“They are. In fact, when I get home, I’m going to call Ariela. I actually can’t wait to talk to her. We used to talk on the phone for hours. Sometimes we’d fall asleep talking to each other. It always amazed me how we never ran out of things to talk about. And now we have ten years of things to talk about.”
“I think that’s awesome,” I say, smiling at him.
“And I second the awesome motion,” Aiden says. “You seem happy. Is it because of the baby or because of the weekend?”
“I’m happy for Dallas and RiAnne, but I’m also happy for me. I’m lucky to have friends who care enough about me to force me to face something I didn’t want to face. And she showed up there too. I’d say that was fate.”
“I’d say it was fate too,” I say, feeling so happy for all my friends today.
In the car - L.A.
RILEY
I don’t wait until I get home to call her. I do it the minute I get in the car that picks me up.
“Riley,” she says, her voice causing my heart to flutter. “Are you back in L.A. already?”
“I am. RiAnne called this morning in a panic because she was in labor, so we left in a hurry. How was your early morning flight?”
“I can’t believe I went straight from the party to the airport, but it was good. I slept the whole way. So, how’s RiAnne? Did they have the baby yet?”
“They did. We got there just in time. And they had a beautiful baby girl. Farryn.”
“Aww, that’s a pretty name. Remember when we named our future children?”
“Yeah, you liked Madison and Katelyn for our girls,” I say.
“And you liked Dylan and Noah for our boys,” she says then starts laughing. “I don’t think I’d want to use those names now.”
I laugh too. “Me either. So what are you doing today?”
“I just printed off my massive checklist for the wedding and am going to start running through everything in my head to make sure I’m not missing any details. Details are what make the difference between a nice wedding and a perfect wedding.”
“I bet. I had fun last night, Ariela.”
“I did too, Riley.”
“Remember how we used to talk on the phone for hours?”
“Sometimes we’d even fall asleep talking.”
“I was thinking maybe we could do that this week. Talk. Every night. I want to know what you’ve been doing the last ten years. I want to tell you about my business. My plans. I want to know what your dreams are. What’s on your life bucket list that you haven’t done yet. All that stuff.”
“I’d love that, Riley. Like, I’d really, really love that.”
I’m wearing a huge smile on my face as I get dropped off at my building and walk through the doors. “I think that’s what this weekend did for me. When we said goodbye, I started focusing on what could be—what, hopefully, will be—and not on what should’ve been.”
“That’s a big shift in mentality,” she says.
“Riley!”
A shrill voice stops me in my tracks, wiping the smile off my face.
“Shelby, what are you doing here?” I ask, as she gets up from the couch in the lobby. “I told you I didn’t want to see you ever again.”
“I need to talk to you, Riley. It’s important. Can I please come up?”
I know girls like her. No way I’m letting her come up.
Ever.
“Shelby, as in naked-leather strap-threesome Shelby?” Ariela asks in my ear.
“Uh, hang on,” I say to her, putting the phone up against my chest.
“Whatever you need to say, you can say here,” I say discreetly to Shelby.
“God, you’re such an ass,” she hisses loudly. “I thought you might want to do this in private.”
“I don’t want to do anything with you, in public or in private.”
“Well, you’re going to have to now, Riley. Because I’m pregnant.”