Page 28 of To Love the Stars too Fondly

Nightmares of El.

Nightmares of Alex.

Nightmares of Alex in El’s place on the ground.

I studied my face in the mirror, facing blue eyes deadened by life. “You’re going on a date,” I said aloud, my reflection echoing it back. “You’re going to have a good time on this date. Nothing will go wrong on this date.”

I gripped the sink for stability, debating the merit of just forcing myself to throw up now and get it over with—

The door swung open as an elderly woman in a walker came in with a small child. No more affirmations. I washed my hands and left.

There Alex was, seated by the front door as I’d expected.

Must’ve been the squeak of my sneakers, but she looked up at my approach. How could I not grin at her double-take? If I was confident in nothing else, it was my looks.

Alex quickly stood. “Hey, Princess.” She came to my side, keys still in hand. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. You clean up very handsomely.”

There came the fuckboy grin. “Handsomely?”

“If the wrong ears overheard my real feelings, I could lose my job.”

Alex chuckled, then placed a soft hand on my waist as she led me out, the touch lingering even after we’d stepped outside. “Say it now, then.”

I gave her my best bratty pout. “You look too damn hot in those clothes, and I want to rip them off and ride you.”

“There’s the Terra I know,” Alex said, but her grin held a challenge. The car was ahead, and, unfortunately, she pulled her hand off my waist. “My favorite smartass.”

“Oh, I’m not much for smarts, but I do have a nice ass.”

I stepped forward; Alex did not, apparently inspecting it. “You have both in ample quantities.”

I clasped my hands behind my back, obscuring the view. “You’ll get a much better look later.”

Alex winked as she opened the car door—upward, which I would never be used to.

In the few seconds of silence, I realized just how easy it was to be near her. All that anxiety, all that fear…it seemed untouchable beneath Alex’s smile.

When Alex entered, her own door shut automatically.

“I should warn you,” I said, “that I did decide to wear underwear. I’m a coward in a tiny skirt. But it’s a thong, so there will be plenty of ass to see.”

That’s when I remembered…packing.

I studied her outfit, a silken shirt with tailored slacks that didn’t seem like they’d leave too much room for anything underneath, but maybe the nuances of ‘packing’ were just something I’d have to see for myself. I wasn’t sure how she could fit an entire dildo in her pants, but who was I to question a lesbian with a mission?

“I do need to level with you about something,” Alex said. She kept her eyes on the road, but my nerves rose at the sudden seriousness of her tone. “The tabloids haven’t done any scathing exposés on me in a while now, but there’s still a chance you could be photographed for the local news. Are you okay with that?”

“Oh.” Alex was an heiress, but I hadn’t considered the publicity that came from that. “That’s fine.”

“And something else too.” Alex’s slight wince was so endearingly out of character that I had to stop myself from grabbing her hand. “We went from casual acquaintances to gym hookup really fast, and we made a lot of promises yesterday about how our date’s gonna go, but I want to make sure you know that if you change your mind about having sex, that’s okay. It’s not why I’m doing this. You sometimes say things that are kind of ambiguous, and honestly, that makes me a little nervous. I just want everything to be crystal clear, okay?”

I managed to nod, a deer caught in headlights. This wasn’t danger, so why was I frozen?

Alex’s countenance softened. “Cool. Now that that’s out of the way—damn, you look sexy in the outfit.”

I made a show of tossing my hair, managing to defrost my tongue. “Thanks. I got it out of the clearance bin.”