Curvy Girls Can't Date Cowboys - Kelsie Stelting Page 0,91
dress was a complete bust, squeezing me in all the wrong places. I began pulling it off.
“You like him, don’t you?” she pressed.
Knowing Cori wouldn’t give up until she had answers, I stepped out of the dressing room. “I like him, okay? But it doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t want to be with me, and that’s fine.”
Her eyebrows rose, and she nodded.
“So, this dress...it’s not the one, right?” I said awkwardly.
“You’ll find the one that fits perfectly, Ging,” she said. “I promise.”
“Yeah, but you know what happens,” I said. “It fits great and looks terrible.”
“Nah, you’ll find a hot dress. One with lots of muscles too.”
A tearful laugh escaped my lips. “You can’t have a dress without the muscles.” We so weren’t talking about dresses anymore.
“What about the dress with three million followers on Instagram?” she said. “That one’s cute. And has muscles.”
That was touching. “You’d be okay with me wearing that dress? I thought you loved that dress.”
“I do, but certain concessions can be made.”
“Oh yeah...” I paused. “Zara’s wearing that dress to Spring Fling.”
Her mouth popped open to form a perfect O.
“Breathe, Cori!”
The fitting room attendant came back and said, “Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I said. “Just being silly.”
A broad smile lit Cori’s face as she took in quick breaths.
“I said breathe,” I hissed, “not hyperventilate!”
“Ryde Alexander is coming to Spring Fling?”
I smiled at her. “I thought we were talking about dresses?”
Sixty-Six
On Saturday, I dropped Cori off at one of her friends’ houses to get ready before driving across town to Zara’s place. So many people were there now, all of our vehicles couldn’t fit in the massive garage.
I parked behind Kai’s Honda, noticing a dent in the back fender. I wondered if that was new or if he just hadn’t gotten it fixed. Dating Jordan really seemed to have changed him from the aloof rich kid I’d once thought he was to a down-to-earth, relatable person.
I knew you shouldn’t try to change a man, but boy did I wish Ray would pivot just a little—open his heart to love and forgiveness and risk. But it didn’t do well to linger on thoughts like that.
I walked inside and found Ryde in the kitchen.
“Hey, Garlic,” he said.
“Um...” I pushed my lips together. “It’s Ginger.”
“Oh, right.” He sent me his movie star smile that probably let him get away with all kinds of things. “Would you mind picking up this other bowl of popcorn? Zara sent me down for it.”
I shrugged. “Sure.” Anything to get into Zara’s room with the girls faster. I mean, seriously. Garlic? I needed to tell Cori and the twins to reconsider their crush.
He popped a piece of popcorn into his mouth and winked at me. Why did he wink so much? Had I been so dazed by his fame last time that I’d completely misjudged him? As I mulled it over, I grabbed the other bowl and started toward the stairs, not worried with whether he followed me or not.
He did, albeit a few steps behind. “Is that your dress?”
I assumed he was referring to the garment bag over my arm. “Yeah.”
“Merritt had hers specially designed in France.”
Great, I could look forward to hearing about that at the dance. “Neat.”
“More like excessive. I don’t know what’s wrong with Nordstrom.”
The thousand-dollar price tags? I thought. Instead, I said. “No idea. What movie are you guys watching?”
“Some action flick. Ranks pretty good on Rotten Tomatoes.”
“I always disagree with their ratings,” I admitted, cresting the stairs and waiting for him. “It seems like they rank the best movies low.”
“Or maybe you have bad taste,” he said honestly.
“Yep, that’s it.” I walked into the media room, where all the guys were spread out on the couches, looking right at home. How unfair was it that it would take them ten seconds to change into their suits when we girls would spend upwards of two hours getting ready?
Carson’s eyes went wide. “Popcorn.”
I held it out as he hopped over a couch and came to get it.
“Thanks, Ginger,” he said with a grin.
“Oh, you haven’t heard?” I asked. “It’s Garlic now.”
He gave me a confused look.
“Ask Ryde,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “See you guys later.”
I could hear them interrogating Ryde and the beginning of an embarrassed explanation as I walked out.
When I reached Zara’s room, the other girls were all there in the beginning levels of getting ready.
Zara had set up a makeup station on her desk, another table had been pulled in and loaded with straighteners, rollers,