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“So,” I sigh, placing my hands on my hips and staring down at Mae, who’s sitting on her bed with her legs curled under her, “you gonna explain what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” she huffs, and I’m reminded that she’s younger than me. I hate the reminder.
“This shit is exactly why I don’t date!” I growl.
“We’re dating?” she asks, almost looking surprised. “Cos I don’t remember going on any date with you, Ace.”
“So, you want a date, is that what’s wrong?”
“No, I don’t want a date. God, I’m such an idiot.”
“You’re making no sense, Mae, and I don’t know why you’re mad at me. Just tell me straight cos I can’t deal with this bullshit.”
“It’s fine, yah know, if you’re not invested. I get it. I’m young, you’re,” she pauses and then shrugs, “old.”
“Ouch, get straight to it.” I wince and get ready for the blow I know she’s about to give me.
“I shouldn’t have come on so strong. It’s embarrassing and very unlike me. We can’t exactly spend the rest of our lives sneaking around. You know Queenie and my mother will sniff out the lie soon and then all hell will break loose. I get that it’s too much. We should never have started it.”
“You regret it?” I ask.
She thinks for a minute before giving a small nod. I start to back out of the room. She wanted this, and now she’s changed her damn mind. I should be relieved. At least if I walk out of here right now, the problem goes away and I won’t have to think about how we’ll tell people about us. “Right, well, your call. Gotcha, loud and clear, Mae.” I pull open the door and take a look back at her. “Sorry if I got it twisted.”
Mae remains silent, watching me from her position on the bed. The fact she doesn’t bother to correct me or tell me what changed her mind, confirms that we really were a mistake. One that I won’t be repeating.
MAE
I take in a painful breath, hurt piercing my heart. How did I get it so wrong? I just assumed, with all the little comments he made, that he wanted more from me, that he wanted to see where we could go. I know he never said we were exclusive, and I’m stupid for thinking we were. I bury my face in my hands, feeling like a moron. Piper comes in without knocking, and when she sees me, she instantly rushes to wrap me in her arms. I burst into tears, unable to keep the pain inside any longer. “I feel like such a fool,” I wail.
“Seriously, this is not your fault. You like him, of course, you’re gonna throw yourself in one hundred percent. I mean, look at him. Add in that he’s the President and phew,” Piper wafts her face, “H.O.T!”
I smile through my tears. “I brushed him off. I kept it light and shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I didn’t tell him I knew about Angel. I didn’t want to sound needy.”
Piper strokes my hair. “He looked pissed when he came downstairs. He slammed his office door and the whole main room went silent. It was intense.”
“He can’t have his cake and eat it too. I’m not the kind of girl to share. Maybe I should have made it perfectly clear before we did anything together.”
“I think we need a night out,” suggests Piper with a mischievous smile.
“On lockdown, remember?”
“Lockdown, shmock-down,” she says, waving her hand. “We’ll get out of here somehow.”
“Yah know what, for once, I’m listening to your stupid plan. It’ll get us into trouble, but I need a little danger in my life to forget about mister tall, dark, and handsome.”
Piper grins excitedly. “Then let’s pamper ourselves all day. Get dressed to kill. Have a few drinks downstairs and then sneak out to a nightclub.”
My heart hammers in my chest. If we get caught, we’ll be in so much trouble, but I need to feel alive instead of this painful regret. I nod, and Piper squeals happily.
We do exactly what Piper suggested. We spend the day in my room applying face masks, relaxing, listening to music, and then eventually choosing killer outfits for tonight. I settle on black skinny jeans that show off my curves, according to Pip, and lord knows I need to feel sexy tonight. I add a red, low-cut top that goes well with my dark hair and tanned skin. After Piper gives me a smokey eye makeup tutorial, I’m feeling confident and beautiful.
As I look in the mirror to paint my lips red, Piper comes back into my room looking just as hot in a tight-fitted pair of jeans and a top that barely passes as clothing and could actually be mistaken for underwear. I raise my eyebrows. “Damn, Hulk might bust a blood vessel when he sees you dressed like that.”
Piper smiles. “Good. Let him know what he’s missing.”
I slip into my heels, and we head downstairs. As we enter the main room, a few of the guys turn to look. “You girls know we’re on lockdown, don’t yah?” asks Bear.
“Nothing wrong with feeling pretty, Pops. We wanna dress good and feel good,” Piper says.
