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Congratulations! Your novella “Coastal Fling” is now live and available for distribution.
I let out a sigh of relief, but my eyes catch the smiling faces of my two friends through the window. A guilty reflection stares back at me, the snake of regret wrapping around my throat.
Your friends don’t need to know everything about you, right?
* * *
“I wantto finish off by saying”—Nico smiles widely at the newlyweds—“welcome to the family, Ave.” He makes his way to our table, carrying a bottle of champagne. “Now, will you and your beautiful bride raise your glasses?”
Luca doesn’t protest, lifting his and Avery’s empty flutes.
“Just a sec here,” Nico says into the microphone as he momentarily struggles with the cork. He fists the mouth of the bottle to loosen the insulation. “Nothing a little warm-up sesh can’t fix.”
“Hey.” Luca flashes him a glare, but Avery simply laughs, her mascara fighting an incredible battle against her tears.
Servers make their way around the room, setting down glasses of the bubbly liquid at each table. A loud pop echoes, and the guests cheer with applause.
Nico pours himself a hefty serving before topping off his brother’s flute. “Now will our families join me over here,” Nico says, making his way to the front of the room.
I peer through a generous peony centerpiece to look at Avery’s mom, Melissa, and the Navarro boys’ parents, Oscar and Eloisa, who are all entirely amused by Nico’s role as best man.
Everyone, including the newlyweds, at our small round table stand to join Nico, leaving me sitting alone in my chair.
“My eldest is a handful, but not a single day will pass where Luca won’t take care of you,” Eloisa says as she pulls Avery into a brief hug, then returns her hand to her husband’s.
“Lily, get over here. You’re family too.” Avery waves to me to join them.
Her words tug at the tangled strings in my heart. My sister, Kira, didn’t even make me a bridesmaid at her wedding, but my best friend has always been more of a family to me than my own. I make my way over to them and snuggle carefully between Avery and her mom.
“Oh my god, can I join?” Renée, Nico’s date—whom he met on his flight here from New York—pushes her chair back, almost stumbling to the floor.
Looks like someone took to the open bar a little too eagerly.
“Nico, please get your date under control. You promised me that you’d be on your best behavior.” Luca wraps his arm around Avery.
Nico runs over to Renée and helps settle her back into her chair, then whispers something in her ear that contorts her face into a pouty frown.
“Sorry, dude,” he says as he rejoins the other side of the group. He addresses the room once more. “Let’s all raise our glasses to the happy couple, Luca and Avery.” Nico sends his flute into the air in front of him.
My best friend and her husband share another kiss.
The love they share is its own language of wordless gazes and touches that linger longer than time allows. Every moment of yearning makes you want to drink it in.
But even pure emotions easily spoil when someone takes advantage of a feeling as selfless as love. Which is precisely why I keep my little stories tucked safely between the pages of my books.
“Thank you, brother,” Luca says, pulling Nico into an embrace. “That was actually really nice.”
Avery chimes in, saying, “Group hug, everyone.”
Oscar and Eloisa interlock around their sons and Avery. I find my way into the group’s center, snuggling between warm limbs. My eyes connect with Nico’s. He gives me a wide grin, and I can’t help but do the same.
Our balance is thrown off as something rocks into us. I turn just enough for me to see Nico’s date lying on the floor with the heel of her shoe completely snapped off.
“Nico, por favor,” Oscar murmurs to his younger son, who’s finally starting to look guilty for bringing a complete stranger to his brother’s wedding.
He plucks his date off the floor and hauls her out of the ballroom.
