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Chapter Sixteen
Lorelei
“Thank you.” I grin at Xander as he passes me the dress—safe in a green garment bag—and shoes that he just fetched from my cottage. We ended up having way too much fun in the bedroom, and I was running late getting over to Breena’s house, where my two cousins were already waiting for me. “Was everything okay over there?”
“Looked normal to me,” he confirms before leaning in to kiss me. “Nothing touched. I’d say it’s safe.”
“Good. That’s good news. I might still stop by after the ball, just to see for myself.”
“We can do that. I’d better go. I have some errands to run for my mom, and then I’ll be getting ready, too. I’ll pick you up later. Just text me when you’re ready.”
“Sounds good. Tell your mom hi for me.”
He kisses me once more, bending me backward as he grabs my ass.
“Seriously,” Lucy says from behind us. “We have to do our hair now. Go away, Xander.”
He grins against my lips. “I’m being tossed out.”
“Don’t take it personally.” I pat his chest and then wave when he leaves, turning to Lucy. She doesn’t look annoyed at all. She’s smiling at me. “I have it bad.”
“I love it so much,” she says with an excited smile. “It’s the way it should be, Lora. You two are just…” She makes a chef’s kiss motion, and it makes me grin.
“We are, aren’t we?”
“Where are you guys?” Breena calls out from upstairs. “My hair is going to get frizzy, and then I’ll have to start all over.”
“Come on.” I lead the way up the stairs, carrying my garment bag and shoes. “I promised Breena I’d curl her hair.”
“You have the magic touch with curls,” Lucy agrees as we walk into Breena’s bedroom, where our cousin waits, hands on her perfectly curvy hips, tapping her toe. “Wow, you’re never impatient.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but my hair will dry,” Breena explains. “And then I’ll have to wet it again, and it’s perfect right now.”
“Let’s do this.” I gesture for Breena to sit in the chair we brought up from the dining room and reach for my already preheated curling wand that dries as it curls. After sectioning out her hair, I start twirling the hair around the hot wand. “Let me just say, Xander had better not have looked in my garment bag. I want the dress to be a surprise.”
“The man’s psychic,” Lucy reminds me, her voice dry as the Sahara. “He likely already knows what it looks like.”
“He could never read me.” I gently let a curl fall before gathering up more hair for another. “And I can’t read him. I know there are spells we could do so we have a link to each other, like you and Jonas did, Luce, but I kind of like being surprised. And I like surprising him. It’s fun. I don’t want to always know what he’s thinking. Besides, he’s so intense sometimes, I think knowing all his thoughts would totally overwhelm me.”
“Xander is incredibly intense,” Breena agrees while sitting perfectly still. “He always has been, even when he was a kid. But I have to say, it’s been so fun seeing him smile more since the two of you seem to be working through the worst of your past.”
“He didn’t smile for a long time,” Lucy agrees. The words are a hit, right to the heart.
“I know I hurt him.” I swallow and then sigh as I gather a new piece of hair to curl.
“Please don’t get mad when I say this,” Lucy says as she brushes foundation onto her cheeks. “You didn’t just hurt him. You destroyed that man. It was really sad. And for a long time, I just didn’t get it. I didn’t understand what could have happened between you two to cause that kind of reaction from you. Of course, now we know, and I understand it was just as devastating for you. So, it makes me happy to see that you’re moving forward together.”
“I don’t ever want to repeat that, and I guess it’s good to know that I won’t have to.”
“I hope you don’t,” Breena agrees.
“It won’t happen again. I can’t get pregnant. Whoa!”
Breena whirls around. She’s lucky I’d just let go of a curl, or I would have burned her.
“What?” Lucy demands. “How do you know that?”
“The procedure didn’t go well,” I reply, licking my lips. “My uterus was pretty damaged. Pregnancy is highly unlikely to ever happen again. And, honestly, I think I’m okay with that. Sure, I wanted children, but I just don’t think it’s in the cards for me, and I can live with that. You’ll both have a dozen babies each for me to spoil. It’s fine.”
Breena tilts her head to the side. “It’s fine.”
“Sure.”
“Oh, honey.” Lucy crosses to me, brush still in hand, and hugs me. “It’s not fine, but everything will be okay.”
