Page 8 of Heavenleigh

Warren stood there silently watching the exchange between the two women, his face stuck somewhere between love and grief.This was a side of Yara neither of us had been privileged enough to see until now.It wasn’t that we were sad we hadn’t gotten to experience this part of her.It was that she’d never felt truly accepted and comfortable with us to allow us access.Not even Warren, not fully, not like this.

Watching Yara with her friend, it registered that this was how she’d healed when she’d left home for college.This was her person.Not just her bestest best friend.Not simply her favorite person in the world, second to no one.This was the girl who’d glued Yara’s heart back together when it shattered, guided her, helped her grow into the woman she now was.

And that was just what we noticed in the mere handful of minutes of her being back in Ven’s presence.Warren slung back the rest of his drink and signaled for another round.Leaning his elbows on the table, he propped his head on one hand, watching Yara with hearts in his eyes while she giggled and crunched into a shrimp.

I imagined my face held the exact expression, my eyes following every move Ven made.How she laughed when Yara stole a piece of mango from her chip, or the different shades of brown that were scattered throughout her dark hair that the intimate lighting caught.On the plane, I’d thought I’d memorized every feature.It turned out, my memory didn’t do her beauty justice.

Her dress was sexy yet simple, something she could have worn to any event and no one would have questioned her choice.And those goddamn heels that made her legs look endless.Fuck, I wanted those legs wrapped around me.My head, my waist, it didn’t matter which, as long as it was soon.

I still didn’t understand how I was able to stand there and not reach for her, not pull her to me and finally find out what she tasted like.Especially once it fully hit me that Yara was okay with me being with her friend.I wouldn’t have any hoops to jump through to get my sister on board with our relationship.That was going to make things so much easier moving forward.Hopefully it would help our parents accept Ven once I introduced them.

Only at the two-minute mark did Ven dust off her hands and take a sip of the bottled sparkling water Yara had ordered for her when we’d first arrived.“I met your brother on the flight over.Allegedly, he bribed the flight attendant in first class to let him switch seats.He saved me from committing a felony, because the woman he swapped with was being greedy with the personal space.”

Heavenleigh

After demolishing allthe appetizers Yara had waiting on me, I was still hungry.“Let’s get burgers,” I suggested, taking another drink of my sparkling water.

“I was thinking of fish tacos,” Yara said, slurping her coconut drink through the thin black straw.“It will pair better with the rum.”

“Share?”I suggested, already waving over the waitress.

“Perfect.”She turned to her groom.“Are you and Jake going to eat or just stand there drinking?”

“Burgers sound good,” Jake commented.

“I’ll go with the pork sliders,” Warren decided, and Yara cheered.

“I want a bite of that too.”

Her soon-to-be husband’s eyes widened, a pleased smile teasing at his lips.“All the ocean air is making someone ravenous.I like it.”

“I’ve spent so long trying to maintain the perfect weight to fit into my wedding dress.Now I don’t have to worry about it, and I’m gonna eat my weight in whatever the hell I want.”She drained her glass.“And that means I can drink even more because I’ll have something to soak it up.”

Our server placed a refill of everyone’s drinks on the table, including a fresh bottle of water for me.Once our food order was placed, we settled into a comfortable conversation.Nothing heavy or too deep.Jake stood beside me, his hand lightly brushing against me often, yet in ways that seemed almost unconscious.I found myself leaning closer, pressing into his touch.

Several times, I reached for him in small ways.Passing him a napkin and letting my fingertips linger on his.Brushing a small piece of fuzz off his shirt that turned into my greedy fingers tracing over the vein in his forearm.

Each brush of skin on skin, followed by lingering glances, left me hyperaware of his presence.

“And you two ended up as roommates at college?”Warren kept up the flow of conversation, asking questions about me, but I was aware they were more to learn about Yara.

“Yeah, and then we had two other suitemates.Although we didn’t get along as well with them.That was why in sophomore year we got our own apartment close to campus.”

Yara snickered.“I bet Chasity was glad.Oh, I wonder how she’s doing these days.”

“She came into the gallery a month ago.Got married about a year or so back.Seemed happy.”I smirked at my friend.“And still hasn’t gone back to contacts.Only glasses these days.They look cute on her.”

“She had the gall to come to your gallery?”Yara hissed.

“I doubt she knew I worked there.It was at that charity thing I told you about.Her in-laws are big contributors,” I explained.“Or so they told my aunt.Twenty-three times.I counted.”

“Ah.”She nodded.“That makes more sense.Did she even know that was your aunt?If she had been aware you were going to be there, I doubt she would have risked it.”

Laughing, I shook my head at her.“She’s not scared of me, Yara.”

“Fuck’s sake, Yar, what did you do to the girl?”Jake demanded, sounding more resigned than mad, while Warren tucked her closer, pressing a kiss to her temple.

She gave her brother a mischievous grin.“Nothing that wasn’t deserved, dear brother.”