“Probably.”
“Anyway! You have to admit,” Luna says, grinning into the mirror, “Mom’s being kind of amazing this week.”
“She is,” I agree, smiling.
“I mean, everyone’s been pretty great.” Luna glances over at me, and something softens in her face. “I’m so glad Beckett’s here. I almost thought, just with how busy he’s been lately—well, I worried that he might not make it. This cruise, the wedding. It’s a lot for anyone, but we would’ve missed him. And I thinkyou would’ve missed him too.” She drops her gaze down to her lap. The cape flutters a little, and I can picture her hands twisting together under there. “He’s… taking good care of you, right?”
My stomach does a funny little twist.
She’s so happy—stupidly, joyfully, wedding-week happy.
So I smile. “Very.”
She lowers her voice. “Even with the piercing?”
I frown. “How did?—”
“Noah told me. I was mad, on your behalf, at first, since he can’t, well, you know, for like… for a long time. But it’s actually really sweet. Don’t you think?”
“Are they talking about that on the group chat?”
Luna doesn’t meet my eyes.
God. I can’t even begin to make sense of how messed up this is getting.
Last night flickers through me—hot and sharp.
Not just the way he touched me before… but later.
The steady sound of his footsteps returning to the suite just before dawn.
How I kept still, breathing slow, pretending to sleep—because I needed to believe he’d come back.
Because some part of me still does.
“So is he?” Luna asks again, nudging.
“We get creative.”
The truth is easier than another lie.
She’s still giggling, and I’m just shaking my head, when the stylist lifts the newly altered veil and gently places it over Luna’s hair.
Something about the moment—the hush that falls, the way the tulle floats like a blessing—stops me cold.
“Oh,” I breathe. “You look beautiful.”
Luna meets my eyes in the mirror. We both laugh. But we’re also both blinking furiously.
Because it’s real now. It’s happening.
My sister is getting married.
And I… I’m not sure what I’m doing.
THE RESORT
ASHLEY
