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I would. Because maybe there was very little that would keep me away from him, too. “But he will be on stage, right?”
“All will be revealed in a matter of moments,” she teased.
I groaned. Okay, my fairy dragmother was insisting on an air of mystery today. Normally, I’d say it looked devastatingly gorgeous on her, but now that I was in the spotlight, I needed all the details. “Are Zoe and the girls all set with tickets?”
“Tickets?” Bibi harrumphed. “I made sure to give them the full Mating Game VIP experience. They’ve got backstage passes, and they’ll be watching the show from the producers’ monitors.”
Wow. I’d had a chance watch Marissa’s episode from the same spot and it had been amazing. “They’re gonna lose their minds.”
“Enough about them. This episode is about you. I have a sneaking suspicion you might be a little uncomfortable being the center of attention. Anything we can do to alleviate that issue before there’s nothing but spotlight for as far as the eye can see?”
I smoothed the ruffled hem of my dress. “More fabulous clothes?”
“You look gorgeous no matter what you wear. I want to make sure there’s nothing holding you back.”
I gulped. Thankfully, Marjorie, the makeup artist, was working on my eyeshadow, but I could feel tears welling behind my closed lids.
“No one’s ever accepted me the way thatThe Mating Gameuniverse has,” I finally managed, each word shakier than I would’ve liked. “My family always thought I was throwing my life away when I was on the road, managing bands. They had no idea how hard those jobs were to score. How fast I could lose them on some crazy guitarists’ whims. I’m used to making sure everyone else around me is happy, walking on eggshells and since I’ve been here, I realized I’m not sure what makes me happy. Besides the show, of course.”
I opened my eyes, relieved that I’d held it together enough to not ruin my makeup. Bibi beamed at me.
“We’ll figure it out,” she insisted. “The Mating Gameis a total life makeover. The last thing I want you to do is change to fit someone else’s expectations.”
“I won’t.” At least, it was my plan. “That’s why I want to see Lars happy. We’re more alike than meets the eye.”
Bibi rose from the chair, the top of her wig almost brushing the ceiling. Maybe I was a little jealous of the extra height. I was done playing small.
“Ready to go on stage and choose your mate?”
“After a quick lip touch up, she’s one hundred percent for makeup,” Marjorie said as she pulled out a lavender lip liner.
My heart slammed against my chest. This was real. It was happening. “I’m so ready.”
Bibi’s lips curled into a smile. “I know you are. Let’s make this the best episode yet.”
My legs were shaky as I rose from the makeup chair. Marjorie had transformed me from gothic cupcake into gothicgoddess. Seriously, I looked like one of the queens on the coolest tarot deck ever.
Bibi offered her arm and I hooked mine inside it as we walked past the maze of trailers that madeThe Mating Gamehappen. I wondered which one was Lars’s before I remembered that the guys didn’t get a trailer for this part of the episode. They went into something called the Pen, and Marissa called three names moments before they were about to take the stage.
I could picture him, all big and fuzzy in his natural form, among a sea of snoozeworthy humans. Maybe they’d found some other creatures that were still beast to take the stage with him so he wouldn’t feel soother. I didn’t think Lars minded solitude. But there was this ache that radiated from him, knowing no one else was like him.
As we approached the stage, my mind reeled. I had so many questions for Bibi, but they were in a jumble, and I wasn’t sure which one to ask first.
“How is—”
I didn’t even get a chance to get my question out before I got tackle-hugged by a woman I’d never seen before. Never seen in person, anyway, but there was no mistaking this was my girl Zoe. She was about six inches taller than me with long dark hair and a red dress that hugged her perfect body.
“You look amazing,” she exclaimed, pulling back but not letting me go. She gasped when she realized who I was with. “Bibi! Sweet moon. I’m such a huge fan. And you are gorgeous.”
“We all are.” The glittery goddess beamed. “I’m so glad to have a chance to meet you in person. Any last-minute advice before Hannah takes the stage?”
Zoe wasn’t alone. I’d been afraid I wouldn’t recognize her or Destiny in person, but they looked exactly like the pictures they’d posted in the forums. The butterflies in my belly had dived into a mosh pit. Having the girls here, and not just avatars on a screen, made this even more real. My fantasy world had totally come to life.
“Absolutely,” Zoe said. “Don’t hold back with your questions. Make them so juicy the network censors get their panties in a bunch. Whoever you choose—
“Lars.” Destiny grinned at me. She was only a little taller than me, just as curvy, with her dark, curly hair pulled up into puffs on either side of her head.
“Of course she’s going to choose Lars,” Zoe said. “Just let the ones you don’t choose know that you have two hot friends that would love to get to know them better.”
