Page 38 of Just Say When

I stepped into the library and found my friends waiting with nary a needle or thread to be found.

“What’s going on?” I asked, my gaze bouncing from one serious face to the next.

James, Chloe, Hannah, and Janie exchanged a look. Chloe nodded and stepped forward.

“Well, my love, this here is what we in the business like to call a good, old-fashioned intervention,” Chloe drawled. “Have a seat.”

I burst out laughing. “You think I’m on drugs? I promise, I’m not.”

“Then explain how not five months ago, you sat in this very room and told us Braxton Hale made you want to stab something,” Hannah said. “And now you’re going tomarryhim? What changed? It’s not that we really think you’re on drugs, but at no point in the last five months have you said a single nice word about him.”

I glanced at James, who was staring at the floor, her teeth digging into her bottom lip. Brax and I had decided that the fewer people who knew the truth, the better. But keeping our secret meant lying to our friends. I knew James wasn’t comfortable with it.

“He’s irritating, I’ll admit that much,” I said carefully. Trying to keep the outright lies to a minimum. “But it’s like you said, Chloe. Sometimes people rub each other the wrong way because they want to rub each other the right way.” Something I could unfortunately attest to, having rubbed one out last night in the shower.

Hannah eyed me doubtfully, her forehead creasing with concern. “I mean…youdoknow that you don’t have to get married to have sex, right?”

“Hate fucking is a totally valid choice,” Janie chimed in cheerfully.

“Oh, my god,” I muttered, rubbing my temple. But I thought I saw James hide her smile behind her hand, and that made everything better. At least she didn’t hate me.

And their care for my well-being was touching. Truly. But it was also…

Annoying.

Why didn’t anyone think I was capable of running my own goddamn life?

“Listen, I appreciate the care. I do,” I said. “But you all know Brax. You know me. Even if this doesn’t look like how you think a marriage should look, you can trustthat Brax isn’t forcing me to marry him in some nefarious scheme to ruin my life. Right? And you can trust me to take care of myself. I’m okay. I promise.”

Another look was shared among them.

“Okay,” James said at last. It surprised me she was the one who spoke, given that she was the only one who knew the whole truth. “But I want you to know that just because youcantake care of yourself doesn’t mean you have to. You have us.”

“Thank you,” I said softly.

She smiled back, her brown eyes warm. “Any time.”

Chloe clapped her hands. “And now, this intervention is officially a bachelorette party. It’s time to celebrate your last day of freedom, babe. First stop, mimosas.”

“Areyou sure you want to do this?” James asked quietly.

I looked from Brax’s shiny black SUV to the thick pink marker in my hand and then at James. “He needs to know about the clitoris, James,” I deadpanned.

She snorted. “I’m pretty sure he knows, Essie. But in case he doesn’t, Hannah is drawing a very detailed diagram on the back window.”

Dusk had turned the sky gray, but it wasn’t darkenough for stars yet. I could still see the shimmer of aspen leaves streaking up the mountainside like rivers of molten gold. Elks bugling pierced through the air.

“But, seriously.” James lowered her voice and glanced around to make sure the others weren’t listening. “You’re sure you want to get married just for a horse show?”

“It’s not just a horse show, and you know it. It’s a hundred grand. It’s the chance for my mom to have the life she deserves. Yes, I’m sure,” I said firmly. “Don’t worry so much. People get married and divorced every day.”

Brax doesn’t.

But Brax was an adult. He had his reasons for doing this, same as me.

James looked like she was about to argue, but instead she shook her head. “All right,” she said. “Then let’s do this.”

She stepped toward the passenger window, giving the pink marker in her hand a good shake to get the liquid moving.The clitoris is like an iceberg, she wrote in swirling pink letters.

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