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Jenna sank down onto the edge of the bed, and she and Cadence exchanged a glance before she answered. “Because it means something to you. We watched you struggle to ask for help. We care because it’s you.”
And Lucia felt it. She felt that bone-deep urge to bolt out of here and throw insults and squirm out from under their attention, but that reaction would hurt them.
And with these two, she didn’t want to hurt them.
Lucia swallowed hard, then took a sip of the cheap wine and pointed to the slinky black dress draped over the bed. “I wouldn’t mind trying that one on.” She dared a glance up at Cadence. “I noticed what you did. You picked all-black outfits. Thank you for not bringing out the pastels.”
A slow smile took Cadence’s pretty face. “I’m not trying to change you, Lucia. You like wearing black. Ain’t no shame in liking what you like.”
Huh.
She took a long sip of her drink and then pointed to a hunter green mini-dress with sparkles in Cadence’s closet. “That one is nice too.”
Cadence looked at the dress and back to Lucia. “That’s a dick-getting dress.”
Lucia lifted her chin higher into the air. “Well, maybe I’ll be getting a dick.”
Jenna sucked in a breath so hard, she choked and went into a coughing fit.
“Whose dick?” Cadence asked at a volume that hurt Lucia’s ears.
“Lan…Lan…” Jenna was coughing so much. “Please tell me it’s Landon,” she rushed out between coughs.
“You wish,” she muttered, but she offered them a cheeky smile, and both Jenna and Cadence flopped dramatically onto the bed.
“Your dad is going to freak out!” Cadence crowed.
“I don’t even like Landon, he just asked me to hang out,” Lucia muttered. “I only said yes because I’m bored and I want to toy with a man’s emotions.”
Cadence stood, yanked the green dress off the hanger, and tossed it to her. “Try it on.”
Lucia set the pink bra and the cup of wine down, then shimmied out of her four layers of clothes. She yanked the dress from Cadence’s grasp and pulled it over her head. Jenna zipped it in the back for her, and then gripped her shoulders and yanked her over to a full-length mirror and made Lucia look at herself.
The entire dress fit like a second skin, and the sequins were very pretty. She turned this way and that. Even her black boots looked pretty good with this dress. She didn’t even have to wear a bra, because the dress had one built-in.
“It’s comfortable,” she admitted.
“And easy-access if you don’t wear panties,” Cadence pointed out.
Jenna belted out a laugh as Lucia pulled a look. “I don’t bone on the first date.”
“Good, make that boy wait. But you’re going to tantalize him in this dress. I promise he will be thinking about you in this dress for a long time.”
Lucia liked that, though she wouldn’t admit it out loud.
Instead, she announced, “This one is acceptable.” She nodded to each of the girls, and then said, “I shall see you later.”
“Ha!” Cadence said. “Nice try. We will help you with your makeup, too.”
“And,” Jenna said, poking buttons on her phone. “I’m setting up a text thread with the three of us so that if you need advice, or need us to get you out of there, you have easy access to us.”
“Why would I need you to get me out of there?” Lucia asked, confused.
“If he is weird, you can just send us a code word and we will call you. Put us on speakerphone, and we will get you out of there.”
“Get me out of there, how?” she asked.
“I will machine-burst cry about my missing cat,” Cadence assured her.
