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Reese slipped off her shirt and pants again and slid the dress on. Morgan was a genius. The fit was perfect and the dress made her feel like a star. She opened the door and stepped out, knowing the drill. Morgan waited by the three-way mirrors. The dress was a light material, black but with sparkles somehow in the fabric itself. It had a scoop neck, no sleeves, and fell just above her knees.
“Do you love it? Tell me you love it.”
“I love it,” Reese said, smiling. “But—”
“No! We don’t do buts. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. Get it off and we’re heading over to shoes and then to get you a suitcase.”
Reese smiled as she hung the dress back up and put the hanger in Morgan’s hand, which was extended over the top of the dressing-room door. In addition to finding a new wardrobe, she’d had fun. This had been one of the best times she could remember having in years. Other than with Staci, whom she badly needed to call and update. Tonight. Once she got back to her room at the hotel, she would.
But what would she say? Reese considered this as she made her way over to the shoe section, where she could already see Morgan piling things into the cart.
What she said to Morgan was true: this felt like way more than a day’s time had passed.
They had only travelled a few hundred miles from Nashville to Atlanta, but there was a lot of distance between who she had been at the start of the trip that morning and who she was now. That sounded dramatic. She was the same. But she had a new friend, Morgan. And Sterling … well. He didn’t seem as scared of her now. That was a good thing. Morgan said that he was on the way to trusting her and Reese hoped he’d get there.
The thought terrified her. The celebrity crush feelings she had toward Sterling had only intensified the more time she spent around him. Two things could happen when you met your celeb crush. They could either be such a jerk that their clay feet were immediately shattered. Or they could be more amazing in person than you imagined. Then you were really in trouble.
Reese definitely felt like she was in the second category.
“What do you think about these?” Morgan held up a pair of studded ankle booties.
“Hate,” Reese said. “Well, for me. I could actually see you looking amazing in those. But I couldn’t. I’m not a fan of the short boots on me. My legs always look weird. I don’t think I have ankles.”
“Shut up,” Morgan said. “I’ve seen your ankles. But fine, I’m totally getting these boots. Try these.” She shoved a pair of silver Vans at Reese.
“Can I pull these off? Are these too skater chick for me?”
Morgan rolled her eyes. “They’re fun. Put them on.”
Reese loved them. “How are you right about everything?”
“Not everything. I gave you plenty of things that looked awful. But I love styling. It’s so fun. It reminds me of what you do, actually, just in a strictly visual way. I’m helping bring out the you that you feel like you are in your looks.”
“That’s beautiful. You should write greeting cards.”
Morgan laughed. “Maybe that will be my next career. If I ever decide to stop managing. We’ll see how this tour goes.”
“Are you worried about this? It seems perfect. Sterling trusts you and you guys are BFFs.”
Morgan didn’t respond right away, pursing her lips and picking through pairs of shoes. “Right.”
Reese wanted to be careful. She suspected Morgan had a crush on Sterling, but was trying to hide it. She didn’t want to press if Morgan didn’t want to talk about it or if she, like Reese, was trying to stuff those feelings and forget they existed.
Morgan matched up a pair of ballet flats that were on separate rows. The shoe department was out of control. If Sterling returned Morgan’s feelings, that would be good for everyone. Reese could be happy for them. She would be. It might be painful, but hard things build character. Or something like that. God probably had some amazing guy for her in Nashville. She just hadn’t met him yet.
Reese opened her mouth, meaning to ask Morgan about her feelings for Sterling.
But she couldn’t do it.
Unspoken girl code meant that if you knew your friend was interested in a guy, you had to back off. Having this conversation would mean that Reese couldn’t like Sterling. For the sake of her job and her survival on this tour, saying the words and getting Morgan to admit her feelings would enact the girl code. She should say something.
“He sure did date half the country for a while there, didn’t he?”
Morgan made a face. “Yes. He was pretty disgusting. It almost killed me watching from afar as he had all these hookups and girlfriends. At least he’s cleaned up his act as far as that’s concerned. I think he was chasing demons or running from them or something. He wasn’t ever like that growing up. He hardly dated anyone. Then he got big and famous and fell into all the stereotypes. It was rough. He seems like he’s in a better place now. But he never mentions women or relationships, so I’m not sure. Look! The perfect suitcase. Do you like pink?”
Morgan pulled out a wheeled pink suitcase with a hard shell. It wasn’t enormous, but would probably fit everything in the cart, including the shoes.
“I feel like a stereotypical woman, but yes. Pink is my favorite color.”
