Page 22 of Splintered Memories
A crease formed between his brows as he glanced between the two of us. “Sure,” he said hesitantly, rising from the couch.
I hadn’t realized how much his body heat had been surrounding me until a shiver vibrated through me in his absence.
“I’ll be right outside.”
He walked toward the door; a bell chimed as he opened it and settled himself outside. He was visible through the large front window of the bridal shop.
I glanced back at Lark, my brows raised.
She sucked on the corner of her lip as she stepped down from the platform and sat on the couch next to me.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something.” The nervousness in her tone had my anxiety spiking.
“Okay?” I said, unsure.
She sucked in a big breath. “I was wondering, would you be my maid of honor?”
I blinked at her, shock making my mouth gape. Maid of honor? No one had ever asked me to play such a significant role in their wedding before.
When I didn’t answer right away, because I was still trying to process what she said, she blurted out, “Please, don’t feel pressured to say yes if you don’t want to. I won’t be offended. And I swear you won’t have to do anything special. I won’t expect you to plan anything or do anything. I just…I don’t have a lot of friends and—”
I held up a hand to cut her off, my mouth pulling up into a wide smile. “Lark.” That burning sensation returned to my chest, making my throat feel thick. I swallowed. “Of course I’ll be your maid of honor!”
She let out an excited squeal and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing so tight my ribs ached. “Thank you. I just really want you there, standing next to me.”
I hugged her one last time before pulling back. “Well,” I said, trying to chase away the emotion that was too close to the surface for my comfort, “I think we should celebrate.”
Lark tilted her head. “Oh? How so?”
I grinned. “Let’s sneak next door and get some coffee and chocolate croissants.”
Latte Pages was the local coffee shop and bookstore. I hadn’t been there in way too long and right now, a big cup of coffee sounded like the best thing to wash down all the champagne.
Or maybe I was a little bit tipsy and bad ideas sounded like good ones.
“Sneak?” she said. “Why would we need to sneak?”
My eyes bounced toward the window. August was still standing outside, arms crossed over his chest. “I want it to be just the two of us.”
Lark followed my gaze, understanding flitting over her expression. She, of course, knew everything about what was going on between August and me. I hadn’t told her much about my family, but I’d needed to vent about this and we’d had a couple of long phone calls the past couple of days.
“I don’t want August to get upset.” She pursed her lips.
“It’ll be fine. It’s literally right next door.” I rolled my eyes. “Nothing is going to happen.”
Her nose scrunched. “Why don’t we just ask him if we can go by ourselves, then?”
“He won’t go for it.” I shook my head. “He’s surprisingly rigid when it comes to this whole bodyguard thing.” I cringed at the sound of it.Bodyguard. Like I was someone important.
“August takes his work seriously.” Lark shrugged. “Most of his brothers depend on him. On Hearthstone.”
Reid, her fiancé, depended on August. That’s what she was saying.
I huffed out a sigh, stealing one last glance at August. “Please,” I said. “I just need one moment to take a freaking breath without him in the vicinity. Then we’ll come right back.”
Lark’s forehead furrowed. “Is he really that hard to get along with?” She seemed confused.
“It’s not that…” I looked away, smoothing a hand over the long braid over my shoulder. “I’m not used to people being around me so much.” I shivered. “I need my space, and suddenly not having that really sucks.”
