizzying mix of nerves and excitement.
“Don’t hate me, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“Why the hell would I hate you for changing your mind?”
“Because you’ve been doing all of this research for us, and time is not necessarily something you have an abundance of what with your job.”
I hold her hand between mine. “Wren, if when you were planning my party, I had come to you to say that I’d changed my mind about what I wanted and instead was thinking of some small dinner, would you have been mad at me?”
