Page 4 of Never Really Mine
My heart stops beating. I never could have anticipated this. I thought… Well, I thought he’d be happy for us.
“I disagree,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to mask my pain. I need to stand up for her. Forus.
Gabriel sighs. “I thought you might say that. Hear me out,” he says. “It’s not because I think you aren’t good for her. I just… I think you both need to focus on school and where this year is going to take you. Who knows, you might end up three states over and in a long-distance relationship. Your friendship is too important.”
I inwardly scoff, my annoyance growing with each passing second. They don’t understand. I need her to breathe, to be the person that I am. “We could make it work. I know we could,” I argue. “I can come home every weekend, and we will talk all the time. She’s worth it.”
My dad shakes his head. “You’re not getting it, Beau. What happens if you break up? Or she shoots you down? What if you meet someone else at school? We are trying to protect you both, and the friendship you already have.”
He continues, ignoring me when I try to interject. “We know how close you two are, and we don’t want you two to lose each other. We aren’t saying never… just maybe think things over really hard before you dive in.” Dad winces slightly, as if he knows they’ve just ripped my heart into a million pieces. What they don’t know is that I’m capable of reading between the lines.
We don’t want you to ruin your friendship, which actually meansyou’re not good enough for my daughter.
I’m too much of a flight risk. She needs someone steady, who knows where they’re going in life. I don’t even know what dayof the week it is, or what classes I’m taking this fall. But I know Marley. I know her life story. I know her favorite color, down to the exact shade. I know that she prefers tea over coffee, that her favorite tv show isFriends, but only until season eight, because then she knows the end is coming and it makes her sad.
I know how to pull her out when she’s sinking and can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I know that she can’t sleep without music, and I know that I will love her until the day I die.
I shove away from the table, trying to hide the sheer agony. I never want to feel this embarrassment ever again. Two people I look up to most in the world just told me not to ask my best friend out, to not take things further, so maybe… maybe that is my sign to live with the pain of knowing I’m not good for her. With the pain of knowing what her lips feel like on mine, never to feel it again.
“Are you even paying attention to me?” a shrill voice brings me back to the present.
I wince, running my hands through my hair as I glance around at the other people in the restaurant. “I’m sorry, Ashley,” I say. “I enjoyed our time together, but I think we need to move on.”
The tears in her eyes dry immediately, and she straightens her back, adjusting her platinum blonde ponytail. “If that’s what you really want.”
The sudden change in her demeanor sends a chill down my spine. She’s done this a few times with me before, but I’ve never seen it happen so aggressively, so cold and collected.
I nod, ignoring the emotional whiplash from her, and spare another glance in her direction.
“Don’t come crawling back to me when she rejects you, Beau Cunningham.” Ashley points a finger at me. “Because she will. She will never love you the way I do.”
At a loss for words, I nod again, watching as she scoots her chair back and stands, twiddling her fingers at me. She spins, her ponytail flying at the aggression, as she hikes her massive purse over her shoulder. The contents inside rattle, as she heads to the door without giving me a second glance.
A weight lifts from my chest as she exits the small restaurant. I feel like a free man, though Ashley’s words sting a bit. I’m never going to be good enough for Marley, no matter how hard I try. She deserves so much more than me. More than the kid who has never been able to confess how much he really needs her. More than the kid who allowed his dad to convince him he wasn’t right for her.
3
MARLEY
6 MONTHS LATER
“You know, we wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, Marley,” Josie says.
I wave her off, taking a sip of the dry wine, the flavor bursting over my tongue before sliding down my throat. “Yes you would,” I scoff. “You of all people know that Andrew would have moved mountains to find you.”
Josie shrugs, her cheeks pinkening as she takes a sip of her wine. She glances over at her soon to be husband across the room, and he must feel her gaze. He turns, winking before turning back to his conversation with his brother, Beau, and best friend Isaac.
Just over a year ago, Josie and Andrew met when she was the working florist for Isaac’s wedding to his wife, Megan. They hit it off immediately, but Josie left before Andrew could get any of her information.
Lucky for them, I was able to convince them both to be my first test subjects of a blind date photoshoot, for my studio, Chrysalis Photography.
Anyone could see that it was practically love at first sight for them. Now, a year later, we’re here at the place they first met, ready to celebrate that love. Josie has become one of my best friends, even more so now that we work next door to each other.
I purchased my own studio space last summer, and have moved my business from weddings and events, to more intimate sessions, like boudoir, single or couple, and engagement sessions. I’ve done five or six additional blind date photoshoots, and they always are a hit on my social media.
The wedding is at a Meadow Grove Winery, where Josie is contracted as their florist for events, and where they first met. Andrew’s best friend, Isaac is the new general manager after his parents retired last summer.
