Page 17 of Until Then

If I look in that blue eye, then his brown one, I’ll falter in my resolve that I made the right choice by leaving the perfect day as an untainted memory.

One look, and I might start to focus on the longing I’ve carried like a boil through the months.

Greer is my Noah watcher. We’re not creepy, not really. Maybe. I don’t care. She briefly mentioned he was spotted in a precarious situation with his latest girl, and it gave me a bit of hope he wouldn’t be here.

I swallow the sweetness and smooth my palms down the front of my dress. Another breath, and I weave through the crowds of couples and gaggles of faces I don’t know as they laugh, drink, and eat.

Maybe after a few laughs with Briar, I can head out without being the jerk of a friend.

We’re halfway across the room when a velvety sweet voice rises over the group nearby, “Haze!”

Briar Madden, dressed like she popped off a Vogue cover, squeals and shoves through a ring of her cousins at the table.

“Bry!” I can’t help the smile that cuts across my face. Some friendships never die no matter how life tries to put distance between them.

She chokes me with her long, slender arms, laughing and rocking side to side. Her massive diamond on her left hand catches the light and nearly blinds me.

“You made it.” She pulls back. Briar has always had an exotic beauty to her features, and with her high bone structure it only makes her more gorgeous as she ages.

“Of course. I’m a bridesmaid.” I take hold of her hands and let out a little shriek. “You’re gettingmarried.”

“I know!” Briar dances—more like flails—and looks like she might split out of her skin. She looks over my neatly braided hair at Greer. “Oh, Greer, right? Haze said you were the plus one.”

Greer shoves through me. “Thank you for having me, but I need to tell you—Girl, your lip mask brand paired with that moisturizing lipstick, totally life changing. I’m not exaggerating.”

I laugh, watching the seedlings of Briar’s and Greer’s gal-mance unfold.

Two makeup enthusiasts, two strong, bold women, it was really only a matter of time before my childhood bestie met the grown up one.

“Come on.” Briar drapes an arm around my neck, then Greer’s. “You two need to try these sunset smoothies they make here. It’s like a Hawaiian beach in a glass. Then you’re going to eat and meet people. Looking at you, Haze. Greer is a lawyer, she can likely handle any conversation.”

“Very true.”

“Horses don’t fight back,” Briar says with an arched brow.

“Do you expect me to brawl tonight?” I let out a snort.

“You never know what could happen with this crowd.”

Briar and Greer both have long strides—I clearly have a type when it comes to best friends—and meander through the crowd around the bar.

I apologize under my breath for every shoulder I nudge as I try to follow.

Until the crowd parts and I stop, until I can’t breathe. I’m not even sure I can feel my limbs.

It’s him.

There, ordering drinks.

Noah . . . except now he’s covered in tattoos. And his hair is a cosmic blue.

It’s him, but not.

When he turns around, two glasses in hand, I see those unique, unforgettable eyes. One blue, one brown.

A strange feeling runs through my veins, overheated, annoyed, maybe a touch of desire. But the way his eyes lock on my face, then casually drift aside as though he doesn’t even know me ignites an anger I didn’t even know lived inside.

When Noah strides past me, like I’m nothing but a dusty memory he doesn’t want to recall, my mouth opens, words—awful, stupid words—fly out. “Seems like your fear of needles wasn’t true either.”

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