Page 114 of What's in a Kiss?

I’m on a plane flying to New York, jubilant with excitement to see my long-distance boyfriend.

I’m on a plane flying to LA, counting the days until he’ll visit me in two months.

I’m taking acting classes at night.

I’m standing backstage on the first day ofEverything’s Jake.

I’m on a ferry to Catalina with Jake, Masha, Eli, and my mom, to celebrate her fifty-fifth birthday.

I’m holding the keys to the first rental house Jake and I share in Laurel Canyon.

I’m on a couch with my feet in his lap, writing a lesson plan for my drama class at LAUSD.

I’m readingPodcasting for Dummies.

I’m at the mixer in my mom’s garage, slurping gyokuro andlaughing with her and Jake as we discussGet Out of Your Inner Hero’s Way, which I think I finally read.

I’m standing at Masha and Eli’s intimate gold palette wedding, gazing at Jake Glasswell, who’s gazing at me. There’s a hazy dreamlike quality to the moment that tells me I haven’t landed where I’m going yet. That I’m here temporarily for a reason. I grasp that this wedding is happening because Jake and I just rescued Yogi Dan from the weed café. This wedding is happening because ten years ago at prom I ditched Eli to hang out with Jake. In a moment, the two of us will give our readings. Jake will win, and that’s okay. I know something he doesn’t, that we’re on the brink of a brand-new world. I smile at him. I can’t help it. It takes him a second, but then he smiles back—

Flash.

I’m back in darkness, seeing nothing, but knowing everything: I could have met this man a thousand ways. We could fall in love a thousand times, in a thousand places, with a thousand sets of circumstances. We could write a thousand different love stories, and the details would be different, but our hearts would be the same.

Here. There. Everywhere. All the wheres in all the worlds. Always.

“I love you, Jake Glasswell!” I sing out into the void with joyful certainty, just as light blooms again in my periphery, and the ground beneath me shakes, and Yogi Dan’s voice says from over my shoulder:

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Masha?” I spin to face the bride. Our eyes lock, and I can see the change in her immediately. It’s all there between us—our history, our laughter, tears, and love. I’m back at her real wedding. I’m back where I belong.

“This is your wedding dress,” my voice breaks as my fingers trace the tulle of her gown. “This is your wedding hair.” With trembling hands, I pat, very gently, her bouffant. I look up at the canopy above us, lightly threaded through with ranunculus. “This is your gold wedding palette. And your eighteen wedding guests—”

“This is it.” Masha reaches for my hand and squeezes. She’s smiling, the only bride in history who would patiently indulge such an interruption at the climax of her wedding ceremony. “You good, Liv?”

Tears well in my eyes. I lift our clasped hands and press them to my heart. “This is your maid of honor.”

Masha nods, biting back a laugh. “Last time I checked.”

“What is she going on about?” Eli says in Masha’s ear.

“Oh fuck,” I gasp. “Did I just wreck your wedding?”

“Not yet,” America’s Sexiest Voice says in my ear. “But you’re dancing near the edge.”

Slowly, I turn to face Jake, and oh my God, he’s gorgeous. Ifeel my body light up at the sight of him and it must be obvious that I’m glowing, but then—

It occurs to me that while I was on my kaleidoscopic voyage through every love story with Jake, I don’t know exactly when I landed back in my Real Life. Specifically: was it before or after I publicly proclaimed my love for Jake at Masha’s altar?

“Did I say anything... unexpected just now?” I whisper.

“As a matter of fact, you did.” Jake smiles.

“I can explain—”

“Olivia,” Eli cuts me off. “All you said wasGlasswell. Can we continue? I’ve got a bride to kiss.”

---