“Always be open to the unexpected, and you may find that life surprises you in the best possible way,” Barbie added.
A little of the heavy lifted from Em’s shoulders.
“And the last part?” Barbie made ac’monmotion with her hands.
“It’s important that you enjoy the day, since it’s a party,” Em finished.
Barbie smiled hugely. “Iknewyou’d remember.”
“You know.” Emmaline grabbed her handbag. “Some friends might have talked about how a wedding is the beginning of the rest of your life.”
“Those friends would be wrong. They never met Tony, for one.” Barbie flattened her lips into a line. “Also, the wedding is only a party. The marriage is the part that you’ve got to worry about.” Barbie reached for Em’s hand and did a shimmy shake. “The point is, today you get to enjoy the party.”
On that note, they did the goodbye schtick and headed to the waiting limo.
Em climbed in first. Then Ethan.
The interior running lights of the limo danced in a vibrant display of red, blue, and yellow, their LED hues interchanging as if they were en route to a pulsating nightclub rather than a wedding. Meanwhile, outside, a drizzle began to form, its tiny droplets peppering the windows. This was no torrential downpour, but rather a subtle reminder that the world beyond remained beyond their control.
Ethan rolled up the divider between the back and the front so it was only the two of them.
His arm came around her shoulder and he tenderly traced the curls along her neckline, gently wrapping them around his fingertip before letting them fall back to the cascade of her spirals. The whole style would likely be wrecked if he continued with that, but it felt beyond nice, so she was not going to say a peep.
Then he kissed her, but he didn’t take it further like he usually did. Instead, his eyes grew even warmer in a way she didn’t know was really possible.
“I care about you a lot, Em,” Ethan whispered the words, husky, and in such a way they seemed to brush against her skin.
She leaned into him and said softly, “This is how we end it, then? Caring about each other?”
He cleared his throat. “And if we didn’t? End it?”
Then that would be dangerous for her heart.
“I’m falling into a whole lot of like with you,” she admitted.
She swallowed because this was a gigantic step for her. Admission that he meant more than she’d been willing to acknowledge. “What I mean is—”
“I know what you mean.” He pinned her with his gaze, held her in the warmth of them. “I know. Same.”
Her cheeks got a little hotter at that acknowledgement because she absolutely believed him.
“What does this mean, then?” she asked.
He wasn’t like the others she’d rubbed elbows with. He was really just Ethan from up the street, nothing more. Which made him everything.
His expression relaxed. His shoulders seemed to hold less tension, and his hands fell to her waist. “We keep on.”
That declaration made her heartthu-thunkmore quickly against her ribs.
She reached for his hand for reassurance because this was a big ask. Then she lifted her mouth again to his ear, and intimately asked, in a barely there, whisper, “Keep on?”
There were butterflies now in her stomach. A whole heap of them fluttering around so much it made her dizzy.
“We make a good pair,” he said. “I mean, why not?”
“Why not?” She let out a long breath. “And the girls?”
“I have a feeling they’ve been playing a bit of matchmaker of late.” He pursed his lips. “With bracelets and such.”
