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“And you and Will are getting married this summer?” I confirm with Gina. I can’t quite remember the date in my inebriated state.
“Yep, June 13th,” she says with a happy sigh.
Pretty soon I’ll be the only girlfriend of our WAG group. Although after our Hawaiian vacation, I can’t help imagining a wedding of my own. Building a life with Dom, maybe even kids in the future. I grab a chip and dip it in salsa, getting lost in thought and zoning out of the conversation the women around me are having.
“Alayna?”
I glance up and they’re all staring at me. “What?”
“Uh-oh,” Paige says with a laugh. “She’s hit that too-much-to-drink-and-now-she-can’t-stay-focused part of drunk.”
“You either need another drink, or need to switch to water,” Emma says, not looking drunk at all, but I know she’s had almost as much as I have. God, she’s one of those—a happy drunk. Whereas, I’m turning into a daydreaming drunk.
I grab the drink in front of Emma and toss it down my throat.
“Hey!” she squeals, but it’s too late. I wince and shake my head.
“Oh my God,” I choke out. “What the hell was that?”
“A whiskey sour. It’s supposed to be sipped and savored not tossed back like that.”
“Bleh.” I hate whiskey.
“Back to what I was asking,” Paige says. “Be honest with us. What’s going on with you and Dom?”
There’s a hint of genuine concern in her tone that has me pausing. Does she suspect it started out as fake? There’s no way. I thought we managed to hide it pretty well, and then it turned seriously real and there was nothing to hide.
“We’re together.”
She stares at me hard. “I know that. But what I really want to know is how serious is it?” She doesn’t have to add the for him which hangs unsaid at the end of her sentence. I confessed my real feelings to her once. If anyone could understand falling for your best friend, it’s Paige. After all, that’s how she and Jack started in high school before he stupidly fucked it up and they were apart for nine years. She also knows how crushing it can be when things don’t work out.
Is there really any harm in confessing the whole truth to them? Our relationship isn’t a lie anymore which is really the only part that matters.
“It didn’t really start out all that great. After the Jen Summers thing, I told Dom I didn’t want to be friends anymore, and instead of accepting that, he begged me to fake date him as part of a PR stunt his new rep recommended.”
“Hold up,” Gina says, raising a hand in a stop gesture. “It’s fake? No fucking way. You have to convince that man to give it a real shot.”
“It started out fake, but it’s not anymore. Honestly, I don’t think it ever really was. I’ve had feelings for him for years, and he’s admitted that when I tried to pull the plug on our friendship it made him confront his own buried feelings.”
“So where does that leave you two now?” Paige asks, her voice motherly and cautious.
“Now…” I can’t stop the smile from growing on my face. “It’s the realest thing I’ve ever experienced.” There’s a tone of awe in my voice, and all the women around me give me knowing smiles.
They’ve been in my shoes—maybe not in the exact same situation, but that moment of fear that comes when you take the leap in any serious relationship. The unknown is scary, but it’s even scarier when you’re putting your entire heart in the hands of someone who could break it. But also that euphoric high that comes with falling in love.
“Although I will admit, a part of me wonders if we’re moving too fast,” I say as I grab my water bottle because I definitely think it’s time to ease off the booze and hydrate.
“What do you mean?” Paige asks.
“It’s hard to put into words, but it all just feels really intense and like we’ve gotten serious quicker than we should’ve.”
“I don’t think there’s any rule about how fast things should or shouldn’t go,” Danae says. “Sometimes when it’s right, you just know.”
I take a sip of my water and stare at the table. My drunk brain plays out some worst-case scenarios and I voice one that’s been in my head since my mom planted it there—and despite my best efforts has been harder to dig up than I’d hoped.
“What if he can’t be who I need him to be? What if he gets bored with me? He’s never had a serious relationship before. Ever.”
They’re all quiet for a minute before Gina speaks up. “Then we’ll be here to support you with whatever you need. But for what it’s worth, I think he’ll step up for you. These guys can be kind of dense sometimes, but when they finally figure out what they want, they don’t give up.”
