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Alright, so maybe Billy’s hot blooddoesrun through my veins.
???
The bridal store attendant comes by the dressing room with what feels like hundreds of dresses. From behind the curtains, I hear Tawny barking orders at them. I also hear the employees complaining about her in Spanish. Guess she doesn’t speak Spanish or else they’d be in trouble.
The dresses I try on range from ridiculously ruffled to downright ugly. It feels like hundreds, but I know it’s only five. I hate dress shopping and I hate dress shopping with Tawny even more.
Seriously, who needs so many ruffles on a dress it resembles a layered cake?
Then there are the puffy ballgowns that only make me look taller and broader. At 5 feet 8 inches, I’m tall for a woman and I want something that feels like me. Preferably without making me look so big, I take up half the dancefloor.
Finally, I find it.
My reflection is almost enough to make me smile. For a second, I almost forgot who I’m marrying or why.
Almost.
Chapter 20
Aurora
I’ve been ducking my study sessions with Lauren for days. But I can’t avoid her forever, and I invite her over. The longer I wait to tell her I’m seeing Caine, the weirder she’ll find it.
It’s rare to find friends who aren’t using me for my connection to my father or afraid of me. Growing up, I was never allowed into the popular girl clique after my classmates learned whose daughter I was. Then there were the burnouts who were hoping to use me for my drug connection. I won’t lose the only real friend I have at school.
When I show Lauren into the living room, she’s visibly confused. Her eyes dart around the mansion, and her pursed lips indicate disapproval.
“No one needs a house this big,” Lauren announces. She dumps her bookbag on the couch and fixes her gaze on me. “Please tell me you didn’t buy this McMansion. I’ll have to renounce you as my best friend.”
“You’re a St. Cloud. I’m sure you grew up in a house nicer than this.”
She tilts her head to the side, considering. “I don’t know about nicer, but it is bigger. I had two wings all to myself, and it was so lonely. By the time I found my siblings, it was dinner time then off to bed.”
“It’s not mine,” I say, blushing.
“You don’t say.” Lauren rolls her eyes. Then she breaks into a wide grin. “Oh my god, tell me you’re a sugar baby!”
My cheeks heat.
“No!” I exclaim. “I sort of have this boyfriend or fiancé, I guess you’d call him.”
“Who? What? Is he a biker too?”
Despite my non-existent online presence, how much has Lauren gleaned about my family? How much have her followers spilled after the countless photos and videos she uploaded of the two of us to her own social media? Just because I keep a low profile doesn’t mean there isn’t someone out there who can’t make the connection.
“Well yeah. Your dadisyour dad, right? I’ve seen his jacket.”
His club jacket. The one with the Dullahans’ name and logo on it. Of course, Lauren’s seen it. He never takes it off.
“If you knew, why didn’t you say anything?”
Lauren looks at me like I’m slow. “I don’t want to end up in a dumpster in the Southie because I talked.”
I’m feeling more sheepish by the second.
“People don’t get it. I have nothing to do with any of it.”
“You don’t give mobbed up vibes.”
