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Skylar smirked. “I doubt that.”
He eyed her. “Are you going to tell me why you left so early?”
The silence stretched out between them while she tried to assemble her thoughts.
“I have this feeling you don’t like Ivy,” he said.
Skylar sighed.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
“It’s not that I don’t like her. She seems like a nice person. I just miss you.”
“Sky.” He put his arm around her back and pulled her into his side. “I miss you too.”
She let her head fall on his shoulder, and her heart ached from how good it felt to be there with him like that.
“Is that all it is, though? I feel like there’s more. That day you stopped by, you were going to tell me something.”
“Remember how you acted at the winery when Luca showed me attention?”
He nodded against her head. “Yeah.”
“You didn’t want another person in the mix because you were afraid of it changing our friendship. Well, that’s how I feel about Ivy. She changed everything. And I …” She wanted to tell him everything, but she’d been holding it in for so long, it was hard to finally say the words.
“I know things are different,” he said, “and we’ll probably never get to spend as much time together as we used to. And I know that sucks, but friendships change and evolve, and I really hope we can find a new normal for us. I need you in my life, Sky. I need your support and your blessing. And I want you to like Ivy. Will you at least try?” He turned his head, attempting to make eye contact with her. “For me?”
She managed a weak smile, not really agreeing, but he seemed to take it like that and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“I don’t like not talking to you,” he said.
She looked over at him. “I don’t like not talking to you either.”
“Then let’s stop not talking.”
She chuckled at his silly wording, but her heart was heavy because she knew she needed to do the opposite and walk away from him for a while. And he had to know their friendship was about to be changed forever.
“Things are different now. They have to be. You’re getting married.” Her voice caught a little on the word married, and she hoped he didn’t notice.
“But I still need my friend.”
His arm around her lowered and settled at her waist, and while she wanted to snuggle closer into him, she chose to sit up straight and lean forward, away from his arm.
He took the hint and moved his arm back. “Are you upset with me?”
“I’m just sad things didn’t turn out how I thought they would.” She was about to elaborate when he pulled her into a hug.
“Come here.”
She closed her eyes and soaked in every moment, knowing this was probably the last time she would be in his arms like this.
“Hey, once all this crazy wedding planning is done and the wedding is over, things will calm down, and I’ll have more time for hanging out. And maybe you can squeeze me into your busy schedule, Madame President.”
She let go and smiled up at him. More time? Did that mean what she thought it meant?
“There’s that smile I love.” He tapped the end of her nose with his fingertip.
Oh, how she loved the way he smiled at her too.