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A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth even as she bites her bottom lip.
“You think I should?”
I nod. “Anyone who’d judge you for your scar isn’t worth knowing anyway. Get the dress. Wear the dress. You look great in it.” I take my hand away, letting it fall to my lap and trying to stifle how empty it feels without being able to hold on to her.
“Okay,” Paige says hesitantly. Then she squares her shoulders and turns to admire herself in the three-way mirror. “Okay.” This second one rings with conviction, and she practically marches back into the dressing room.
I’ve just finished readjusting myself when she tugs the curtain back open, still wearing the dress but now in her sandals too.
“Do you think they’ll let me wear it straight out of the store?”
A determined fire burns in her eyes, and it’s all I can do not to push her back into the privacy of the dressing room and have my way with her.
Chapter Twenty-One
Paige
I don’t know the last time I’ve gone farther than my parents’ backyard with bare legs. In New York, I always made sure my skirts at least fell as far as my knees, if not all the way to the ground. My scar has haunted me for eight years, but today I’m not letting it rule my outfit choices anymore.
The breeze brushes against my skin, and the sensation is so foreign it’s almost erotic. Or maybe that’s just because a sexy man is holding my hand again.
I guess Dash doesn’t mind touching. It’s just the kissing I need to stop myself from doing. I never really thought friends held hands, but maybe it’s just that friends in relationships don’t. Or maybe I haven’t had a lot of physically affectionate friends. Whatever the case, Dash has told me this is okay.
Problem is, if I’m so dense that I don’t know what friends can do with each other, how the hell am I going to figure out the right way to date someone? I’ve never had to do it before. Martin has been the only guy in my life since I was seventeen.
I feel like a newbie. An amateur. If I don’t start learning the rules, I’m bound to make another huge embarrassing blunder. And who knows if the next guy will be as forgiving as Dash?
“Thank you. Again. For help with the dress. And for being friends with me.”
Dash stares down at me with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t have to thank me for being your friend. It’s not a chore.”
Well, that’s good to know. Hopefully, he’ll still feel that way a few minutes from now.
“Do you mind helping me out with something then? As a friend?”
His mouth thins, but he nods, watching me instead of the sidewalk in front of him. I have to tug on his hand to navigate him around a large puddle.
“So, you know that I just got out of a long relationship. Martin. You met him. He’s a dick.”
Again, Dash nods, so I continue talking.
“When I say long, I meanlong. We were together since high school. And I realize this makes me seem like a complete moron for staying with a guy like that for so long, but, I’m hoping, as my friend, you’ll accept that sometimes I can be a moron.”
This actually gets a smile out of him. “You’re not a moron.”
“Oh, just you wait. There’s more.” I pinch the edge of my skirt, keeping it down as a breeze brushes past us. “I, having only been with the one guy, am now realizing, I have absolutely no idea what dating is even like today.”
Dash glances away from me then, lifting his free hand to run his fingers through his messy black hair.
“Can’t see how I’ll be any help. Haven’t dated much since I got out.”
I’m on the verge of asking what he means by ‘got out,’ but then I remember. Oh right, Dash was in prison. Doubt he did a lot of dating in there. Unless he did …
No, Cole made it pretty clear Dash hooked up with girls. Recalling that exchange, I’m certain that Dash isn’t being totally honest with me. Or maybe he doesn’t consider one night stands the same as dating. Whatever is the case, he can still be useful.
“That’s fine. I think I could figure out how to behaveona date, as long as I knew it was a date. I guess my biggest problem is how to approach men. Like, for romance. And sex.”
Dash makes a funny noise, and I worry for a second he might be choking. On what though?
