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“Don’t look so worried, Stone. I’m not going to tell you I’m after your man or anything.” She continues to laugh, pulling me toward the dressing rooms where two clerks are already standing with various dresses in their hands.
“I just wanted to thank you,” she adds, her genuine tone taking me even more off-guard.
“Thank me? For what?”
“Isn’t it obvious? For Fi
Ke
“What type of hurdles?” I question, my curiosity piquing at the details of Fi
“One of our best friends tragically lost both of his parents earlier this year, and we haven’t quite moved on from the shock. When one of us hurts, all of us feel the pinch,” she explains.
“The Hamilton murders? I read about it in the paper. I didn’t realize Fi
No wonder he was so insistent about me attending his parents’ party tomorrow. It’s pretty boy’s desperate attempt to merge his two worlds together. I just wish this union was going to happen on my turf rather than his.
“Yes. Our families are very close. Lincoln is like a brother to Fi
“Fi
“Right. Of course not. I mean, who wants to talk about such depressing issues when you can spend time making out, right?” she teases, nudging my shoulder, trying to lighten up the mood.
“Right,” I grumble, uncomfortable with the discussion of my sex life with a total stranger, no matter how good of a friend she might be to Fi
“Are you happy?” she asks all of a sudden, halting our step inside the vast dressing room, her eyes drilling holes into my head.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I know Fi
I unlatch her arm from mine and face her head-on, wanting to make it completely clear to her that we are definitely not going to have a heart-to-heart. We’re not BFFs, and this isn’t some teenage rom-com where we are about to do a montage of the popular girl giving the town’s reject a makeover to impress the jock.
Fuck that!
Ke
“So? Is he?”
“I don’t see why my happiness is any of your business.”
The minute the words fall from my lips, a predatory, feline gaze begins to simmer in her eyes, and a sick sense of déjà vu slaps me across the face—I’ve seen this same vulturous look somewhere before, and it had left me just as u
What the hell is going on?
Have I met Ke
But that stare.
The unsettling prick on the nape of my neck is somehow familiar to me. It’s reminiscent of something that, for the life of me, I can’t recall. Or maybe I don’t want to.
I school my face as best I can, trying to look unaffected, so the Barbie doesn’t realize she’s getting to me. But instead of toning down her nefarious gaze, she just amplifies it, twisting her stu
“I know coming into our world may be a little overwhelming for you, so I understand you putting up your defenses. Fi
“Tell me something, Ke
“I offered, of course.” The corner of her lip tugs into a mischievous smile.
“And did you do that because you like shopping so much, or because you wanted to size me up? Or perhaps you wanted to tell me where my place is at?” I ask her, point-blank.
Her snicker becomes a full-blown, carefree laugh once again, the devious glare no longer governing her face.
“He said you were super smart, too. I’m glad to see he wasn’t just blowing smoke,” she replies with a giggle, not denying my suspicions.
“So that’s it. You wanted to check me out and see if I’m good enough for your little group,” I sneer, pissed as hell that this debutant wanted to vet me for their rich club.
Her former grin dissipates from her face, making the serious glower that was previously embedded in her eyes return at full force.
“Not at all. I just wanted to make sure Fi
“I thought you said you weren’t after my man? It sounds to me like maybe you are. If that’s the case, then you’re in for a rude awakening. Fi
In reality, my heart is shriveling up inside, thinking of Ke
Too bad for her, I’m not a quitter.
I’m a fighter.
Always have been. Always will be.
Sure, Ke
My hands are already curled up in fists, imagining how I’m going to claw her pretty eyes out if she says one more thing that pisses me off, when I realize that the intimidating, no-nonsense Barbie is nowhere in sight.