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They could plan their weddings together. Mia actually couldn’t wait to talk wedding talk with Gabby. Especially about her dress.
Which sounded like a wonderful time to tell her.
She was the worst coward in the world. Not to mention the worst friend because she couldn’t tell her the truth yet.
How could she?
She didn’t even know why Jaxson hadn’t responded to her. That could be her sign things were finally turning out the way she always thought they would. They were done. No relationship to be had.
“I have a secret, too.” Then before she chickened out, she drew out her old sketch pad. Her new one was in her tote as well, but she hadn’t had a chance to redraw Gabby’s dress yet. She turned it to the page she had been working on tirelessly the last few weeks. It still wasn’t perfect, but it was darn near close to what she envisioned.
“I’ve been drawing a little bit. Ignore the hole, obviously. But it’s a—“
“Wedding dress,” Gabby said breathlessly as she took the sketch pad from her. Tears started to glisten in her eyes. “You drew this for me, didn’t you?”
Mia nodded.
The top half of the dress was heart-shaped with intricate beadwork layered all over. Even little heart beads that Mia thought were a nice touch to add to the shape of it. The bottom half would be a shimmery white; it simply didn’t show on the paper. It had a mermaid design because she knew it would complement Gabby’s figure the best. It was simple, yet elegant.
“You don’t have to wear it. It was just me doodling and stuff.”
Gabby shrieked—happily and very loudly—as she pulled Mia into a tight hug. “Shut up, woman. This is gorgeous. I need this for my wedding. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Yeah? You mean it?”
“Oh, I mean it. This shit is beyond amazing. I can’t wait to show, Dane.”
Mia snatched her pad back and scowled, teasingly, of course. “The groom is not allowed to see the wedding dress before the wedding. You can’t show him.”
“Fine. Can I at least show Jaxson?”
A shiver rippled through her. “Yes.”
“I swear, you could open your own fashion studio or whatever it’s called. You have such a talent, Mia. I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
She half-shrugged, embarrassed by the praise. Even though she should be used to it from Gabby by now, she always got embarrassed when people complimented her.
“I wasn’t sure you’d like it, and I don’t want you to wear it because it makes me feel good. I only want you to wear it if you truly love it. Promise me?”
Gabby grabbed her by the shoulders as a huge smile lit up her face. “It’s amazing and I’ll disown you as a friend if you don’t make it for me. How’s that for how much I love it?”
“It’ll do,” she replied with her own large smile.
Yet, deep inside, her heart was breaking.
Gabby could still disown her when she found out the other secret she was keeping from her. A secret that honestly didn’t need to be a secret.
Or did it?
Jaxson still hadn’t returned her text.
15
“It’s good seeing your ugly face. I should ask Elliot to send me a copy of your mugshot. It’ll be nice to use it in the future when I need something from you.”
Mase laughed. The first honest one since Mase video called him. The call had been stilted at first. Sure, they had talked last night after he was released from jail, but not much was said. What was there to say? He wanted his brother to forget about this woman, and his brother wanted to run into her arms without thinking things through.
“You know I’ll do whatever you need without the damn photo.” A smug grin appeared. “It was a pretty nice photo. I was having a good hair day.”
