We wait for her backstage after the show, and I watch in awe as bigwigs approach her, putting in countless orders to stock herline, and damn it, the grin on my face is starting to hurt my cheeks. Tonight is exactly what I’ve been needing.
Every day has been a struggle for me, dealing with the guilt of everything that’s gone down. We had Dr. McKullan’s funeral this morning , and Anders was laid to rest just yesterday, and they were the hardest things I’ve ever sat through. And while I’m sure I’m overthinking this, I couldn’t help but feel as though every time somebody looked my way, they were blaming me, accusing me of taking away their friend, and it gutted me. I’ve spent days sitting in the shower, crying my eyes out, but no amount of time can take away the pain.
But tonight, watching Izzy shine is going a long way to heal something that’s very broken inside me.
We wait for Izzy for almost an hour, watching as the hair and makeup artists rush around, cleaning up their stations, and Izzy’s team racks all the designs and stuffs them back into their garment bags.
It’s a beautiful chaos back here, and while it’s not my kind of chaos, it’s right up Izzy’s alley.
Once everything is done, Izzy finally sets her sights on us, and as she makes her way over with a beaming smile, both Ace and Diesel try to beat one another to her, but they aren’t as fast as me. I slip right past them before throwing my arms around my best friend. “Holy fucking shit,” I tell her. “That was incredible.”
“Thanks,” she says. “You really think so? I wasn’t expecting such an amazing turnout. The editor of Vogue was here.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “No way! Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Holy shit, Iz. That’s huge.”
“Yeah, she requested a meeting with me next week,” she tells me. “This could mean huge things for my brand.”
“Huge?” I scoff. “It’s enormous. Massive. Gigantic. No, it’s colossal!”
Izzy laughs and shoves my shoulder before Ace barrels past me, physically stealing Izzy out of my arms. He scoops her up and pulls her against his chest before spinning her around and planting a kiss on her cheek. “That was fucking amazing.” He beams at her like the perfect golden retriever. “We’re taking you out. We need to celebrate.”
“Yeah?” she says as he settles her back on her feet.
Diesel steps into her other side, slipping his arm around her waist and pulling her in, his fingers going to her chin and gently lifting until she’s staring straight through to his soul. “Yeah, Izabelle,” he murmurs. “You should be celebrated every night of your goddamn life.”
Well, shit. Why did that make my stomach drop right out of my ass?
Ace scoffs as he tugs on Izzy’s arm, pulling her just an inch away from Diesel and breaking the hold he has over her. “Laying it on thick, don’t you think, man?”
Diesel just glares at his friend. “Don’t hate on me just because you’ve got shit game.”
“Goddamn it,” Knight murmurs, slipping his hand into mine. “It’s going to be a rough night.”
An hour later, I sit on Knight’s lap, his arm wrapped around my waist as Ace scowls across the bar, watching Diesel shamelessly flirt with Izzy, and there’s no denying it, she’s eating up everything he’s dishing out.
“Quit sulking, man,” Knight tells Ace. “If you want her, you’re going to have to go and get her, but you know Diesel, he’s not going to give her up without a fight.”
Ace’s shoulders sink as he reaches for his glass and takes a long drink. “That’s what I’m worried about,” he says. “I know we fight over girls all the time, and generally, it’s all just surface-level shit, but with Izzy, it feels different.”
I gaze at Ace until his attention sweeps to me. “Yes?” he asks, arching a brow.
“Are you in love with my best friend?”
He gapes at me, his eyes going wide with fear as though the concept of possibly being in love with someone absolutely terrifies him. “I, uhhh, ummm. No. I—no.” Ace hastily reaches for his glass again, awkwardly averting his stare as he throws back what’s left of his drink, looking anywhere but at me, all while Knight silently laughs because there’s no doubting it now. We both saw it loud and clear in his eyes. He’s absolutely, wholeheartedly, crazy in love with Izabelle Grace Davenport. The only problem is, he has no clue that he is. I dare say that Diesel feels the same.
“Fuck it,” Ace mutters. “Diesel can catch the next one. Izzy’s mine.”
He gets up, and Knight instinctively shuffles me off his lap, seeing exactly where this is going, and judging by the way Ace strides over toward Diesel and Izzy on the dance floor, I’d dare say he knows it too.
“Fuck, this isn’t going to go down well,” Knight tells me, watching everything with a keen eye.
“You’re the one who told him he’s gotta swoop in and take her if he wants her. Whatever’s about to happen here, this is on you.”
“Shit.”
