Page 2 of Trapped By the Blood Ruby

“Oh, get in here.” She hooked a finger under the strap of my suit, hauling me inside. I dropped my bag beside the dented, upright piano that dominated our front room.

I wanted to hate her, I really did. She was the epitome of a girly-girl. Mid-height, with voluptuous curves and delicate facial features. Then there was her designer wardrobe. Her closet was filled with frilly gowns in every color. She even wore headbands that looked like crowns.

Me? I was a giraffe. Six feet of gangly limbs and sharp angles. The only thing remotely pretty about me were my blue eyes, and even those looked too big for my face.

“Now, we need to figure out what we’re wearing.”

“What you’re wearing,” I corrected, following her down the hall toward her room.

“Oh, you’re going, Lils.” Her bedroom was a direct contrast to mine.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes, you are. Now, sit.” She pushed me down onto her plush chaise lounge. I jumped straight off it, leaving a wet spot behind.

She reached for the remote on her rumpled bedspread and I caught a glimpse of her TV screen before she turned it off. A figure with silver-white hair and sharp, angular features filled the frame, dressed in elaborate dark armor. “Are you watching Shadowlands without me?!” I accused.

“Just rewatching last week’s episode.” She flashed me a guilty grin. “I needed my Taegan fix.”

“Ugh, you’re obsessed.”

“Uhm. Excuse me! Have you seen those cheekbones? Those eyes? And that hair?” She gestured at the screen. “He’s literally perfect. Tell me you wouldn’t climb him like a tree.”

I sighed because she was right. “If only we had fictional boyfriends in real life.”

“Well even if we did, you wouldn’t know, Miss Hermit.”

“Touche.”

“Which is why we’re going tonight.” I groaned. “Lils, when’s the last time you did something just for fun? Not to prove a point, just...fun?”

“I can do…fun.”

“Can you, though?”

“Fine.” I grumbled. “I’m pretty bad at it.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Ania was always pushing me, especially when I failed to push myself. Case in point—this morning. I hadn’t planned to walk across the stage to accept my bachelor’s degree in front of a crowd. I mean, what was the point? No one was there to watch me. No family. No other friends besides Ania.

Turned out that walking across the stage, shaking the dean’s hand, was an experience I needed. Something I hadn’t realized until that very moment. I’d walked off stage hugging that damn folio to my chest like it was a million bucks.

“You never let yourself relax, Lils. Not even for a minute. You need to celebrate. You earned this. We both did.” She eyed me, her beatific face serious. “Do it for yourself, if nothing else. Besides, I bet Daniel will be there,” she added, wagging her eyebrows.

“Daniel’s BU’s quarterback, Ania. He literally has his pick of women,” I mumbled, trying to sound like it didn’t matter. “He certainly doesn’t want me.”

“We’ll see about that. I’m going to turn you into a goddess.” With that proclamation, she threw open her closet doors.

My chest fluttered at the thought. I’d spent my entire life fading into the background. Maybe it was time I stepped out into the open.

Ania began sliding hangers along the rod.

“The red Eminence gown,” I blurted. My cheeks heated.

She glanced over, a mischievous grin on her lips. “That’s my girl!”

She riffled through her closet until the gown sprang free. She tossed it at me. I wrapped my arms around it, clutching it to my chest.