Page 69 of One Wild Wish

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

RACHEL

“Are you sure this looks good?” Nothing about the leopard-print skirt hugging my legs would mix and match with my wardrobe. The black stilettos were dangerously high, the halter top flashier than I usually purchased, its greens and blues bright against my freckled skin. I still grinned, knowing I’d buy it all.

A hint of reckless just for me.

“If you don’t buy it, I will burn your wardrobe and send you through the streets in a potato sack.” Ainsley wasn’t one for subtlety, but she was indeed the Style Whisperer.

The instant we’d walked into the all-white space, sparse décor adding to the posh vibe, she’d sifted through racks and had chosen two outfits for me. The second was a homerun. The woman was like a hound dog, sniffing out perfect ensembles. She’d already found a purse to match her pink pumps and had Gwen buying a jade scarf to highlight her eyes.

Gwen came up behind me and hung a silver chain around my neck. “This would work, too.” The attached sphere dipped into my minimal cleavage.

I touched the pendant, then ran my hands over my hips, imagining Jimmy’s palms following the trail, strong and sure. He went crazy for my legs, an attribute this outfit played up.

“It will set me back,” I said, “but it’s worth it. And FYI, I’ll be on a serious budget soon.” I faced the girls, needing to share my news, get it out and make it real. “I’m going back to school.”

Ainsley surveyed the store. Gwen wrapped her new scarf around her neck.

Neither acknowledged my comment.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’m going back to school.”

“What’s on tap this time?” Gwen asked. “Window washer? Dog trainer?”

Ainsley adjusted my skirt, smoothing out a side seam. “I saw online that a girl critiques dick pics. Like, breaks them down and analyzes the positives and negatives. You should do that. With our help, of course.”

Gwen scrunched her nose. “I’m all for hot guy pics, but peen shots? Not sure.”

That was a no for me. There was only one male specimen I cared to look at. One I’d swirled my tongue around last night until Jimmy had grunted my name and spilled into my mouth. I licked my lips. “If Jimmy’s is the last I see, I’ll die a happy girl.”

“Is he big?” Gwen asked, nudging me. “He looks like he’d be big. And good.”

The girls hadn’t ceased prodding me, trolling for bits of information, trying to get me to share juicy gossip. I glanced around, worried the store owner could hear us. “I’m not talking about my boyfriend’s dick.”

“What else do friends talk about?” Ainsley piped in. “Since neither of us have men in our lives, we need to live vicariously through you.”

“Not happening.”

My friends, of course, started talking to each other, as though I’d vanished.

Ainsley tapped her chin. “I bet he’s small.”

“Or maybe he’s all about himself,” Gwen said, “and doesn’t know how to please her.”

“That would explain why she hasn’t dished about him.”

“Right? If he were good, she’d be all gushy.”

Tired of their taunting, my harsh whisper rushed out. “He’s the perfect size and rocks my world and knows exactly what to do, and he’s pierced, which is ridiculously hot, and that’s the last we’re talking about my sex life.”

Gwen held up a hand. “Back up, buttercup. Did you say pierced?”

Oh, crap.

Ainsley sighed. “Does he have a twin?”

Two women entered the store, browsing through the quiet space. Before my friends could grill me on details or my cheeks burned any hotter, I shoved the conversation back on track. “Like I said, I’m going back to school. Not to add another useless diploma to my collection. This time”—I inhaled deeply, memories of my phone call earlier today speeding my pulse—“I’m enrolling in the Napa Viticulture program. Not sure I can get in for the fall, but I talked to admissions and there’s a chance. I can probably finish the course in two years, then I’d apprentice, so I’ll be, like, thirty before I dive into the field, but I’m going for it.”