that makes her panties wet. Check.
By the time we reach dessert, I’m so peopled out it isn’t even funny.
I just want to chill out for a bit, attempt to mentally unwind, but no matter what I do, or what I try, nothing is working. I’m a hot ball of mess. Which leads me to this…
My mind is going places.
Getting ideas.
Forming plans it has no business formulating. But I need to break this tension, this stress, this fucking heartbreak hangover somehow. And the only way I can think to break it is—
“Will you be my maid of honor?”
Maia, bless her heart, has been doing all the heavy lifting with me tonight. Chatting away about this and wait… did she just ask me to be her maid of honor?
“It’s stupid, right?” she continues despite my stunned silence. I turn to her, dragging my pathetic ass away from Henry, something I should have done like a hundred times before now.
“You’re serious? Me?” I point to my chest just to confirm.
“Look. I get it. You’ve known me like two months and I’m marrying your brother. It’s weird. But that’s kinda my life, so I’m trying to roll with it. People are already judging the hell out of this.” She waggles a finger between her and Keith. “It’s in magazines and everything, so it must be true,” she states, rolling her eyes derisively. “‘I’m the opportunistic gold digger who got herself knocked up and forced Keith to marry me.’” She puts air quotes around the words. “Anyway, people are nasty and judgmental and you’re not. You’ve never been. It’s going to be a tiny ceremony. Just us” —she waves her hand around the table— “and your family. I thought of asking Vi or Naomi first but you’re going to be my sister. And I really do love you. So…” She trails off, blushing.
“I’m honored. And floored. And hell yes—” I hold up my hand, stopping myself. “Wait, do I have to wear some hideous bridesmaid dress in some crazy pastel like mint green?”
“Is mint green considered a pastel?”
“Humor me.”
She laughs, leaning back against her seat. “No. You can wear whatever you want. I for real don’t care. By the time we do this thing I’ll be large with not one but two children and the idea of fitting into a white dress gives me hives. But your brother is super traditional and wants his ring on my finger before these kids come out. So that’s how it’s gonna be.”
Yeah, I can see that about Keith.
“Well, I’m in. Till death do us part.”
A smile explodes across her face and she reaches out, wrapping me up in a bear hug. “Thank you, Eden,” she whispers to me. “And because you’re doing me this huge solid, I’m going to do one in return for you.” She holds me tighter as I try to pull away. “Henry has been staring at you with a fire in his eyes that has only one way of extinguishing it. And going by the fire in yours when you look at him, I’m thinking you need it too.”
I laugh, despite myself. “My brother will cut a bitch. And then some balls.”
“No, he won’t. Well, okay, I take that back. He might. He did tell Henry not to touch you and I think he was serious on that. But more for your protection than anything else and I don’t think you need protection from Henry the way Keith believes you do. And since nothing has happened yet, I’m not lying by not telling him anything. So don’t tell me anything. Unless you really need to talk to someone and then I’m putting it in the girl vault and by definition, you can’t break that. Even for husbands and baby daddies to be. It’s practically written in the scripture.”
Wow. That strangely makes so much sense.
“You do realize I already have more on my mind than I can handle with this album, right?”
She finally releases me, staring at me with a glint in her eyes that makes me want to squirm.
“I do. I think some extra stress-relieving activities might help with that.”
“Are you suggesting I have some sort of an illicit affair with him?”
She nods her head yes while firmly saying, “No. I would never, ever suggest such a thing. I’m simply saying, we’re in paradise for three weeks. It’s beautiful and romantic, and wow, I mean, just sexy, right? The sun, the heat, the ocean.” She shrugs, picking up her sparkling water and taking a