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“Hi yourself,” I said with a glint of fang peeking out of my teasing smile. Our eyes met in the mirror as I tapped my cheeks lightly, diffusing a soft pink liquid blush with my fingers.

It made me feel weirdly self-conscious that my hair was still in rollers, setting my curls before I went on stage—not that Vi hadn’t seen me mid-glam before or even naked several nights a week. But it wasValentine’s Day! We didn’t have an official date planned or anything, but I wanted… I don’t know! For it to be special, I guess.

Maybe I should’ve asked her on a proper date. It wouldn’t have been tonight, not with the club full to bursting with couples looking to spice up what otherwise would’ve been another boring dinner date. But… Maybe we could’ve gone for breakfastafter work—it still counted as breakfast at four a.m., right? When did things stop being midnight snacks?

I fought a nervous giggle, embarrassment making me stiff as Vi brushed a stray hair from the nape of my neck with her warm fingers.

“I was worried if I didn’t swipe some of these now, they’d be out by the time I took my break,” she said, popping a strawberry into her mouth. A stray crumb of chocolate rested against her upper lip, and I gave in to the urge to swipe it away, sucking it off the pad of my finger.

Vi swallowed hard, pink rising to her cheeks and making my mouth water.

The little red dress she wore was perfect for the evening’s theme, ribbed fabric hugging her every curve like it’d been tailored for her specifically. It made me wonder what Juniper could make for her if I gave her no rules and an unlimited budget.

A dangerous notion. Juniper was amazing at making clothes, but her real talent was in lingerie. The thought led into another, reminding me of the gift I’d purchased for Vi.

It was a gamble, but…

“Els?” Vi asked, nudging me with her shoulder good-naturedly as she recovered first. “Anybody home?”

I jumped off my stool with a nervous laugh, trying not to let my gaze stray toward Vi’s obvious cleavage or bare legs for too long.

“Yes, sorry! Actually, I… Um… I got you a little something. I hope that’s okay.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, her elevated heart rate betraying her curiosity. “I… Well, I didn’t get you anything.”

“We didn’t talk about presents, so I wasn’t expecting one. I just wanted to, so I did.”

One of the things I liked best about Vi was how perceptive she was, constantly soaking up information about the people around her. Even when I was peppering her with questions for Mission Girlfriend Material,which was finally a name I didn’t hate,she was the one getting all the information. It wouldn’t be a surprise if she had notes in her phone about each of us, tracking our likes and dislikes.

If, you know, that wasn’t total insane person behaviour.

Not that I could talk, given the nearly encyclopaedic level of knowledge I’d collected about my coworker-slash-crush-slash-future girlfriend.

Something about her attention to detail just felt…good.

With the shriek of metal against metal, I pushed aside some low-hanging costumes to reveal a box I’d hidden on the bottom shelf of my clothes rack, out of sight of the nosy dancers I shared my space with.

She took in the elegant black script and matching bow wrapped around the blush box with interest.

“Agent Provocateur?” Vi asked in that soft, raspy voice of hers that made my toes curl, her lips twitching as she took the gift with barely contained grabby hands.

Note to self: she likes presents.

“Open it,” I encouraged, clasping my hands behind my back to stop myself from lifting the box back out of her grip as she hesitated.

The waiting was always the worst part of gift-giving. Why didn’t people just shred things like when we were kids on Christmas morning?

Vi unravelled the bow slowly, peeling back the lid of the box and tucking it underneath. The black tissue paper rustled as she parted it, revealing a lingerie set made of sheer nude fabric, a dusting of embroidered pink and red hearts decorating the scalloped edges of the bra and the top of the panties likesprinkles. The set was completed with pink piping to finish its edges that matched the ribbon of the garter belt.

Cute and sexy. The exact sort of thing I wanted to see her in.

Vi’s mouth hung open in surprise, her eyes wide as she looked up from the box to meet my gaze. “Elsie, this is?—”

“Just your size,” I interrupted before taking a sharp breath through my nose to steady myself.

I’d barely had to do any begging to get Babydoll, the gooey romantic, to hand over Vi’s bra size.

After our near miss of a kiss the other day, and whatever weirdness followed. I realised that it was time to take matters into my own hands.