Page 78 of The Masks We Burn
She huffs but smiles nonetheless.
She’s still as hardheaded as ever.
My hands tremble at my sides, and my legs tingle from my sudden increased rush of blood, my body willing me to walk across the street. To tell her how proud and excited I am.
But I don’t.
Instead, I rub at the ache in my chest, and know we both met for a reason, and the hurt I feel now was worth what we both got out of our arrangement, and that’s all it was meant to be.
Y’know, right person, wrong time and all that.
I swallow down the hurt lodged in my throat and turn the opposite way toward the tattoo shop to meet Bellamy, a smile ghosting across my lips as I decide the color of my newest butterfly.
Pink.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ithought Lily’s dress was beautiful before, but seeing it now, in the middle of a forest where the sun streams between branches, catching on and reflecting off the beading, my words were a gross understatement.
She’s utterly breathtaking.
Her natural tan skin is glowing against the beige dress, her long brown curls drawn off her face, and cascading over the open back. The makeup artist did a phenomenal job at highlighting her best features and making those big brown eyes of hers look absolutely gorgeous.
My chest physically squeezes every time I look at her.
“What?” Lily asks, giving me a playful smirk.
We’re off to the side while the few other bridesmaids fix anything on each other that may have come out of place from the ride over. Remy is playing matchmaker with them, telling them about the different groomsmen from the collab party.
I laugh through my nose and look back at Lily. “If he doesn’t either cry or try to fuck you right there on that aisle, we’re running. I brought my getaway car.”
Lily giggles, and I join her, losing ourselves for just a moment as we come to terms with what’s really happening.
She’s getting married.
Like walking down an aisle in the middle of the forest and professing her love to the kid who grew up in the house behind hers.
When did we grow up?
It all passed by so quickly. Soon, Blaze will pop the question to Remy, and one of the couples will have kids. Two in the group will be whole ass doctors after a while, and everything just feels…complete.
Well, almost.My heart reminds me, the tender edges of the muscle still raw and tattered.
“I know I’ve said it before, but I am so proud of you.” I grab both her hands and squeeze them lightly. “I just can’t put into words how happy I am for you both.”
Lily’s eyes soften with her smile. “Thank you, Amora. I’m proud of us. Look how far we’ve all come. Look how much we’ve made it through.”
“We’re the shit,” I tell her simply.
“The shit,” she agrees, but then her brows tic together. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about William.”
I swallow around the instant burn that comes from hearing his name, and I shake my head. “There’s nothing to talk about. I fucked that up.”
“No, you haven’t. I told you, Amora, William is one of the most understanding men I’ve ever met. He knows you had things to get in order, and I know if you just—”
“Today is aboutyou.You are walking down the aisle and getting married in twenty minutes, girl. Let’s focus and celebratethat.”
Lily huffs and starts to argue, but the photographer pulls her away for the first-look photo she wanted to take with Mina. She tugs my hands before dropping them and picking up her skirt, a look of “we aren’t done with this” pulling down her pretty face.
