“Fine.” She raised her hands defensively. “Dress is on the bed.”
Was the champagne blond Jamie’s girlfriend? Had I made up the connection I’d felt growing between us these last few months? Feeling nauseated, my fingers trembled as I tore off my shirt and then unzipped my jeans.
“You know, I don’t get this thing about my brother,” Lorna huffed.
I tensed, my pulse racing a little faster. Does she know how I feel?
“All these girls, I mean. You know he’s made out with three since this party started.”
I swallowed hard.
I wanted to cry.
I wanted to shove my face in a pillow somewhere and cry until it didn’t hurt so bad.
Was this love?
Because if it was, it sucked!
Biting my lip, forcing the burn in my eyes back, I reached for the dress Lorna had laid out for me on her bed.
“The blond. The one hanging all over him … no self-respect. Who watches a guy make out with three girls and volunteers to be the fourth?”
Who indeed? I thought bitterly.
“Anyway, enough about my lothario of a brother. There’s a guy here perfect for you. He’s one of Jamie’s teammates.”
Pulling the hem of the dress down, I wandered over to Lorna’s full-length mirror. The dress had straps, at least. Lorna knew my boobs could not hold up a strapless.
But it was scarlet red. And it clung to my curves, showing everything.
“Uh, I don’t think so.” I gestured to my reflection.
“I do think so. The red is great against your skin tone. It makes your eyes pop. And look at your boobs. There are women at that party who have paid surgeons a lot of money to have boobs like the ones God gave you.”
“Yes, and now everyone and his father can see what God gave me.”
Without answering, she took hold of my wrist again and led me out of her room and across the hall. “Wash your hands.”
“Yes, Mom.” I teased but did as I was told. Catching sight of my cleavage in the mirror above the sink, I sighed. “Seriously, Lorna, you know I’m not used to dressing like this.”
“I’m not arguing with you about it. The ballet flats calm down the look, okay. Heels would take this dress to slutty on you, but the flats leave it at sexy.”
“Don’t say slutty.”
She rolled her eyes. “PC Brigade alert.”
“We don’t need women perpetuating rhetoric that men use to denigrate our sex.”
“Can we, like, not?” Lorna took hold of my hand after I dried them and led me out of the bathroom.
“You know, for someone who wants to be a litigator, you don’t like conversations deeper than a kiddie pool,” I teased.
“Yeah.” Lorna cut me a serious look. “Right now, I don’t. I’ve spent the past few weeks having deep conversations and sleeping fitfully. Tonight, I want to be shallow. Is that okay with you?”
I squeezed her hand. “You know it is.”
She pulled me into her side, wrapping her arm around my shoulders as we walked downstairs. “I can’t wait to introduce you to Wex. I’m interested in his buddy Ryan.”
My instinct was to pull away. To tell her I didn’t want to flirt with some strange college guy. But from our vantage point on the stairs, I saw Jamie pressed against the wall in the far corner of the living room. The champagne blond was kissing the hell out of him, and he didn’t seem to do much to stop her.
I was an idiot.
Those damn tears burned my eyes again as I looked away. Unfortunately, they snagged on Skye, who was watching me. She stood with a few of her actor friends in a huddle in the kitchen. She glanced through the crowd toward Jamie and then back to me. Concern flickered across her expression.
“Come on.” Lorna pulled me down the last few stairs and past the kitchen.
I refused to look at Skye again.
She saw too much.
Wex and Ryan were out by the pool, sitting with the rest of Jamie’s team and some girls.
Despite no one being legal drinking age, Skye was cool with everyone of college age having a few beers, as long as she was there to supervise. Lorna and I were excluded from this rule, of course.
It didn’t stop my friend from plopping down on a guy’s lap and helping herself to his beer bottle. The guy had dark hair and eyes, and as he cupped Lorna’s hip and grinned at her, I saw he had an attractively crooked smile.