Page 37 of Always Been You

"I think so, too," Jess agreed.

"I didn't think I was going to like it, but I guess that shows that you can't be sure of what you want until you try it." Ali's statement was about the dress, but Jess had a feeling that it was really about something else.

Jess didn’t take the bait. She was worried that any conversation about Ethan with her best friend would only lead to her admitting it was a hoax. And she couldn’t do that. She'd told Ethan she wouldn’t. Jess lived by her own set of rules, and one of those rules was always staying true to her word. If she made someone a promise, she kept it. Which was why, all these years later, it still bothered her that Ethan had gone behind her back and told the nurse that she'd passed out.

Although, she had to admit, it bothered her a lot less after that kiss and the dance lesson. A shiver ran down Jess's spine at the memory of the look in Ethan's eyes.

The sales girl that looked like a cast member on Pretty Little Liars came back to check on Ali. The young woman barely looked old enough to drink but had more poise and class than Jess ever dreamed of having.

"So, what do you think?"

Ali's lips scrunched. "I know it's the one because I don't want to take it off."

"That is the true test." The young lady grinned. "Should we take you over to alterations so you can speak to one of our specialists?"

"I think so." Ali nodded and followed her out of the room.

Jess took a moment to let the fact that her best friend, her ride or die, her other half, her person was now going to be a married woman. She was happy for her friend, but part of her was grieving the loss of her plus one.

Growing up hadn't been easy for either of the girls. Jess was sick, angry, scared and tended to lash out at her classmates. She’d been an easy target and because of that, she’d had no issue fighting back and fighting dirty. One day Jess had been in the bathroom crying after being teased when Ali walked in. Jess screamed at her to get out. But Ali hadn't listened, and the two were inseparable from that day on.

Ali might’ve been healthy, but her life hadn't been a cakewalk. She'd never known her father and had been raised by an alcoholic mother who died when Ali was twelve. Patrick basically raised Ali, and then she'd lost Patrick. Suddenly, without warning, she was raising her twin nephews by herself.

Between the two of them, Jess thought that she'd had it the easiest. She'd always had her parents.

Ali yawned as she stepped back into the showroom.

"Was all the talk of tailoring that boring?" She joked, but then noticed that her friend looked a little pale.

Ali chuckled. "I think I just need to get some food in me. And caffeine. You want to go get something to eat?"

"Yes." They'd barely had time to check into the hotel before Ali's appointment, and Jess hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. "I'll order an Uber while you change."

Jess pulled out her phone to order the car and saw that she'd missed a text from Ethan. It was a funny meme of the Dirty Dancing lift. The top was a still from the movie and had the word “expectation” above it, and the bottom was a picture of a couple trying to recreate the scene at their wedding, except the bride is falling to the ground. The word “reality” was written over that one.

I hope I live up to your expectations, his text read.

He might’ve just been talking about the lift, but Jess felt herself getting emotional anyway. She kept trying to remind herself not to get attached. It was a ruse. She had a feeling that at the end of this, her fate would be similar to the bride from the photo who was about to faceplant onto the floor.

"Oh, by the way, I wanted to thank you." Kade dribbled the basketball twice before passing it to Ethan.

Ethan reached out and caught it. "For what?"

He could tell by the smartass grin on his friend's face that he was not going to like the answer. "For giving the town something to talk about other than Ali and me."

"I aim to please." Ethan took a shot and missed, again, but managed to recover the ball this time.

He couldn’t give a shit about what the town was saying, but Jess did.

When he'd talked to her last night, she'd said that she was happy to be getting out of town where no one knew about her and Ethan. Since her parents’ party, she told him that the only thing anyone wanted to talk about in the shop was the two of them.

He was starting to worry that this entire thing was going to backfire on him. His brilliant plan might not be so brilliant after all. He could feel her falling right back into her comfort zone of pulling away from him since their dance lesson, and he wasn't sure why. But he knew that if she retreated now, the chances of him turning this relationship into something real was as likely as him sinking a three-pointer today.

The double doors of the gym opened, and Ethan saw Mrs. Weathersby enter the gym.

"Lieutenant Steele, can I have a word?"

"Yes, ma'am." Ethan tossed the ball back to Kade, who gave him a look like he'd just gotten called to the principal’s office.

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