Page 22 of Embraced in Ink

Love of my life?

Bristol didn’t think that was possible. Was it? She loved Marcus, sure. She wanted him in her life and vice versa forever. But love?

Well, that was the question, wasn’t it?

That was why she needed to think, to plan. Because she was going to marry him. And if that kernel of hope within her meant that she loved him more than as a friend, then she needed to think about that.

She wouldn’t change their worlds because she hadn’t thought about love.

“I’m going to do your makeup. And your hair. I mean, that’s a given, right? It would be part of my present to you. I’m not going to actually charge you for it.”

Since Zia was a former YouTuber who now had her own makeup line and was doing wonderful and amazing things with her career, the fact that she wanted to do Bristol’s makeup was actually quite a nice gift. It was the wholelove of her lifething that sort of got stuck on Bristol’s mind.

Not that she could actually ask Zia what that meant. Oh God, she was doing this all backward. But she couldn’t go back now.

Part of her didn’t want to, and that meant she had to truly write down her thoughts or something and figure things out.

Because going in circlesclearlywasn’t helping.

“Are you still there? Do I need to fly home? Because I will. Oh, I can’t wait for this. You deserve this, baby girl. You and Marcus are amazing.”

Bristol shut her eyes and tried to take deep breaths. “You don’t need to fly here. Do your thing.”

“Iamloving London.” There was something in Zia’s voice, but Bristol didn’t pry. While Zia might have done so to her, Bristol knew that she needed to go slow with her friend to figure out what was wrong. So, she kept the subject where Zia wanted it: on Bristol.

For now.

“It’s a beautiful city. I can’t believe you actually live there now.”

“It is. I love it here. It breathes creativity, you know? But let’s talk about you, Mrs. Future Marcus Stearn.”

Bristol licked her lips, suddenly finding them very dry. “Wow, I hadn’t actually heard that out loud yet.”

Zia laughed, the sound sweet and familiar. When the two of them had dated, they had laughed constantly. They’d ended up better as friends than lovers, but that was fine with Bristol. She needed more friends in her life. She had lost a lot of them over time when she hit a new level of success, and others hadn’t quite understood how to deal with that. Asking for money was one thing, expecting it was another. She gave her friends money anyway. She was quite firm on that.

The only person who never really asked her for anything was Marcus.Her future husband.Holy hell.

Thoughts of that kiss floated through her mind, and she couldn’t help but let out a little sigh.

“I heard that. Are you thinking about him? Oh, I just love this. I always knew the two of you would be perfect for each other.”

“What?”

“I told you that. The two of you are great for each other.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess.”

“Well, I would hope it’s more than a guess. Considering that you’re marrying him.” Zia paused. “What’s wrong? What am I missing?”

“Nothing.” Bristol said quickly. “You’re not missing anything. Promise.”

“Okay. Now I know you’re lying.”

“I’m not.” The fact that Zia could tell she was lying right then and not before didn’t really surprise her. After all, Bristol had no idea what she was feeling or thinking, so it technically wasn’t a lie. More like an evasion.

She was marrying her best friend, maybe not for the right reasons, but if she let herself believe it, perhaps it would be for the right reasons eventually.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you. Things happened really fast. I wasn’t expecting this.”