Forgive Me by Ashley Beale Page B

nail, shaking her head back and forth. Bray is smiling with all her teeth, looking highly amused and content.
                  “No offense to you Faith,” she points her stare at her before looking at me again, “but thank fucking god!”
                  “Why would I take offense?” I hear Faith ask as I’m thinking the same damn thing.
                  Bray continues to smile. “Because I hate Emerson, and the second I heard that Lexi was back in town, I was immediately routing for them.”
                  I roll my eyes. “Thanks but no thanks.” Although, I too am routing for us, not that that’ll ever happen. I’ve already crossed a line and as much as I crave more, I know it won’t happen. It can’t happen.
                  Faith startles us both when she starts to giggle. “Well,” she stands and starts walking towards the door, “we have a barbeque to get back to.” And that is that. Apparently, she has a secret or two she is keeping hidden.
                  Bray pulls on my arm as I start to walk after Faith, so I turn to face her, feeling as beat down as humanly possible. One day, everything will hopefully be back in order, and life can go on. No more stress or secrets or frustration. I mumble a, “I’m sorry Bray.” Not meeting her eyes.
                  “Shut up. I’m just glad your back. I knew you were okay, only because I’ve talked to your brothers more than once to know you were indeed in Ohio with your grandmother. I also knew there was more to it than that, and I knew there would be a time I’d find out. The thought of you having a child crossed my mind more than once, we were the best of friends after all. I just wish you would have gotten a hold of me at some point.”
                  “I know, I was young and stupid and as I got older, I may have matured but continued to remain naïve.”
                  She grins at me, basically agreeing with me just using her expression. “How true that statement is. I, too, am very naïve.”
                  Without a seconds notice, she pulls me in and hugs me close to her. The years we missed out on, the conversations we could have had, the moments we could have shared, the pain we had without one another, it all slips away in this moment. Bray was always more than a friend, she was a sister that I didn’t get a chance to have. She was a solid in my life. A rock. A hero. A savior. We may never be back to what we once were, but maybe one day, we can be more than that.
                  Once we head back towards the kitchen, she asks, “so do you have plans tonight?”
                  “I’m a mom, that is my plan.” I turn to look over my shoulder at her and give her a small smile. It’s true. Being a young, single mom, you don’t have much of a social life unless it includes reality television or a romance novel behind closed doors.
                  She starts to open her mouth when I hear Magnolia speak up. “Actually, your brother and I wanted to see if we could take him to our house tonight. Gunner works in the morning on the farm and wanted to bring Justin with him. Show him the ropes, get him used to the animals and all that. We all want our fair share of him while he is around.”
                  “Oh, well I’ll see what he thinks, but I’m sure that would be wonderful.”
                  Bray claps with excitement. “Perfect. I have somewhere I want to bring you.”

                  Before I know it, I’m sliding my newly manicured feet into a tall pair of black heels, which so happens to match the strapless dress Bray had me put on. Its very tight in the chest area then falls into a silk mass until my upper-mid thigh. When she saw the blue and white stripped full butt, cotton panties I had on, she made me take them off and put on a pair