Page 8 of Merry Me
Holy fuck.
Right at the top. A text from Levi, my best friend from high school, whose wedding I was supposed to be in. The wedding that, if all went to plan, was going to fix my life and change everything.
Levi: She’s in.
A slow grin spread across my face, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, it felt real. The first real smile I’d worn since…well, since she’d walked away.
She’s in.
This day had just turned around.
Because I was going to the wedding.
Because Natalie was going to be there.
Because, for the first time in almost two years, I had a shot at getting back what I’d lost.
This time, I wasn’t giving her space to run. I wasn’t letting her talk herself out of us, out of what we had.
This time, I was going all in.
I’d already lost her once. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.
Not when I’d waited this long. Not when every part of me still wanted her.
This time…I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
NATALIE
The bar was loud, packed, and exactly where I would normally want to be…if I wasn’t currently spiraling over my sister’s wedding and the fact that I had to leave for it tomorrow. The kind of spiraling that made tequila seem like a viable medical solution.
But I could never say no to Casey, Riley, and Ophelia—they were my ladies—so here I was.
“Are you excited for Paige’s wedding?” Casey asked, looping her arm through mine as we shoved our way through a wall of people who all smelled like beer, bad decisions, and too much cologne.
The knot in my stomach tightened just thinking about it. The wedding.Him.
“At least get me drunk first before you go digging into my deepest, darkest secrets,” I drawled.
She snorted. “I’m pretty sure you spilled one of your darkest secrets last month over two margaritas and a plate of cheese fries.”
“See, that doesn’t count,” I said, raising a finger. “That was avery emotionally vulnerable week. Also, the cheese fries were aggressively salty.”
“You told me you accidentally sexted your pastor thanks to autocorrect.”
“I meant to sayfeeling blessed,notfeeling breast. It was an honest mistake!”
Casey smirked. “I’m not sure that I expected you to label your sister’s wedding as a platform for your dark secrets, but I’m intrigued now.”
I scoffed, because evidently the cheese fries hadn’t been enough to throw her off the scent.
Before she could dig any deeper into my wretched past, we reached the back of the bar, where our group had staked out a couple of booths like pirates laying claim to treasure. Parker, Jace, Riley, Matty, and Ophelia were already there, laughing and shouting over the music like they were hosting a frat party on karaoke night.
“I was about to come find you!” Parker purred, reaching out to take Casey’s hand and pulling her into the booth.
“As if you weren’t watching me the entire time,” Casey said, sounding amused as she slid in beside him.
Parker looked entirely unbothered by the callout, and I didn’t doubt the statement at all. Parker Davis wasobsessedwith my bestie. And that wasn’t an exaggeration. He’d literally seen her in class last year, and that was it. He was all in.
