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“Those are by the door, ready to be put on,” Gracie replied. “Your new combat boots and ballet flats for Raina.”
Nicole glanced around the dorm, her eyes a little dimmer than they had been a moment before. “I can see I’m not needed here.”
“We still want you here though,” Raina said honestly.
Nicole looked surprised for a minute, before a smile broke out across her face. “Thanks, Raina.”
* * *
Jesse tapped his foot as he straightened a place setting. Would Raina like it if the cup was on the left side or the right side? Should he put the cup upside down, or right side up? He’d used plastic so there wouldn’t be a problem with non-kosher dishes, but would Raina think that was too casual?
He and Dean had set up dinner in an empty classroom down the hall from Raina’s kosher kitchen. It was convenient, but would Raina think a classroom setting wasn’t fancy enough? Oh god, was he dressed nicely enough? Would Raina like his outfit? Jesse grabbed his phone from where it was lying on one of the chairs and flipped open his camera, checking his hair in the makeshift mirror.
Dean ambled into the room, hands shoved into his pockets. “Raina’s going to love it,” he said right away, correctly guessing Jesse’s fear.
Jesse grinned sheepishly. “I guess there’s no point in pretending I’m not worried about her reaction, huh?”
“Oh don’t worry, I remember the days you denied it.” Dean chuckled. “You would get all upset if we brought her up.”
“Consider it payback for the shit you pulled with Gracie. Speaking of the girls, where are they?”
“They’ll be here in a few minutes,” Theo said, bursting into the room and causing both Jesse and Dean to jump.
Jesse nodded, smoothing down his purple button down one more time. “What takes girls so long to get ready? We were all done ages ago.”
“Speak for yourself,” Theo said, lightly touching his gelled curls. “Besides, all you had to do was put on clothes, and Gracie picked them out for both of you.”
“Which was very nice of her,” Dean chimed in. “I think she wanted us to match.”
Jesse eyed Dean’s deep green shirt. “We’re not matching.”
“Me and Gracie,” Dean corrected him.
“Oh. Well, that makes sense.” Jesse glanced worriedly at the table again. “Theo, can you double check that all the utensils are in the right places?”
While Theo walked around the table, eyeing each plate setting critically, Jesse stared impatiently at the door. He had just shifted to the other foot when it opened, and Zara and Gracie walked inside. Gracie was indeed wearing a dark green dress, one that matched her boyfriend’s outfit perfectly. Zara, as usual, was wearing black, and Jesse imagined when Nicole arrived, she’d be matching the redhead.
“Who’s coming?” Zara asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
Dean had been in charge of inviting everyone, so Jesse wasn’t sure who was coming tonight. Everyone had been adamant about not inviting Blake, so it was only the uncles who could possibly be no-shows. “Us all, Raina, and Nicole. Possibly the uncles.”
Zara waved invisible pom-poms in the air. “Well, this is going to be fun.”
Jesse nodded, suddenly distracted by laughter coming from the hall. He strained his eyes to see out the half-open door, his heart beating faster as Raina and Nicole came into view.
“There is absolutely no way that’s a true story,” Raina said with a giggle.
“Oh yes,” Nicole snickered. “He was fourteen and had no idea how to use a microwave.”
Jesse ignored the embarrassing story that Nicole was telling about him, unable to take his eyes off Raina. She was dressed in a floaty purple dress that swished as she moved, her hair pushed back with a pearl headband. As much as Jesse thought she’d looked amazing in the navy dress she’d worn to their makeshift picnic, Raina looked so much more comfortable in the one she was wearing now. From the pearl headband, to the longer dress, all the way down to her silver ballet flats, it was 100% pure Raina Cohen. And judging from the way she turned and beamed at him, Rainafeltmore comfortable as well.
“You look really amazing,” Jesse said hoarsely. “I…you take my breath away, Raina.”
Raina’s eyes sparkled, and not from the glitter on her face. Jesse admired the silver eyeshadow, something he’d never seen her wear before. “Thanks. Gracie picked out the dress, and, well, Nicole got me the headband.”
“Geez, Cohen, you make it sound sonice,” Nicole grumbled, crossing her arms as she joined in on the conversation. “So I saw it and it reminded me of you and I bought it. Don’t make a big deal out of it or anything.”
When Nicole turned away to talk to Zara, Raina grinned. “She noticed I liked it and paid for a personal shopper to go to three stores until they found one that had it in stock.”
