“Are you wearing panties?”
“No. I can’t with the cut of the dress.”
Jeff dropped something hard onto the ground and we both jerked at the sudden noise. “Sorry,” he mumbled.
Laney grabbed the clips from her hair accessory drawer and parted my hair with a small comb. “You know, I’m not really into athletes. I think it’s a selfish thing. Like, I understand their dedication to a team and sport, but I’m a girl who likes a lot of attention.”
I snorted. “At least you admit it upfront.”
“It’s the only reason I haven’t asked Hilly to set me up with someone.”
“Well, I’m glad Jeff set up a date for me. I don’t mind the dedication, actually. I need my alone time and with him having baseball…it would give us space.”
Jeff’s gaze met mine in the mirror and he had an unreadable expression. It wasn’t interest or anything, but it wasn’t bad. It was like he was studying me. I made a silly face at him and enjoyed how his eyes softened. “What do you think, Jeff? If you’re dating and a girl has a problem with baseball, what do you do?”
“Uh, we wouldn’t be dating if she had a problem with baseball. It’s a huge part of my life.”
“Fair enough,” I said, enjoying the added length to my hair. It still looked like me but it was enough to not make me recognizable if Max was tipsy. “Do you have red lipstick, or something bold I could wear?”
“I love this confident Amber. Seriously, where has she been? Yes! I have blues and reds and oranges. What do you think, Jeff? What would make these full lips pop more?” She reached out and squeezed my cheeks to my lips came together in a highly unattractive angle, but Jeff laughed and the sound comforted me.
“Red is always good.”
“Boom. Here you go.” She handed me a green tube of lipstick and patted my head. “I cannot wait to hear about it, girl. I’m proud of you.”
And the guilt arrives full force.“Thanks.”
“Now apply this shit and go!”
I did and felt a stir of excitement when I stared at my reflection.I look happy.Jeff jutted his chin toward the hallway and we walked to the front door together. “Is your car here?”
“No, I’ll go get it.” But he made no move to leave. We stood facing each other, our bodies close enough to touch, and he reached out with his thumb and brushed it against my skin—right next to my mouth. He swiped up. “You had a little color there.”
“Oh, thank you.” I flushed with embarrassment, but he hadn’t removed his finger. It remained on my face, the small amount of contact causing my legs to feel like clouds, weightless and fluffy. Then, he added the rest of his fingers to my chin and lifted my face up while he studied every part of it. My breath got stuck in the back of my throat at the way he was looking at me and it took all my effort to not fall to the floor when he said, “We have one flaw in our plan. You are not someone he’s going to forget.”
Then he let go and walked outside.
The winter air hit me and thank god for that because that was the most intimate thing I had ever experienced.What the fuck?
9
JEFF
Max was a douchebag. Disgust rolled through me as I observed him and how he talked to girls. The slicked-back hair and constant roaming hands were enough reasons to dislike him, but to see him go from one chick to another, dismissing them when he reached a certain point had me clenching my pint of beer. Amber hadn’t made a move yet in the past hour and I was minutes away from calling the entire thing off. I took another drink and met her gaze over the edge of the glass. She arched her eyebrows and tilted her head toward him.Is this her way of finally getting to work?
I gave her a curt nod and rubbed my jaw. The muscles had hurt the past two hours I had been in her presence and I had no idea why.Probably all that talk about Brandon.
Or the fact she isn’t wearing panties.
It’s Amber…she’s not hot… Is she?
Oh fuck. She took the blazer off and set it on the back of a bar stool. Her cherry-red lips stood out against her skin and a shot of heat went below my waist at the thought of them. It didn’t help how the cold showcased a slight outline of her perky nipples in the dress…hell, did she go braless too?
There wasn’t enough beer in the world to watch this, yet I remained frozen to my seat. She sauntered up to Max and it amazed me how she transformed herself. She stood with confidence and oozed sex appeal. My neighbor who’d done drugs freshman year, who’d given up drinking and wore rainbow socks looked hot as hell and it was really messing me up. This clashed with who I thought she was.
Max noticed her as she leaned over the bar, letting the front of her dress hang forward, damn well giving everyone in the bar a glance at her cleavage, and a dull pounding began in the base of my head.
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm, caressing her skin, and she giggled. It sounded so fake, but he responded to it. He pulled her closer to him and she let him. Her long black hair flowed over her shoulder and the creep pushed a lock of it back behind her ear.Jesus, that move is old as hell.
