Page 111 of Forking the Billionaire

“It wasn’t just during the pageants,” Luna said.

“For Godzilla’s sake.” Layana covered her eyes and chuckled with embarrassment.

“It wasn’t?” Lindsey asked.

“She wore spandex and bells for Christmas that one year, too,” Lydia said. “With leopard ears…or was it stripes? And I think there was a matching tail.”

Morgan choked on her wine.

Lydia shook her finger at Morgan. “You remember the tail.”

Morgan smashed her lips together and turned to Layana.

“Yes, fine. I still have the tail,” Layana said with a ridiculous level of confidence. She pointed at her best friend and sisters inturn. “It’s a power piece. Don’t judge me. I know all of your most embarrassing secrets, too.”

“Luna was the one who ate the macaroni off your art,” Lydia said.

“Lydia!” Luna shoved Lydia off the log the pair of them were sitting on.

Lydia cackled.

“No,” Layana said. “My masterpiece, Mr. Snuffleupagus?”

“How did I get blamed for that?” Lindsey asked. “I specifically remember being grounded for a week for destroying that picture and I didn’t even do it.”

Lydia cackled louder.

It was impossible not to chuckle a little, too, caught in the fun and trouble they all used to get into together.

Gabe, with his arm still wrapped around his new wife, looked over at me with a small smile. We hadn’t had a relationship like they had, but maybe if our parents had been alive, around, and as in love as Layana’s parents seemed to be, maybe we could have.

Maybe it didn’t matter how many times we’d disappointed each other in the past if we tried to be better to each other moving forward. Less judgmental. More…honest? Hmm. Maybe we weren’t ready for that much closeness. One step at a time.

“Who’s hungry?” Chester pranced across the sand, huge bags in his hands.

Jasper strolled behind him carrying a big covered tray.

He’d avoided me all morning but then he’d looked at me so freaking adoringly during the wedding. I wasn’t sure which version of him to expect now. But I was starting to believe that his weirdness last night had nothing to do with me.

He was going home tomorrow.

There’d always been a countdown hanging over us, with a clear and absolute end date, even if that had been easy to forgetat times. I couldn’t blame him for withdrawing. If he felt even a fraction of the intense rollercoaster of emotion I’d felt for him this week, it made sense to pull away.

Our whirlwind romance was over.

Maybe that was okay. He had shown me that I wasn’t alone, helped me find a new strength in myself. It had to be okay, because he was definitely leaving. Everyone was.

Chester dropped his bags into the sand beside Juno and started doling out smaller paper bags to the people around him. “Take what you want and pass it around.”

Jasper took a seat next to me on the log, setting the tray down in the sand beside him. It was filled with beautiful cupcakes decorated with colorful tropical flowers.

“Hey, Bramble,” he said.

His voice sounded tight, not at all his usual easy-going tone.

My throat felt tight, too. “Hi.”

On my other side, Morgan passed me one of the bags. Before I even opened it, I recognized the greasy, spiced scent.

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