Page 98 of Between Love and War
“What do you mean?” Emily asks. It’s only the two of us now. Haley’s helping with the set ups while Bon is waiting for Ryan to come home.
I let out a breath. “I mean… being beautiful is kind of your thing.”
She opens her mouth, but I rush to explain, “Not in a bitter way! You’re literally the most stunning person I know. Like, it’s actually unfair sometimes. And even last year, when you were going through that whole crisis about your job and your ex and whatever, I still thought you had it together. I still looked at you and thought, God, she’s so cool. I just… I wish I had even a sliver of that confidence.”
Emily blinks at me, then walks over and stands beside me. “Katherine Cruz,” she says, using my full name like I’m in trouble. “Did you forget? I faked it. The confidence. The poise. Even the relationship.”
I glance at her, surprised.
She shrugs. “No one really knows what’s going on in anyone else’s head. I was just trying to convince everyone I was okay until I actually started to believe it. Half the time, confidence is just showing up and pretending like you belong. Eventually, it sticks.”
She nudges me. “And I know this sudden self-doubt isn’tjustabout your dress or confidence. This is about Michael.”
I make a face. “It’s not.”
Emily raises an eyebrow, all too pleased with herself. “You’re wearing the prettiest dress of your life, you’ve been quiet and dreamy all morning, and you’ve checked your phone five times even though no one’s messaged. Just admit it.”
“I am not dreamy,” I mutter.
She grins. “Sure, Cinderella. Keep telling yourself that. But let me know when you’re ready to admit you’re totally in love with the hot basketball player who also won’t admit that he’s totally in love with you too.”
I roll my eyes, but my heart thumps louder than it should.
Maybe tonight, I get to be someone who turns heads. Someone who gets a second look.
I do feel like Cinderella. If Cinderella had anxiety and a very real fear of love.
Someone knocks on my door, and I immediately get nervous. Because my mother wouldn’t knock. Haley and Bon wouldn’t knock.
Emily gives me a look that’s practically dripping with mischief. “I’ll get it,” she says, already standing.
Before I can say anything, she opens the door—and there he is. Michael.
He’s in a deep navy suit that somehow makes him look both painfully handsome and even taller. His hair is pushed back, and he’s holding something in his hand. A lavender corsage. He really did get me one.
His eyes land on me instantly and stay there. He looks at me from head to toe, and I wiggle my toes because I realize I don’t have shoes yet.
“Hey,” he says with a chuckle, soft and a little stunned.
“I should go,” Emily says, shooting me one last glance.
“Oh—sorry,” Michael says, only now seeming to register her presence. “I didn’t see you there.”
And I blink.
Didn’t see her?
How could he not see her? She’sEmily. People stop in grocery aisles to admire her.
Emily smiles knowingly. “Well, bye, guys,” she says under her breath, slipping past him. Before she closes the door behind her, she winks at me, and I smile.
I’m frozen. My hands are slightly sweaty. My heart is—well, jumping out of my chest and crawling underneath Michael’s.
Michael walks toward me. “You look…” He trails off, gaze moving from my hair to the hem of my dress. “Beautiful. Butyou look like you. Sorry. That was weird. Just, you look both different and still very much the same. And that’s beautiful… uh… yeah.”
He slips off the corsage from the box and asks for my hand. Instinctively, I give it to him. He slips the ribbon around my wrist, his fingers brushing my skin as he secures the bow. The contact is brief, but it zings up my arm like someone flipped a switch. Like a firefly blinking to life just under my skin.
He looks up, and I swear his breath hitches too.
