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Don’t shower without me.
Reed
* * *
I couldn’t help the giddy-schoolgirl smile that blossomed on my face.
Back in college, Reed wrote me little love notes every single day.
I missed them, and waking up to one was a welcome surprise.
When my phone buzzed again, messages from Stacy flashed across my screen.
Stacy: Hi! How’d the rehearsal dinner go? Wait. It was yesterday, right?? This goddamn London time difference sucks.
Stacy: I hope you got the chance to slap a bitch.
Stacy: Did Lava-Hot Cortez make it there?
Stacy: And if he did, please tell me you abandoned your silly inhibitions and fucked him dry. ??
I lay in bed reading her messages, tears falling from laughing so hard.
Me: Hi! The dinner went okay. No, I didn’t slap a bitch, but I sure wanted to. Lava-Hot Cortez made it here. I may or may not have fucked him dry. The stupid wedding starts in two hours.
Before I had a chance to set my phone back on the bedside table, my phone vibrated again.
Stacy: I hope Sofie and Chad get stuck on an elevator and miss their own wedding.
Me: That would be freaking hilarious.
Stacy: Gotta run. Send me pics of you and that guy you may or may not have fucked dry. Love you to the moon…
Me: And back.
“You’re glowing.” Noni sat beside me on a bench at the outdoor wedding reception as Reed slipped away to grab us glasses of wine.
“I’m not, Noni. It’s that big yellow ball in the sky beaming on my face.” I could feel my cheeks warm, not from the sun but because of my grandmother’s judgmental perusal.
“You should know by now there’s no fooling me.” She nudged my side with her elbow. “You and Reed are no longer faking; something’s happening between you two.”
Her all-knowing, Spidey senses were on point.
“Oh, Noni.” My smile couldn’t get any wider. “I’m falling for him all over again.” I rested my head on her shoulder. “Is that a bad thing?”
Noni raised my chin and peered into my eyes. “Like I’ve said years ago: you and Reed needed to spread your wings to love each other even better than before.” She took my hand in hers, squeezing it lightly. “They say love walks more gently with smaller steps the second time around. Don’t be afraid to fall all over again. You both deserve it.”
I allowed her advice to steep, my brain soaking up every word.
Noni had always been my go-to for words of wisdom. Whirlwind stories she’d share of her and my grandfather—who’d passed long before I’d been born—were the epitome of relationship goals.
She taught me that loving unconditionally is what shapes our hearts. That nugget of wisdom led me to forgive my mother for abandoning us, knowing that her mental illness kept her away. It’s also why I’d agreed to be Sofie’s maid of honor when I really should’ve just slapped her.
“I want it to work, Noni. But I’m scared.”
She cupped my face, her touch soft and comforting. “Bellita, you must learn to follow your heart, not your fear.”
Reed and I ducked out of the reception early and spent the rest of the day exploring each other.
