Page 128 of Fanged Embrace
Maxine
After I abandoned Hunter at the altar and headed back to Addison’s suite to find the other half of the budding union, I assumed my usual role of annoying the hell out of Leah at every possible instance. Love comes in many different forms after all, and I demonstrated mine through meticulously picking petals off her dress while we stood waiting for the wedding procession to begin.
“Will you fucking stop that!” she whisper-screamed in earnest, swatting at me like my hand was a particularly bothersome fly.
“Relax, Leah,” I whispered back, frowning when she shooed my hand away. “Just let me fix this one thing—ow!”
Both of us were bridesmaids in the grand procession, which meant we’d be walking down the aisle ahead of Addison, brandishing flower bouquets and only slightly stealing the show. Because of that, I had to make sure that both of us looked our best—and that meant adjusting Leah’s skirts to lie just right before we stepped out onto the aisle.
Leah, however, wasn’t having any of it. All I did was nudge her waist-sash half an inch and she slapped my arm like a petulant child.
“Maxine, I swear to god—”she hissed, bouquet rattling from the death-grip she had on the stems. “We’re about to walk!”
“But your bow is crooked,” I whispered back. “Croaked bows won’t do. This is a wedding, Leah!”
Leah’s answering smile was one hundred percent teeth, zero percent joy. “Touch it again and I’ll dump these flowers on your head.”
Fair enough. I realigned my own dress instead, smoothing out wrinkles while the piano picked up down the way.
The rooftop aisle stretched ahead of us in glittering fairy-light glory. White runners, rows of chairs, skyline blazing adeep violet behind Hunter, who looked like she was trying not to hyperventilate up front. I offered her a cheery wave—and got a scowl in return.
Our cue came and I hooked my arm through Leah’s. She tensed like a cat in a bathtub but kept smiling for the guests. We stepped forward together and the chatter fell to a hush. It was fun, I liked strutting, and with Leah at my side it felt like we were two models on a runway. Her steps were a little more ‘stomp’ than ‘strut’ but that was fine.
I slid her a side-eye, took in her strained, wobbly smile and the way her gaze kept dropping to her feet like she was afraid of tripping and falling flat on her face. Knowing Leah and her questionable coordination, it was likely, but I was there to catch her if that unfortunate occurrence came to pass.
I tugged at her arm slightly, murmuring under my breath. “You’re doing great.”
She glanced back at me, a quick sweep of her eyes before looking dead ahead again. “Everyone’s staring.”
“Well, yeah. Because we look fabulous.” I turned to spread a smile over the crowd of seated guests, then tilted my head to whisper in her ear. “You’re the prettiest person here.”
“You can’t say that when the bride is right behind us!” she was whisper-screaming again, mortification evident despite the smile she kept plastered on her face.
“The smartest too,” I added for good measure. And sure, maybe it was selfish and a little bit conceited, but to me it was true. In my eyes, Leah was perfect, even if she couldn’t wield a makeup brush to save her life.
She was my exact opposite in almost every single way, but our stark differences were perfectly balanced. If I was sunshine, Leah was the night sky. If I was a flower, she was the tree. I could go on making up metaphors forever, but nothing could truly describe how it felt to stand beside her. She was my counterpart, my twin flame.
We’d orbited each other for most of our childhood and then drifted apart. But we’d found each other again, and nothing would separate us now. The rest of our lives would only bring us closer together, and I was perfectly content to spend all of that infinite supply of time by her side.
“Hey,” I moved my lips ever so slightly to whisper again. “This is really nice, don’t you think?”
She offered the barest shrug as we inched toward the end of the aisle. “Yeah, it’s actually not too bad.”
“I was thinking…” I shot her another sidelong glance, clutching my bouquet tighter. “We should do a wedding of our own sometime.”
Leah’s smile remained frozen in place but the flower stems in her bouquet creaked abruptly. “Maxine,” she muttered slowly, “you cannot propose to me at your best friend’s wedding. That’s so incredibly disrespectful.”
“Oh, I’m not proposing,” I lied blithely. “Merely floating the concept. You’d look so pretty, though. Besides, I already have our dresses picked. Actually, I’ve got the whole event planned out. Scrapbook, mood boards, the works. I’m thinking ice sculptures?—”
“Later,” she hissed, cheeks pinking under her makeup. “We will talk about this later.”
But her pulse thumped faster where my arm brushed hers, and that blush? Priceless. I grinned, facing forward as we neared the altar. Hunter’s eyes were shiny, Addison was seconds from ugly-crying behind us, and beside me, Leah’s heart hammered like a hummingbird, light and fluttery in my ears.
Later, sure. Later I’d ask properly. For now, I tucked the moment away like it was a rare jewel.
Hell yes, was what she’d said without saying it out loud. And me? I marched her the rest of the way down the aisle with a massive smile on my face, already envisioning the ice sculptures.
Leah
