Page 15

Ivy

T HREE WEEKS LATER

"She's going to kill us." I stare at my phone, where Sarah's text glows like a death sentence: Finally back in civilization! Meet me at Giuseppe's in an hour? Miss you bestie!

Dane, sprawled across the couch, just grins. "She's not."

"You're right. She's going to kill you . Then make me help hide the body."

"Your faith in your best friend is touching."

"This isn't funny!" I throw a throw pillow at his head. Wait, is that why they’re called throw pillows? "We got engaged while she was finding herself! We've been living together for months! You're her brother!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed that last part."

"And you!" I point at Dorian, who's been suspiciously quiet in the armchair. "You helped orchestrate this whole thing!"

"Excuse me?" He puts a hand to his chest in mock offense. "I merely provided caffeine and champagne at strategically appropriate moments. I'm basically a wedding planning superhero."

"Some superhero." I collapse next to Dane. "You couldn't have helped me psychologically prepare for Sarah’s return."

"And miss the drama? Please." Dorian checks his watch. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you two be heading to Giuseppe's? It's already five-thirty."

My stomach drops. "Oh god."

"Relax." Dane pulls me closer, his chest rumbling with barely contained laughter. "My mother’s been trying to set me up with someone 'perfect' for years. You're literally her daughter’s best friend. This is like... a wish fulfillment thing."

"Or a 'never speak to either of us again' thing."

"Only one way to find out." He stands, pulling me with him. "Coming, Dorian?"

"Oh hell yes. I wouldn't miss this for anything."

"You're not invited!"

"Try and stop me, sweetie. I've earned front row seats to this show."

*

Giuseppe’s is packed, but Sarah’s easy to spot.

She looks like she just wandered out of a monastery gift shop: practical boots, a loose cotton tunic, and that unmistakable vibe of Zen minimalism meets off-grid wilderness chic.

Her hair’s pulled back in a no-nonsense braid, and there’s something calmer in her eyes.

When she sees me, she jumps up, squealing.

"Ivy!" She crushes me in a hug that smells like airplane. "God, I missed you! You would not believe—" She freezes, pulling back to stare at my hand. At the ring.

The ring I forgot to take off.

Shit.

Her eyes narrow. "What. Is. That?"

"I can explain."

"You're engaged? Since when? To who?" Her face lights up. "Did you finally meet someone amazing? Tell me everything!"

Behind me, Dane clears his throat.

Sarah's head snaps up. Her smile falters. "Bear? What are you..." The pieces click together in her eyes. All the color drains from her face.

"No." Just that one word, flat and final.

"Sarah—" I start.

"No no no." She backs up, bumping into the table. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"Surprise?" Dane tries for a smile.

"You." She points at him. "Sit down and shut up." Then to me: "You. Outside. Now."

"Sarah, we should—"

"NOW."

The restaurant has gone quiet. Even the waiters are pretending to be very interested in their water pitchers.

I follow her outside, my legs shaking. She paces the sidewalk like a caged tiger.

"How long?"

"We met at Sean’s wedding. Right after you left. On August 19."

"My cousin’s wedding." Her laugh is hollow. "So while I was off in the Himalayas, you two found each other. And got engaged. And I missed the whole damn thing?"

"We didn’t plan it."

"I know." Her voice sharpens. "That’s what makes it worse."

"Sarah—"

"Do you even get why I’m mad?" She cuts me off, pacing. "I can't be mad you kept it a secret. I get it—I was unreachable, halfway across the world with no phone, no email, no anything."

She stops and looks at me, eyes shining. "But I’m still mad I wasn’t here. That you didn’t wait. That I didn’t get to be part of it."

Her hands fly up. "You’re my best friend.

He’s my brother. And I come back and it’s just..

. already happened. The story’s over. I didn’t get to see it unfold.

Didn’t get to freak out with you after the first kiss.

Didn’t get to grill him when he started acting weird.

Didn’t get to be the emotional middlewoman, which—frankly—I was born to be. "

She stops in front of me, blinking too fast. "I missed it. All of it. And now I’m just... catching up."

That hits like a punch to the gut. Because now I see it.

She’s not angry we left her out.

She’s heartbroken we left her behind.

We should have waited. Should have...

"I love him."

The words come out small, but they stop her pacing.

"What?"

"I love him." Stronger now. "And he loves me. And I know this looks crazy and fast and stupid, but it's real. It's the realest thing I've ever felt."

Sarah stares at me for a long moment. Then, softly, "I believe you. That’s the part that scares me."

"Why?"

She exhales sharply. "Because if he hurts you, it’ll wreck you. I don’t doubt what you two have— I just don’t know if he’s strong enough to hold it."

"He is."

"You sure?" Her voice cracks. "You’ve already been through so much—Marcus, your father... I can’t stand the thought of you getting crushed again. Not by my brother."

"I'm not going to break."

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't." I meet her eyes. "But I know that what I feel for Dane is worth the risk. Even if it ends badly. Even if you hate me forever. Even if—"

The door to Giuseppe’s opens. Dane steps out, his face tight with concern.

"Everything okay out here?"

Sarah’s eyes flick to him. Her voice is steady, but cool. "She thinks you’ve changed. So tell me, Dane—how is this different?"

“ She is different.” Dane steps closer, his eyes never leaving mine. "And I am too. I'm not trying to prove anything anymore. I'm not trying to be what anyone wants me to be. With Ivy... I just am . And for the first time in my life, that feels like enough."

"Pretty words," Sarah says. "But—"

"But nothing." He cuts her off. "We met in a bathroom. She was crying. No makeup, no pretense, just... real. She didn’t even know how I looked or who I was.

And she made me laugh. Made me want to be open and vulnerable and free.

Made me forget about being Dane Whitmore, hockey star, and just be. .. me ."

"That's great," Sarah says, but her voice wavers. "Really great. But you've known each other for only nine months."

"Eight months, three weeks, two days." Dane says quietly. "And before you say that's not enough time—"

"It's not!"

"—maybe you should remember that mom and dad only knew each other six weeks before they got married."

Sarah freezes. Because it's true. Our parents' whirlwind romance was legendary.

“And look at how it ended. Nasty divorce you and I suffered first hand. That was not fair,"

"No, it was not. But neither is assuming we'll fail just because other people have."

"I just..." Her voice cracks. "I can't lose you both."

And there it is. The real fear. Not that we'll break each other's hearts, but that we'll break hers in the process.

*

"Sarah." Dane's voice is gentler now. "You're not losing anyone. You're gaining something. A sister who's already your best friend. A family that's actually built on something real, not mom's social climbing bullshit. Hell, this might even teach her not to pull that crap on you."

"But if it goes wrong—"

"Then we'll figure it out," I cut in. "Like we always do. Remember when I crashed your car in college?"

"Which time?"

"The second time. When I was so scared to tell you that I hid in my dorm for three days?"

A ghost of a smile touches her lips. "And I picked the lock with a bobby pin because I thought you were dead."

"You didn't speak to me for a week."

"The paint job was expensive!"

"But we got through it." He steps closer. "We always get through it.”

“Yeah, I guess we do.”

"The point is," Dane says, "we're not asking for your blessing. Though we want it. We're asking for your trust. Trust that we know what we're doing, even if it seems crazy."

Sarah looks between us, and I can see the fight leaving her body. "You really love him?"

"More than I've ever loved anyone."

"And you?" She turns to Dane.

"I’m willing to risk everything for her." He meets her eyes. "Sis, if I ever hurt her, I'll let you kill me yourself. But I won't. Because hurting her would be like hurting part of myself."

A long silence follows.

"That was surprisingly poetic for someone who once wrote 'hockey is bae' in his college admission essay."

Dane groans. "Can we not bring up my college essays?"

"Oh, we're definitely bringing them up at the wedding." Sarah's smile is watery but real. "Along with the time you tried to convince mom you had an evil twin to avoid a blind date."

Dane wraps his arms around both of us. "So we're good?"

"We're getting there." Sarah pulls back, wiping her eyes. "But you both owe me. Big time."

"Name it."

She pauses, silent for a beat, like she’s deciding. I tense, already bracing.

"I’ve got two requests," she says finally. "First one: I bet you haven’t told Mother. I want to be there when you do."

Dane groans. "Believe it or not, I kind of got ahead of that. I introduced Ivy as my fiancée at Sean’s wedding—even when, technically, it was fake.

After that, I declined every invitation to events where she had someone ‘suitable’ lined up for me.

Then I just stopped answering her calls and left messages saying I was good, in love, and making plans.

She pushed back for a while, but eventually stopped fighting it. "

I glance at Sarah. "Dare I ask what the second request is?"

Sarah links her arms through ours, steering us back toward the restaurant. "You're going to tell me exactly how you went from crying in a bathroom to getting engaged. And what did you mean by ‘technically, it was fake.’ And don't leave out any details!"

"Well," Dorian's voice carries from where he's been not-so-subtly watching, "it all started when your brother crashed into a waiter..."