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“Rose looks beautiful,” I stated, my eyes sweeping over the rose-colored wedding gown our other cousin, Morgan, designed. Morgan co-owned a boutique in downtown Hamilton with our cousin Blayze’s wife Georgiana. They were known for their custom-designed wedding dresses and bridesmaids’ gowns.
In a twist that only Rose would do, she wore a colored wedding dress, and her attendants wore white and cream. Morgan had been all over that idea and had designed the gown in record time.
“She does, indeed,” Renee stated as she sat down next to me. “I especially love her hair.”
Laughing, I looked at her. “Is that because you did her hair?”
She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “You have to admit, her hair looks stunning with those small roses in it.”
“You could make anyone’s hair look stunning, Renee.”
With a smile, she winked at me. “Hey, do you think Bryson could introduce me to a few of his former friends? Particularly that blonde over there who keeps eye-fucking me.”
I followed her gaze and saw one of the guys who used to play with Bryson on the Mariners looking our way.
I let out a huff. “Excuse me, but how do you know he’s not eye-fucking me?”
Renee laughed. “Do you want him to be looking at you?”
I shrugged. “I might want him to be looking at me.”
“Who?” Ben, my other best friend and the guy I’ve had a crush on for as long as I could remember, asked as he sat down between me and Renee.
“The hot baseball player in the corner over there currently looking at either me or Lily, or possibly both of us. That might be kind of fun.”
I screwed up my face. “I didn’t need that visual, Renee.”
Ben laughed.
“You never did tell me why Abby didn’t come with you?” I asked as Ben slid a glass of wine in front of me, then gave Renee her drink.
He shrugged. “She said she didn’t feel like coming.”
Renee lifted a brow as she took a sip of her wine.
I let out a humorless laugh as I asked, “She didn’t give you a reason why?”
Looking frustrated, Ben said, “No, Lily, she didn’t.”
I drew back. “Wow, okay. Don’t bite my head off. I was simply asking about her, that’s all.”
He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. “She thinks I’m spending too much time with you now that you’re out of school. She accused me of not being able to let you go, and I told her she was talking crazy. I’ve explained time and time again you’re like a sister to me, and I’ve never had those kinds of feelings toward you.”
Ouch. Well, that was a dose of reality I probably needed.
Nodding, I took a sip of my wine.
“I mean, I can see where she’s coming from,” Renee stated as I shot daggers at her. She wasn’t catching on, though, since she was still staring at the baseball player while she talked. “It’s not every day a guy has a woman for a best friend. And a hot one, at that, with amazing breasts.”
Ben looked down at my exposed cleavage, then quickly averted his eyes as if he had just burned them. I frowned and looked down.
“I’m trying to be understanding, but she told me today that she should be my best friend.”
I nearly choked on my own spit. “I’m sorry, but first she says we can’t hang out, and now she wants to completely take you away from me?”
Ben looked at me with an apologetic expression. “I know, Lily, but I think maybe we need to step back from seeing each other so much. I think that would make Abby feel better.”
“Ben, we’ve been best friends since we were old enough to talk. Don’t you care about my feelings?”
“Of course, I do, but she’s my girlfriend, and I need to show her that she means more to me.”
“Wow,” Renee stated. “I didn’t realize Abby was that insecure in her relationship with you, Ben. Is she that threatened by Lily?”
Ben shot her a dirty look. “She’s not insecure and she does not feel threatened by her. Put yourself in her shoes. If you were dating a guy who had a female best friend, wouldn’t you feel the same way?”
I wanted to say that I thought I would feel more secure in my relationship, but I kept my mouth shut. As much as I hadn’t liked Abby, I wasn’t in her shoes, no matter how much I had wanted to be.
“Clearly she is if you’re just tossing Lily to the side. Girls come and go, Ben, you know that. But Lily has been by your side for everything. It’s just strange to me that you can’t find a middle ground. And Abby has been jealous of Lily since day one, and you know it.”
“Renee,” I softly said. “It’s okay. You have to do what you have to do, Ben. After all, you love her, right?”
