Page 29 of Penalty Shots

“It's Angelique,” Rina’s voice says from behind me.

She slowly closes the door and I watch as she sashays over to us. Her movements are smooth and feline. Nobody should be able to walk that gracefully in heels. And the dress—my God—that fucking dress.

I almost forgot that we left each other on not-the-greatest terms last night and make the biggest effort not to grab my knuckles and bite them. Of all the colors Izzy could've chosen as her wedding accent color, she just had to choosered.

"Ri! Omg, that dress looks stunning on you!" Izzy gushes at her maid of honor.

Rina shakes her head. "Are you kidding me? Look at you! You're doing it. You're getting married!"

She brushes past me and straight to my sister to gawk.

“How’s the flower girl?” Izzy asks, taking Rina's hands in her own.

“Your Aunt Ginny’s got her,” Rina assures her. She gives my sister a reassuring pat on the hand before letting go and grabbing the veil from the seat next to the fireplace.

She secures it over Izzy’s head and fans it out over her shoulders.

We exchange glances in the mirror. But it’s so fast, I might’ve just imagined it.

Rina takes a step back and smiles at her friend. “You look…”

“Breathtaking,” we both say, eyes meeting again in the mirror.

Izzy turns to us with tears in her eyes.

“Oh no, no, don’t do that,” Rina insists. “You’ll ruin your perfect makeup, honey.”

The tears keep coming. “I’m sorry,” Izzy says, grabbing a tissue I offer her. “I promise these are tears of joy. Life is just so different from where I was not that long ago. I can’t believe this is real. This ismylife.”

She’s right. Over a year ago, she was alone in California. Heartbroken. Lost. And in that time she’s been able to make a home here in Texas. Ryker, Stella, the Heatwave. This is Izzy’s home.

“It is, babe. And you deserve every good thing in your life,” Rina says. “Now, please, stop crying. The photos are going to be terrible and you'll never let me live it down that I let you go out looking like that.”

Izzy laughs through her sobs. “You’re so ridiculous.”

“Trust me, of the three of us here–I can guarantee there’s someone way more ridiculous.” She shoots a look over at me.

“Moi?” I ask, with a hand on my chest. “Nah.”

“Do you know that in college, he forced me to fight Ryker in a sumo suit?”

Izzy laughs some more between sniffles. “What?”

“Oh yeah,” Rina says, taking a tissue and cleaning up the makeup streaks on her face. “In the middle of a Texas Spring break. So naturally, it was over a hundred degrees out.”

“And you actually did it?” Izzy asks.

“She won,” I say proudly.

“Of course she did,” Izzy sniffles with a smile.

“And forced is a bit much," I retort. "I strongly encouraged her."

“Just like I strongly encourage you to reconsider anything you plan on doing today that isn’t on the itinerary,” Rina says.

“Oh god." Izzy's shoulders drop. "What’s he planning on doing?” Izzy turns to me. “What are you up to, Kee?”

I glare at Rina before looking at my baby sister. “Do you trust me?”

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