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Rix sends the text message, which quickly turns into a buzzfest. Shilpa and Ash are on a date, so they’ll meet us there, but Dred and Hemi come over. I love that Dred has become part of our core group when we’re hanging at our apartments or the Watering Hole.
Rix pulls me off the couch and drags me to my closet. Then she decides we need to up my outfit game, so we raid her closet instead. “This skirt.” She tosses a skintight pleather number at me.
“Will barely cover my ass.” I have several inches on Rix, so this already-short skirt will be something else.
“If you’re opposed to showing that much skin, how about this as an alternative?” She tosses a pair of black leather-looking leggings at me. “They’re the magic-butt pants.”
“How come I’ve never seen you wear these?” I ask.
“Because if Tristan sees me in them, I don’t make it out the door.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” I rub my chest at the sudden sharp stab. “Less than a week ago, I would have put on magic-butt pants for Hollis.” I try to make my breathing even, so the tears won’t fall.
“The hurt hits hard, doesn’t it?”
“So hard. But it’s more than that. I miss how steady I felt when I was with him. How clear the future started to look when we were trying to make this work, and now, I just don’t know.”
She nods. “We don’t have to go out tonight if you’re not up to it. We can eat ice cream instead. All the ice cream.”
I shake my head. “If I keep it up, I’ll need to buy stock in Kawartha. I need to get out of my head.” And my aching heart needs a rest, too.
“Okay.” She passes me the magic-butt pants and rummages through her closet for a shirt. “Pair it with this.” She tosses a cowl neck, backless, rhinestone tank at me.
Fifteen minutes later I’m dressed—if we can call it that—and we’re on a video call with Essie, who functions as our live makeup tutorial guide.
“How have you been my best friend since nursery school and never mastered cat eyes?” Essie asks.
“Because you were always here to do them for me,” Rix says.
“I really need that portal between Vancouver and Toronto,” Essie sighs.
“Maybe you can transfer to Toronto soon,” Rix says wistfully as she follows the video tutorial playing on my phone.
There’s a lot going on at once.
“I’m contracted here through the summer, but I have holidays banked, so I will be visiting again soon.”
We chat with Essie until our makeup is done. Hemi and Dred show up a few minutes later. I do a double take as Dred shrugs out of her oversized cardigan.
“Holy shit.”
Dred looks down at herself. She’s wearing a black leather corset dress that laces up the front and does an unreal job of showing off all her assets, which are typically hidden under her cardigans. Although the dress she wore to the gala showed a lot of personality and thigh, this is next level.
“Too much?” Her lips pucker. “It’s too much, isn’t it? I asked Flip for his advice, and he gave me the thumbs-up. I should’ve known better. It was a Halloween costume three years ago.”
“There’s nothing going on with you two?” Hemi asks.
Dred makes a face like she’s eaten a lemon. “Ew. No.” Then she gives Rix an apologetic look. “No offense. I adore Flip. He is a master at Battleship. But like, just no. He’s like a brother.”
“It’s so…interesting that he hasn’t tried to get with you,” Hemi muses.
“I was honest from day one. He just nodded and said cool. He’s never once pushed that boundary. There’s also no chemistry. It’s nice to have a hot guy friend who doesn’t want to find out if this buttoned-up librarian is a freak in the sheets.”
“Well, based on this outfit, I feel like we now know the answer to that,” Rix says.
“It really is too much, isn’t it?”
I direct her eyes to my outfit, then Rix’s and Hemi’s. “Really? How can you be worried?”
