Page 32 of Pressure Point

Hazel’s words caught her off guard, and the wand slipped in her hand, resulting in a jab to the inside corner of her eye.

“Ow,” she said, blinking, trying to keep the mascara out of her eye. She looked at herself in the mirror and saw the big, black gob staring back at her.

“What happened?”

“Stabbed myself in the eye with mascara. No biggie.”

Avery grabbed a tissue, ran it under some water, and dabbed at the spot, hoping she wasn’t making it worse. The last thing she needed was to end up with a literal black eye.

“Mascara? You own mascara?”

“Yeah. After the almost kiss we hit up Atira, and Liam helped me pick out some makeup. Nothing major, just some tinted moisturizer, blush, mascara, and this really pretty lipstick for the party.”

“So a hot AF dress and makeup?”

“And shoes,” Avery added in.

“And shoes. McBroody helped you with all of it?”

“It was a really productive trip to the mall. I have to get used to putting on the makeup and practice walking in the shoes, but Liam said we could go dancing so that I could work on my moves. Hazel, I’m so excited. It’s going to be perfect. I’m going to look so sexy at Dash’s birthday party, there is no way he won’t notice me. And, when I bid on him at the auction, and we go on our first date, it’s just going to be perfect.”

“Aves, I know this Dash guy is, like, sex walking—I’ve seen the pictures. But, what about Liam?”

“What about him?” she asked, confused.

“He just seems like a serious catch. Spending the entire day with you while you try on clothes and makeup. Helping you with this cockamamie scheme in the first place! From everything you’ve said, he’s a good listener, fun to be around, and you have similar interests. What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing is wrong with him. And I told you, he’s not gay.”

“No,” Hazel sighed. “I mean, why not go after Liam? He’s also seriously hot, like H-A-W-T hot. Those broad shoulders and the grumpy pout that seems to be permanently on his face. It’s just, damn. And you’re obviously attracted to him.”

“I’m not attracted to him!”

“You almost kissed him…”

“I’d been thinking about Dash! Dash is who I want.”

“You sure about that?”

Yes, she was sure. That was the whole point of Operation: Sexy Beast. Liam was just her partner in crime. So she’d gotten caught up in the moment; that didn’t mean anything. It also didn’t mean anything that she was still thinking about it days later. That was simply a symptom of her inexperience. Everyone dwelled on memories of their firsts at times, didn’t they? She was no different, other than her first almost kiss came at twenty-four rather than fourteen.

“Positive,” she said, turning out of her bathroom and into her closet.

Grabbing a clean pair of pants and a pink polo, she walked over to her bed, sitting down on the edge. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, letting the thought sink in. The idea of her and Liam together was crazy. They were just friends.

“If you say so.”

“I do. But I gotta finish getting ready and head out. I’ll put on the dress tonight and send you a picture.”

After saying their goodbyes, Avery finished getting ready and made her way to the training center. As she walked inside, she felt a sudden wave of self-consciousness take over. What if someone noticed that she looked different? The goal had been to look natural and like she wasn’t wearing makeup—and she’d only started off with the moisturizer and the mascara. But what if she’d done it wrong and it looked bad? She didn’t want to be looking like those girls she saw on TV that had clearly botched something and looked all orangey. Her face matching her hair would not be a good look.

“Morning, Avery,” Cowboy greeted her as she opened the door from the medical center to the pitch. “Are you planning to be out here with us this morning? I want to chat more about Jarrett’s ankle if you have time.”

“That’s my plan. Chance said his foot was a little crampy as well, so I wanted to watch him too.”

“Great, let me grab Gunnar.”

Cowboy didn’t say anything, so you must look fine. See, you can do this. Makeup isn’t that hard.