She sniffed and smiled. “I can’t. I have to get skinny to fit into my wedding dress.” She had to be joking. Rory was curvy and gorgeous. She didn’t need to lose a single pound.
“You’re messing with me,” I said, and she grinned.
“Yup. Lucah would kill me if I lost any weight, especially if it was from my ass.” True.
“So what you’re telling me is that I should make your dress assless, so you can show off the goods?”
She put on a serious expression. “Absolutely.”
~*~*~
I didn’t ask what Lucah and Ryder were doing, or where they thought Rory was. I hoped they weren’t going to be taking any trips down the hall to come and visit.
“Don’t worry. I told Lucah I needed some time,” she said as if she’d read my mind.
“Oh, that’s fine.” Tonight I didn’t want to make my usual fancy meal. Okay, so I was still being a little fancy, putting truffles on a four cheese pizza and serving an arugula salad as a side.
“So, if we have a salad with pizza, those two things cancel each other out, right?” Rory said, sipping a glass of Prosecco I’d found in the back of my cabinets.
“They do. I think it’s been proven in a study,” I said, sprinkling the cheese on top of the pizza crust and then adding the bits of chopped truffle. I was going to drizzle truffle oil on it as well. Orgasmic.
“Well, as long as there’s a study.” Her phone went off, and she read the message that came in with a frown.
“Everything okay?” I asked as I shoved the pizza in the oven.
“Yeah, fine.” She set the phone down and looked up at me.
“Sure, I believe you,” I said, setting the timer for the pizza to bake.
“It was Lucah. He’s just . . . he’s having issues with Ryder. I swear, that boy is twenty-three but acts like a toddler. I’ve had to stop myself from screaming at him on several occasions. At least this time he’s not trying to catch me naked in the shower.” She rolled her eyes and drained her glass. I filled it back up for her. “He’s just so damn frustrating,” she said, slamming her fist on the counter.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. He was more than frustrating. He was sexy and funny and confusing, and an asshole and damaged and a wreck.
But I still loved him.
“Do you think, maybe, that you’ll be able to get to a good place with him?” she asked, sipping her Prosecco.
“I don’t know,” I said, being honest. “I really don’t know. It’s only been a few days and it’s all too much to think about. I’m concentrating on work right now.” I told her about the fashion show, and she got really excited.
“Thank your mom for me. I got a really good deal, so I’m not going to have to sell my organs online to try and pay for it.”
Rory laughed. “I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
“Never,” I said, raising my fist. “Ye can take our lives, but ye cannae take my sarcasm!” Yet another thing that qualified Rory as excellent best friend material was her ability to laugh at my jokes, no matter how bad they were.
“Christ, I’ve missed you. I know it’s been, like, two days but damn. Let’s promise to never do that again,” she said.
I grabbed her hands and held them in mine, looking deeply into her eyes.
“I promise that I will never forsake you for anything, Rory soon-to-be Clarke-Blythe.”
She stared back at me and squeezed my hands. “And I promise that I will never forsake you either, my dearest friend.” Of course we both cracked and ended up laughing.
“You know, there should really be a thing that friends can do that’s like marriage. The closest thing to commitment I can think of is getting matching tattoos,” I said.
Her eyes lit up. “Um, that is actually a fantastic idea.”
I didn’t think she’d be up for it, which was why I never mentioned it before now.