Ritual - Palm South University

I knew what I was asking of him was hard when I asked it. Accepting that I wanted to be friends with my ex-boyfriend? That’s a sticky demand for anyone to make, let alone with the history the three of us had.

But whether it was talking to Jeremy or realizing that he was still friends with Skyler without me having an issue with it, he came around. And more than anything, he showed me that he trusts me, that even if he doesn’t love the idea of me being friends with Grayson, he understands why I want to be, and why it’s important to me, and most importantly, that he can trust me to keep that friend zone firm.

It means more to me than anything else in our relationship, that earnest trust and support.

And it’s a giant step for us as a couple.

My heart has been afloat on the wings of butterflies ever since that night in the tent on the key, and a permanent smile is my favorite accessory. I’m wearing said smile the Sunday before Thanksgiving as the girls and I shop for semi-formal dresses, each of us filtering through the racks at our favorite dress boutique and piling hangers on our arms.

“Well, I’m glad you two worked it out,” Skyler says, eyeballing a red, glittery dress before putting it back on the rack. “I was worried there for a second.”

“Me, too,” Erin confesses. “But then again, I don’t think Adam could ever let you go — not now that he finally got you.”

I blush, passing up an emerald floor-length dress that caught my eye and running my fingers over a white one, instead. “Well, I want to hold onto him, too. So I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Indeed, it is,” Erin says, squeezing my arm as she passes.

“Gah, why does every dress make my ass look so large?” Jess huffs, dramatically exiting the little dressing room with the curtains flying up behind her. She hangs her hands on her hips, turning around to show us said ass in a tight-fitting and rouched gold dress. “I mean, look at this.”

She grabs both her cheeks and jiggles them to the tune of our laughter, and Ashlei smacks her ass for good measure. “I’d hit that.”

“I’m sure Kade won’t mind your ass being highlighted,” Skyler remarks, arching a brow before making her way into the dressing room next to Jess.

“He might if it busts through the fabric and everyone else gets to see it, too.” Jess mumbles to herself, shaking her head and flinging the curtains back on the dressing room, slipping inside it again.

“How’s that going, anyway?” I ask, taking a seat on the bench outside the row of dressing rooms once I have an arm full of dresses. “How was your first real date?”

Jess pokes her head out, giving me a thoughtful look. “Honestly? It was… surprising.”

“How so?” Ashlei asks, joining us from where she’d been picking out a couple of short numbers from the return rack.

“He was such a gentleman… all dressed up and fancy. Took me to this super nice restaurant. We talked, laughed, shared feelings and things.” She wrinkles her nose. “And, he wouldn’t fuck me at the end of the night.”

Ashlei balks. “What? Why?”

“He said he won’t until the third date.”

Erin barks out a laugh from the dressing room. “I like him.”

“Anyway,” Jess says, disappearing behind the curtain again. “I had a great time. I just also am ready to get these next two dates over with so we can bang again.”

I snort a laugh just as Skyler walks out in a rose gold baby doll dress. Ashlei and I both shake our heads in unison.

“Too innocent,” Ashlei says. “You look like you’re twelve.”

“Aw, I thought the color was pretty,” Skyler says on a pout, twirling and watching herself in the mirror. When she stops, she nods. “But, you’re right. Next!”

“Are you excited for your trip to California on Tuesday, Little?” Erin asks beside her.

“Ugh. I’m dying. I feel like I’ve been staring at the clock since I booked my flight last month.” She sighs. “I just can’t wait to be in Kip’s arms.”

“I bet he can’t wait to be in your pants,” Jess murmurs.

I chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t know how y’all do it. Just being apart from Adam for a couple weeks drove me insane. And we were still on the same campus. Like, if I wanted to see him, I could.” I shake my head. “It’s got to be maddening to have so much distance between you guys.”

“It sucks. A lot,” Sky confesses, emerging again at the same time Erin does. They look at each other and burst out into laughter when they see they’re in the same dress, and then they’re gone again, a wave of curtains floating behind them. “But,” she adds. “This is the way it needs to be for now. I’ve got another year here, and he’s just getting started at his dream school. We can make it work.”