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I swallowed hard. “I think you’re incredible, Phoebe. You’re so damn smart. And witty, funny, and so damn beautiful it makes my chest ache.”
She made a dismissive noise as she settled into my chest.
I grumbled. “What?”
Snorting, she hugged. “I’m so beautiful? Then why did you date Neve?”
I sighed. “I needed a date to an event. She was a friend of my teammate. That’s all.”
“Did you date her?”
“No.”
“Did you fuck her?”
I sighed. “Yeah, but—”
She pushed up to look at me. “But nothing. I don’t look like her, Ransom. I don’t have 0.5% body fat. I jiggle when I move. She floats. There’s too much of me and she’s perfect.”
My voice came out in a strangled roar. “I don’t want her!”
She huffed. “I don’t know why not.”
I scoffed. “Because she’s self-absorbed, eats like a bird, and cares more about taking selfies than having a conversation.”
She rolled her eyes. “She sounds delightful.”
I tore my hand in my hair. “I want someone with substance, Raven! Someone I can hold onto. Someone who can hold a conversation about something other than how they look. But I can’t even get that with you some days!”
She bolted upright and jumped out of bed tearing the top comforter off the bed to cover herself. “Get out!”
Fuck. That didn’t go as I planned. “Raven.”
She pointed at the door, tears streaming down her cheeks and holding the comforter around her like a shield. “Get the fuck out of my room!”
Grunting, I rolled out of bed and went to the door. “There’s so much more to life than how a person looks. That’s all I was trying to say.”
When a pillow flew at my head, I closed the door to block it. Well, shit. I royally fucked that up.
10
PHOEBE
By the time I forced my eyes to open, it was noon. I’d cried myself to sleep earlier and hated myself for it. With Ransom and early mornings, I let myself get emotional over his past and how I looked. It was stupid, really. I knew it. But instead of sticking around all day and worrying about it, I decided to find something to do this afternoon. Ransom was already gone for his morning skate and then had things to do this afternoon before his game. I needed to get away from the image of Ransom fucking a twiggy model.
Considering it was a work day and my circle of friends here was pretty limited, I texted Molly. As it turned out, she and her mom were headed into town and happy to pick me up.
Feeling better having plans, I padded into the bathroom and assessed the situation. Definitely needed a shower. Ten minutes later, I was drying my hair in a towel when my phone chimed. When I saw it was from Ransom, I set it down like it was on fire and went back to getting ready. I was a big girl. I didn’t need him to save me from myself. It was time for me to explore Taylor Ridge without him.
I dug around in my suitcase until I found my skinny jeans, a white camisole, and a long black sweater that went to mid-thigh. Then I wrestled my way into a shaper and wiggled my way into my clothes. They fit, but it was a process to put them on that involving jumping and tugging. With everything on, I went to the mirror and sighed as a vision of Neve plagued me. I really just had to stop looking in the mirror.
Stripping out of the sweater, I pulled out my hair dryer and straightened my hair while it dried. Then I put on some concealer, foundation, and I was just adding some mascara when the doorbell rang. Shit! I was late. And now I had mascara in my eye too. Ow!
With only one good eye, the mascara wand still in my hand, and hobbling after I kicked a chair sitting too close to where I was motoring to get the door, I opened it to find Kiley and Molly.
“Hey, guys. Come on in and give me a second, would you?”
Kiley looked flustered. “Oh, dear. Do you need some help, sweetie?”
