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“Rin, I’m aredhead. I can’t wear that!” The dress was a sunset orange. A shimmering layer covered it, making the fabric shift between yellow, orange, and flashes of purple. The neckline fell off the shoulders, with short, puffed sleeves straight out of a vintage movie. It wasn’t awful, and the fabric was really pretty. If you didn’t have red hair. I would look like one solid lump of color.
Laughing, Ocean pulled her dress out of the bag, making a face. “I think that’s the point.”
“We never went out of our way to look bad,” I said.
Trinity snorted. “Like you could make anything look bad. I don’t care what color your hair is, that’s going to look stunning on you. Now put it on. We’ve got to get moving.”
I raised an eyebrow. “In a hurry?”
“I wish I wasn’t,” she admitted. “But I uhh… sort of got promoted? Again?”
Ocean and I both looked at her. “What? When?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
She stepped into her dress, which was an outrageous neon green satin with gold sequins. Probably a cast-off from one of the hundreds of movies that came down to Clarity to film. Private beaches were perfect to film on since there were no tourists, and the people who owned them had no problem taking the studios’ money for practically no work. “Well, when Tracy got in the accident, she was working on a lot of stuff. Not only that, she was the features editor. They weren’t going to fill the position, but it was obvious really fast that wasn’t going to work. Evan read some of the stuff I was finishing up for her and gave it to me. I found out day before yesterday and I’ve barely come up for air.”
My mouth dropped open as she ran out of steam. “Holy shit, that’s amazing. Not that Tracy died, but that they gave it to you. Isn’t that what you’ve wanted?”
“Yeah.” She’s quiet. “I mean, eventually. I thought I’d have time to write features without being put in charge of an entire department first, but yes.”
I looked over at Ocean, and her face clearly shared my worry. “We don’t have to go out tonight, Rin. If you need to catch up, that’s totally fine. I’d like you to, you know,sleepat some point, but I don’t want you to stress more.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Please. I can’t stare at words for another second or I’m going to go mad. I want to do this. I just can’t spend all night doing it.”
“All right,” Ocean said. “But just so you know, just cause you’re a big time writer now doesn’t mean we’re taking it easy on you.”
Trinity scoffed. “I don’t need you to take it easy.”
Ocean’s dress was a sparkling white with one shoulder bare. I caught the hesitation in her eyes when she saw it, but honestly, of the three of us? The dress was something she could wear and pull off. “You look hot.”
She rolled her eyes.
“I am one-hundred percent entirely serious. There are Alphas who would lose their shit over the way your ass looks in that dress.”
“Thank you.”
The words were soft, so I put a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay? The other day?—”
“I’m okay.” A smile that didn’t match her eyes. “Well, I’m not, but I also don’t really want to talk about it. Let’s go have fun bowling.”
“If you need me, I’m here.”
This time her smile actually reached her eyes. “I know.”
I pulled on the dress and groaned when I saw the shoes. Gold heels that were just as tacky. If not more so. Colored jewels glued on the fake leather, like a craft store threw up on them. “I never thought I’d say I washappyto put on bowling shoes.”
“You’re welcome, Rin. Thank you so much for buying me shoes,” Trinity said with a smirk, turning back from the mirror.
“I can’t believe you’re going to make me walk out there in front of them like this.”
“You look hot,” Ocean said. “Really. Besides, I don’t think you could put anything on that would change the way they look at you.”
“Because none of it’s real,” I muttered.
Rin snorted. “I’m calling bullshit so hard it’s not even funny.”
I glanced back toward the closet doors, like I could tell if they were pressed up against the other side listening, or that our voices would carry. “I’m paying them to be here. It wasyour idea.”
