Page 52 of Miami Confessions

“Baby, take a deep breath.”

“Did…did you just call me ‘baby’?”

“Um, sorry,” he stammered.

“No, it’s okay. I just…didn’t think we were at the pet name stage of our relationship.”

“Relationship hey?”

I glared at him again, but felt my heart flutter in my chest. He leaned in to kiss me, but my phone started buzzing on the table, and I wasn’t about to miss this call.

“Hello? Yes it is. Okay, great. Thank you so much.”

I ended the call and stood up, longing for just a few more minutes alone with Dylan.

“The caterer is here. I need to get back to Ella. But I’ll see you in a while, baby,” I said with a wink.

Dylan was silent as I walked out of the room, and I hoped that my ass looked at least somewhat decent in these pajamas.

When I arrived backin Ella’s suite, the photographer was snapping photos of everyone in their matching pajamas. Ella’s makeup was done, and she had donned a plastic crown adorned with white feathers. She was wearing a bright pink sash that read “Bride” across her chest, and she looked every bit as happy as I hoped she would be.

I jumped onto the bed with the other girls as I grabbed a mimosa, and started posing for the camera. The laughter of some of the best women in the world filled my ears as we talked and joked and hugged each other.

As the restof the morning wore on, the rest of us got our hair and makeup done and started to slip into our gold dresses. Out of all the weddings I had been in (and that was many), these were by far my favorite bridesmaid’s dresses.

Ella had impeccable taste, and it was reflected in every aspect of her wedding. I spent the entire morning feeling so fortunate that she was my best friend, which, in turn, led me to feeling immense guilt for keeping something so big from her.

I knew this weekend wasn’t the time to tell her about me and Dylan, but I knew I had to do it soon. I was the happiest I had been in years, and it was all thanks to her brother. Her brother who I once thought was an insensitive jackass. Somehow, I had fallen head over heels in love with him, but this wasn’t the time or place to be telling that to Ella.

Finally,the time arrived to head down to the ceremony. All of the bridesmaids and groomsmen had a room to gather in while we waited for the guests to arrive, but Ella had a special room all to herself.

It was adorned with mirrors and had a massive window that looked out to the beach. Ella’s stress and anxiety from earlier in the day seemed to have melted away, and she was much more relaxed now. It could have been from all the mimosas she drank, but I like to think I had something to do with it, too.

“I’m going to go make sure everyone is ready. I’ll be right back,” I said giving Ella a squeeze.

“Wait.”

“What is it?” I asked, turning to look at her.

“Am I making the right decision?”

“You love Jonas, don’t you?”

“More than anything in the world.”

“Then you are absolutely making the right decision.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Are you really having doubts about it?”

“I think I’m just nervous. Will you go find Dylan?”

The sound of his name struck me to the heart. I wanted to go find Dylan and keep him all to myself, but Ella’s needs came first.

“Of course.”

I slipped out of the room and down the hall to where everyone else was waiting. When I peeked inside, Dylan was nowhere to be found. My heart started racing, and I instantly went into panic mode. Of all the things that could go wrong, we absolutely could not be missing Dylan. He was supposed to walk Ella down the aisle in less than an hour, and he wasn’t even there yet.

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