Page 132 of Bridesmaid Undercover
“I…I never thought of her that way.”
“And now you are.”
“I’m just…fuck, I feel all sorts of confused.”
“It looks like it.” She softly pats my hand again. “Probably not what you want to hear, but I do think it’s kind of funny that you had no idea when it was so obvious. Even at the bridal shower, I had my suspicions, but I was just playing along with whatever you guys wanted.”
“Yeah,” I reply distantly, my mind still reeling.
I think about Everly a lot.
When I was in Almond Bay and in The Almond Store, I thought about getting her one of the mugs from the store, but opted for cookies instead, knowing she would like them better.
This morning, when I was drinking out of my mug, I thought about how pretty she looked that night, dressed in red, her eyes shining.
On the way to the zoo, I was hoping she emailed me, but when no message from her was to be found in my inbox, I felt the need to text, anything to just hear from her…
“Jesus Christ,” I say, my feelings hitting me harder than I ever could have imagined. I drag my hand over my face and stare down at the table. “Fuck, Maple, do you think it was obvious to her?”
“I’m not sure,” Maple says. “It seemed like you guys were in your own little world. I wouldn’t be able to say. And would that be a bad thing?”
“Yes,” I say. “I don’t…fuck, I don’t want to make her uncomfortable.”
“From the way you two interact, I doubt she’s even the slightest bit uncomfortable around you.”
I bite down on the corner of my lip. “Do you think she feels the same way?”
Maple shrugs. “I could see it, then again, Everly is also pretty guarded. I guess there’s only one way to find out, huh?”
“And what way is that?” I ask.
“Uh…ask her out.”
I start shaking my head. “No way.”
“Why not? You can’t say you’re not ready, because you were here to ask me out.”
“You’re different.”
“How am I different?” she asks.
“Come on, Maple. I know you, we’ve done this before?—”
“I’m familiar,” she says.
“I mean…for lack of a better word, yes.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she says. “I’m not offended in any way if that’s what you’re thinking. Yes, it was easy between us. We were together for three years and we almost became complacent in our relationship, but when it was tested, there wasn’t much substance to keep us moving forward. And we’ve both changed since then—do you really think we’d be able to build a better foundation, especially since we are so vastly different?”
“I guess not,” I say.
“But with Everly, there’s already a foundation of friendship. You clearly like hanging out with her. You like talking with her. Do you find her attractive?”
“I mean…she’s beautiful,” I say.
Maple smirks. “She’s very beautiful.” She caps her water and adds, “All the things you need for a relationship are there, so what’s the hesitation?”
“I don’t want to lose her as a friend. I’ve sort of become pretty close with her over the last few weeks. Hell, I think I talk to her more than to anyone else.”
