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“Obviously,” she rolls her eyes.
“I don’t know…” I press my knees together, knowing that just beneath my jeans are a pair of legs that only get shaved when I absolutely have to.
“It’ll be great. I’ve got this place I love that does the best bikini wax in the world!”
“Bikini wax,” I exclaim, the thought alone is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
“Yeah,” she says in that way that sounds likeduh. “Mom and Dad have pool parties basically all summer. Getting this done is theonlyway to go. Trust me.”
She jams the car in reverse and pulls out of the driveway.Just what have I gotten myself into?
Needless to say, I learn fast. By the time we got back to the bedroom they’d set aside for me, I’d had so many hands on me that I feel like a show pony being prepped for the Kentucky Derby or something.
Thankfully, Kelsey is excellent company. Just pushy enough to get me out of my comfort zone, but never so much that I feel like she’s gonna kill me. Plus, her bubbly charm is just so irresistible that I want to keep her laughing.
“Now, let me see what we can do,” she says, diving into the closet almost as soon as we make it through the bedroom door. In a flash, she reemerges with a red sundress with a subtle, abstract pattern on it. “Try this one on! This is a great start.”
Slipping out of my tee and jeans, Kelsey makes no bones about snatching them up and pitching them as far into the back of the closet as she can muster. The light fabric feels so good on my skin, and Kelsey slips behind me to tie a couple of loose strands behind my back to snug it in at my waist.
That done, she comes around to face me again, her eyes twinkling as she grabs a little bit of makeup out of her bag. She stands in front of me and goes to work brushing and powdering.
“I’m going to guess you’ve never put on mascara before?”
“Bingo,” I say, and she just smiles.
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you taken care of.” After a few deft swipes, she eases back to look me over with an approving nod.
“Not bad,” she says, dives back into the closet and rummages around, coming back with a pair of heels. “How about we give these a shot?”
“Okay,” I reply, eyeing them warily. Perching on the edge of the bed, I slip my feet into them and fidget with the straps until everything seems fairly secure.
“They look great,” Kelsey squeals. “Try and stand up.”
Tryis the only appropriate word. I do manage to get all the way up, but I’m about as knock-kneed as a newborn horse, holding my arms out in hopes of aiding my precarious balance. I look up at her with a grimacing smile, and she just gives an efficient nod.
“You know what?” She waves for me to sit down and quickly dives back into the closet. “We’ll work up to them.”
Handing me a pair of flats, I stand up, and she gives me one last once over.
“Alright. I think we’re ready.” She steps aside and gestures to the full-length mirror. “Take a look.”
A whole new person gazes back at me from the mirror. My hair hangs around my shoulders in luxurious waves, gloriously liberated from the ponytail I’d always trapped it in. It dusts over the thin straps of the dress, which hugs my figure in a way completely unlike the bulky stuff that had been the cornerstone of my wardrobe.
Ever since puberty, I’d done everything I could to hide what it had done to me, but looking at myself now, I find myself rethinking that mindset for the first time. When it comes to makeup, Kelsey is a bit of a wizard. I’m not caked with it like Samantha Berensen or any of her painted compatriots, but the handful of blemishes on my cheeks have vanished.
“Woah,” I mutter as I take it all in.
“What did I tell you.” Kelsey grins, slinging an arm over my shoulder and hugging in next to me. “You’re a knockout, babe.”
The funny thing is—I am. For the first time, I feel as beautiful on the outside as I’ve always felt on the inside. It’s funny, but seeing myself like this, my first thought is to wonder what Hunter would do if he saw me like this. Hell, what wouldIdo if he saw me like this?
If the girl I’m looking at now was the girl I had always been, maybe I’d have been brave enough to kiss him with the lights on.
In the end, I had to shake those thoughts off and get myself together. Kissing Hunter Collins was incredible, but it was far more the end of one story than the beginning of another. The Abigail Stevens of the future is coming at me fast, and I’m awfully excited to meet her.
Epilogue
HUNTER
