These Are the Moments by Jenny Bravo Read Free Book Online Page B

still missing. Wendy checked her phone. No texts.
    Half the kids had gone inside for a gingerbread house-making competition. Wendy and Reese stayed outside, full of hot chocolate, avoiding the wall of smoke.
    Headlights pulled into the driveway.
    “You think?” Reese asked.
    “I don’t know. Maybe.”
    Car doors shut. It was too dark to see anything. Should she go inside and check? No. She didn’t want to be obvious. Was Erica with them? She’d know soon enough. If she was here, Wendy would stop talking to Simon so much. This wasn’t good for her. She was going to get hurt.
    The back door opened.
    Owen stepped outside.
    Simon followed.
    The door shut.
    “Well, well, well,” Reese said, elbowing Wendy. She yelled at the boys, “Look who finally showed up!”
    Wendy stood up, her legs shaky beneath her. He was here. Alone. That meant something. That meant everything.
    “Merry Christmas,” he said, bringing her into a hug. He smelled amazing, like always.
    She melted. “Merry Christmas.”
    “Didn’t have too much fun without me, did you?”
    She pulled away. “Only a little.”
    And she realized.
    It wasn’t a crush.
    Crushes were for little girls with pigtails and braces. Wendy liked Simon beyond that. She heart-stopping, breath-catching liked him.
    “So how did you…” she started.
    “I told her I didn’t want her to come. She’ll get over it.”
    Ribs tightened. Stomach dropped.
    Definitely more than a crush.

Chapter 13
    Now
    “Two vodka tonics, please.”
    Reese shouldered her way into a spot at the bar, her money shoved into the bartender’s vision. Her lipstick was as red as the bright spout of hair on her head, her third hair color this month, and she had a pout on her face. It was as if she were saying: I don’t give a fuck, but you should.
    Wendy liked going out. She liked getting dressed up, slapping makeup on her face and being around people who still woke up with hangovers every Sunday. But it was strange now. Being in a college town without actually being in college felt like she was trying to fit into her old high school uniform. It fit, but just a bit too snug.
    “Where’s Ben tonight?”
    “Dunno,” Reese shrugged. “Haven’t talked to him in a few days.”
    “A few days? ”
    “Yeah, you know us.”
    Reese got their drinks and pushed her way to a spot by the wall. She handed Wendy hers and said, “So maid of honor, huh? Can’t say I’m surprised, but you know, I kind of have to hate you now.”
    Wendy laughed. “Want it? Take it.”
    “Okay, Vivian’s not here. You can drop the I’m totally cool with this, see, I’m smiling act. Simon. Let’s talk about Simon.”
    Wendy liked the noise of a bar. The girls yelling over each other. The thump of the music. The sound of glass crashing to the floor. It was the perfect place to have a serious conversation that you never wanted to have in the first place.
    “What am I going to say?” Wendy asked, “That this sucks?”
    “Yes.”
    “Okay, this sucks.”
    “Go on.”
    “It sucks so bad that already I can’t sleep. I sit there, not sleeping, thinking about seeing him, thinking about how he’s going to act.”
    “Like an asshole if memory serves correctly.”
    “Exactly. And this whole maid of honor/best man bit. It almost feels— ”
    “Planned? Oh hell yeah it is. You know Viv. She’s all, I’m happy, let me spread some sunshine into your bleeding wounds .”
    “She is not like that.”
    “Not intentionally, but yes she is.”
    Vivian wasn’t a selfish person, but there were times Wendy wondered if she was thinking about anybody else in that blonde head of hers. So, in a way, yes. She was a little selfish.
    “So, Simon. We need a plan.”
    “A plan?” Wendy sipped through the tiny red and white straw.
    “Yes, a Simon-proof prevention strategy. He doesn’t get to waltz back in and use his Simon-ness on you.”
    “He won’t.”
    Reese gave her a knowing look.
    “Okay,” Wendy said. “What’ve you