Between Us

chapter two

All the bridesmaids pile in after Whitney, me being the last. Larissa looks at me in dismay when she notices my bare feet and hiked up dress, but all the other girls just giggle at me.

Look, I'm not used to torturing my feet like you guys are, I think, rolling my eyes in my mind.

"Okay, so does everyone remember who their groomsman is?" Whitney asks.

Everyone except for me nods. "I don't," I say, beginning to feel uncomfortable as the girls turn to look at me.

"Oh, that's right! You couldn't meet yours because you had a soccer tournament, right?" Whitney asks. I nod and see Larissa roll her eyes. "You're with Liam."

I nod, the name sounding faintly familiar. Do I know a Liam? I mentally shrug. I'll probably think of it at three in the morning anyways.

Out of the window, I see the wedding venue. It's a very large, almost castle like building with a set of steps leading up to the front doors. Guests are standing around, some of them already heading in. The limo driver pulls around the back, where we go in. Once again, all the girls pile out of the limo. I still have my dress pulled up and my heels in my hand.

A door is open, the one we're supposed to go in. As soon as we get in, we are swarmed by a group of makeup artists checking our makeup and hair. A short lady struggles to reach up to my face, because I'm pretty tall. I bend down slightly, and she smiles gratefully.

They all finish quickly, and exit out the door we came in. Whitney takes a deep breath and grins. "Okay. It's almost time!"

I hear the chatter of people as they walk past the closed doors leading to where the ceremony will be held. "Thank you all so much for helping me get ready on this special day! I love you all."

We all smile back at her. Whitney blinks her eyes rapidly to get rid of the tears forming. Once again, there's a giant hug. And once again, Whitney's mom breaks us apart by coming into the room and announcing that the bridesmaids need to head into the hallways where we meet up with our groomsmen.

We all say our goodbyes to Whitney and head out. The girls all find their respective groomsmen, while I look around to find the groomsman I'll be walking with, and find the eyes those of Liam Evans.

I'm shocked to see him here. I've known him since I was five and he tried to drown me in his swimming pool when he was nine. Our moms have been best friends since they were twelve, and we've been neighbors since I was ten, so I've seen Liam off and on throughout my life. I haven't actually seen him since I was fourteen, almost four years ago because he's been off at college.

I guess this is the 'Liam' Whitney was talking about. I walk over to him, pasting a smile on my face when really I'm just confused.

"Hey," I say. "I'm Taryn."

Liam's blue eyes flash in recognition. "I remember you! You're Christina's daughter, right?"

I nod. "One of them."

"You've grown up since the last time I saw you," he says.

I nod. "Gone is the bad acne, ugly braces, and pudgy stomach," I say. "You look the same though."

He smiles. "Yeah, I guess," Liam says. Then he raises an eyebrow and points to my bare feet and pulled up dress. "What's up with that?"

I look down. "Oh, yeah. That," I say with a laugh. "Long story short, heels and I don't get along."

Liam nods. "I remember. You were never the heels and dress kind of girl."

I shake my head with a sheepish smile. "Nope. Not then, not now."

Damn, he's still cute.

He lets out a laugh, his head thrown back like he used to when we were younger. Hasn't changed, I see.

I pull a foot up and slide the heel back on, then try to do the same with the other. I lose my balance and grab onto the closet thing so I don't fall. That happens to be Liam's arm, which is very muscular. Not disgustingly muscular, but muscular.

I blush a deep shade of red, mostly because I almost fell, and partly because I almost fell in front of a very hot specimen.

I quickly put they're heel on and let go of his arm. "Sorry," I mumble.

"It's fine," he says, shrugging. I straighten my dress out, and accept the small bouquet of flowers that a lady hands me.

"Okay, it's time to start! Maid of honor as best man first, please," Whitney's mom say, clapping her hands.

Beth and another guy step forward, their arms linked together at the elbow. I noticed that all the guys are wearing black suits with shirts the same color as our dresses under their jackets.

"Then we have Liam and Taryn, Katie and Preston, Sylvia and Ben, and Larissa and Nate," she says, reading off a strip of paper.

We line up in the order, and she checks us over to make sure we all look good. She frowns when she sees Adam. "Liam, where's your tie?"

I look around and notice every groomsman has a black tie except for Liam. He pulls it out of his pocket. "Forgot to put it on," he says, unfolding it. His movements are slow, and I automatically know he doesn't know how.

"I'll do it," I say, trading him my bouquet for his tie. I quickly flip his collar up and tie the tie, then flip his collar down.

"Thanks," he whispers under this breath, handing the flowers back to me.

"No problem," I reply.

"Let's get this party started!"

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edited june 21, 2018