Page 27 of Gracefully Yours

They’d met at the party last year, since Benjamin had dragged his brother there after he got off a shift at the hospital, where he worked in pediatrics. After being stuck together as Angelia and Benjamin’s Maid of Honor and Best Man, they’d fallen in love, becoming the newest couple of our friend group. And then there wasus. Best friends, but not together.

And then there were two, they’d said last week, glancing over at us. I fidgeted with my feet under the table, thinking about all of their teasing over the years. The girls had always told me that Daniel and I should go out. What would they say if I said yes to him? If we actually got married? Over the last few months, they’d finally laid off me a little about him. The teasing had gone on for so long, and now that they’d stopped… I’d finally started wondering again.

“Can you believe how much has changed since then?” Gabbi leaned on her boyfriend, looking around the table. “Now look at all of us.”

The dreamy sighs all around were almost too much for my mood.

Seeing all of my best friends happy made me happy, even if I also wanted what they had. It was like Daniel said—I could be happy for them and still want it for myself.

The four of us had all met freshman year of college, since Noelle and I had shared a room, and Angelina and Gabbi had been directly across the hall from us. We spent the next four years of college inseparable, and now here we were. The three of them were my best friends in the entire world. The girls who’d stuck with me through thick and thin, even when I’d thought everything would fall apart. I’d spent every birthday from the last nine years with them. We’d even skipped classes one year in college to spend a long weekend in Disneyland together. There was no way I was about to stop that tradition now.

It had gone from the four of us and Daniel to the eight of us, and I was so happy to spend time with the people I loved. I also couldn’t help but think about what Daniel said last night. About how we madesense.I could see us with these three couples, growing old together. Raising families together. If I didn’t do it with Daniel, whowouldI do it with?

Fuck, was I really thinking about saying yes to him?

After Angelina’s wedding, it was a dangerous path to walk down. Especially now that he’d asked me to marry him. Even if it was just because of the marriage pact. Despite all of that, I was pretty sure I knew what my answer was going to be.

“So, what do you think?” Hunter’s voice distracted me from my train of thought.

“Sorry, about what?” I asked sheepishly, looking around. Clearly, I’d spaced out longer than I thought.

Daniel frowned at me. “We’re talking about going on a ski trip once the mountains have snow this winter. What do you think?”

“Oh.” I looked around the table. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”

I’d grown up in California, and while I’d seen snow as a kid, my parents had never taken us skiing. The most I’d ever done was when the girls and I had gone cosmic tubing during college. They’d take us up to the mountain at night and they would cover the course in black-lights and strobe lights. We’d race down it over and over until we were breathless from laughing so much.

I loved the snow, and all things about winter. My color palette might have been spring, but there was something magical about a city covered in a blanket of white.

“I think there are some cabins we could rent where we can all stay together,” Benjamin commented, throwing his arm around Angelina.

“Like Angelina and Benjamin’s joint bachelor party?” I raised an eyebrow, trying not to look at Daniel.

Matthew wrapped his arm around Noelle’s chair, pulling it closer. “Something like that, but maybe a bit more privacy.”

“Ah.” My cheeks felt warm, and I hoped no one could see the way they flushed with the dim lighting in the restaurant.

If I agreed to Daniel’s proposal, if we got married… They’d know by then. Which would mean all the couples would probably end up in our own roomstogether.

Something told me that if I spent the night with him in the same bed again, it would change everything.I fought the urge to blush, thinking about what it had been like with him bracing himself on top of me. When he’d been inside me.

Best friend, best friend, best friend,I chanted to myself.

“Come on, what do you say, Char?” Angelina gave me a sly grin. “We can sit in the lodge and read while the guys take the slopes.”

“Oh, I definitely like the sound of that,” Noelle agreed. “Maybe I’ll have my next book done by then and you can all read it.” She’d started writing her first one during her last semester of grad school, and with our encouragement, had decided to self publish. Angelina did her covers, and Gabbi helped with the social media promotions, but I mostly just helped by beta-reading and telling her my thoughts.

Either way, it was a mutually beneficial agreement.

“Okay,” I agreed. But when I answered, I was looking directly at Daniel. “Let’s do it.”

CHAPTER6

Daniel

The next day, I opened the door to find Charlotte standing on my doorstep, wearing a slouchy black sweater and denim leggings instead of her usual dance attire.

“Okay.” Her response tumbled out, and I raised an eyebrow.

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