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“Can those be pulled off at the same time?” I asked.
“Totally,” Stormi said. “Right, Tiff?”
“Sure,” Tiffany said, already rummaging through my makeup drawer. “Come sit, Jamie. We’re going to get you prom ready. Not that I went to prom, but you know what I mean.”
She’d been raised in a cult. No proms or any other dancing allowed.
I took the dress off and put my bathrobe on instead and obediently sat down at my dressing table. The bathroom in this apartment was too small for doing much besides showering and using the toilet, so I always did my makeup and hair in the bedroom.
Tiffany started combing through my blond strands, assessing me with the gaze of a professional. Stormi had plugged in the flat iron and was looking at my assortment of shadows. Once she’d settled on something, she began by brushing concealer under my eyes. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep lately, I thought, noticing the purple smudges.
While they worked on me, I endured a barrage of questions about the nature of my relationship with Darby.
“So, you’re pretending to date to impress this Arianna Bush,” Stormi asked. “But you’re also kind of dating for real?”
“That’s about it,” I said. “So much for the fake boyfriend idea. Apparently, I’m susceptible to suggestion.”
“How was the kissing?” Tiffany asked, then blushed. Our formerly innocent friend still got embarrassed by any hint of sex. Even though she’d told us how happy she and Breck were in that capacity, it still made her uncomfortable to talk about it.
“The kissing was good,” I said. “Just like the night of hot sex we had way back when.”
Tiffany colored a deeper shade of pink. “I keep forgetting about that part.”
“I don’t.” Stormi stood back to look at her work and seemed to like what she saw, because she picked up a smaller brush and dipped it into a champagne-colored base blush. “I totally thought you guys would end up in bed together after one of our parties. I’d almost given up hope.”
“Do you like him?” Tiffany licked the end of her index finger and dabbed at the flat iron to check if it was hot. “Beyond the kissing.”
I thought about her question as an image of Darby’s grinning face appeared before me. “He’s warm and sensitive and yeah, I like him. A lot, actually. I’m not really thrilled about it, since I don’t think he could ever like me long-term.”
“Why would you say that?” Tiffany wound a section of my hair around the flat iron. “He’d be lucky to have you.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “He’s got some issues, and so do I.”
“Don’t we all? Huck and I have a lot between the two of us. I mean, gobs and gobs.” She paused, looking philosophical as she picked up the blush brush. “But we help heal each other of past traumas every day we’re together.”
“Same with Breck and me. Well, he doesn’t have issues really,” Tiffany said. “He’s kind of perfect. Other than he lost his dad when he was a teenager, he’s so well-balanced and steady.”
“Lucky him,” I said. “And lucky for you, Tiff.”
“What do you know about Darby’s issues?” Stormi asked. “Like are they the kind that will keep him from being a good partner to you?”
I had to laugh. Since she and Huck fell in love, Stormi had become focused on relationships and what made them work.
“I mean, look at me,” Stormi continued. “I had to teach myself how to trust him and that he would be there every night without fail. Which is what I need, given my chaotic childhood with a million stepdads.”
“What do you think you need, Jamie?” Tiffany asked.
What did I need? “A guy opposite of my dad.”
“What does that mean?” Stormi asked.
“My dad was controlling and passive-aggressive—any hint of that and I’m out of there,” I said.
“Darby doesn’t seem like the controlling type, does he?” Stormi asked, and didn’t wait for a reply before telling me to close my eyes.
I did as asked and held my breath as Stormi applied eyeliner to my upper lids. When she was done, she stood back slightly to get a good look at her work.
“It doesn’t seem like it,” I said. “Not yet, anyway. But I wonder all the time—is he the leaving type? I need a man who I can relax with, knowing that he won’t just suddenly up and leave when I get older, like my dad did. And someone who really likes me the way I am and won’t try to change me.”
