Page 35

Oh no. Taylor could see where this was going. At this point all she could do was sit back and hope Avery wouldn’t be so mortified that she would literally sink into the floor. So far, however, she was doing great.

Avery sat back and surveyed the Goddess again, so Taylor looked her over, too. The boas were in every color of the rainbow,along with a gold one and a silver one. She had no idea which one Avery would pick, or why.

“I think the silver one,” Avery said. “Gold is really more your color than silver.”

The Goddess gasped dramatically, and Taylor could tell Avery was trying hard not to grin. She, of course, succeeded; Avery was excellent at keeping a straight face.

“You know, I could choose to be insulted by that,” the Goddess said. “But you’re right—see, I knew I picked the correct person to help me. I really am more of a warm-toned person.” She reached for the silver boa, which was draped around her neck. “Now I need to take it off right now.” The Goddess paused and held out a hand to Avery. “Actually, this is very embarrassing, but I need your help to get it off. It’s attached back here, can you do it for me?”

“Of course.” Avery stood up, without a glance at Taylor. Taylor didn’t know if that was because she had no idea what was about to happen, or if she was already mortified and couldn’t look at Taylor for fear she’d burst into either laughter or tears.

No, not tears, Taylor couldn’t imagine Avery doing something so revealing as crying in public.

“It’s right…there,” the Goddess said as Avery disconnected the silver boa from the rest of them. “Perfect, you’ve got it. Here, let me make this easier on you.” And then the Goddess spun in a circle and the silver boa unraveled from around her neck. She plucked it up off the floor and draped it tenderly around Avery’s neck.

“Oh, that looks great on you,” the Goddess said. “Silver is definitely your color, even if it isn’t mine.” She looked down at herself and then frowned. “Hmm, but there’s still a problem. Hold on to this, will you?” She handed Avery the end of the gold boa, andthen twirled faster and faster, as first the gold boa, then the red, then the pink, then the rest of them unraveled from her body. The crowd started clapping as the gold boa fell away, and got louder as the rest fell to the floor. When she was finally devoid of boas, the cheer was deafening. She faced Avery and shimmied back and forth, wearing just sparkly hot pants and bright blue tasseled pasties. The tassels at the ends of her substantial breasts swung back and forth and then around in a circle as she moved, and Taylor couldn’t help the giggle that came out of her mouth.

“There, now, isn’t this better?” she asked the crowd. The crowd cheered and hooted and called out “Swing those titties,” “Yesss, girl, yesss,” and “Tig ol’ bitties!” Taylor couldn’t help herself from yelling out, “Yeahhh, baby.” She saw the corners of Avery’s mouth twitch.

“What do you think, Ms. Thing?” the Goddess asked Avery. “Isn’t this better?”

Taylor had no idea how Avery would respond.

“Well, you know how much I love a boa, so I didn’t think it was possible to get better than what you had before, but…” Avery paused and looked from one tassel to the other. “That little loop de loop blew my mind.”

The Goddess shouted with laughter, kissed Avery on the forehead, pushed her back down into her seat, and shook her boobs in her face one last time for good measure. Avery’s cheeks were bright red, but she laughed and clapped for the Goddess along with the rest of the crowd as she gathered her boas—except for the silver one—back up and gave one more twirl with them before she disappeared.

Once another set of dancers had taken the stage and the attention of the crowd was off their table, Taylor looked over at Avery, who was staring at the stage with that silver boa still around her shoulders. Taylor touched Avery on the knee.

“Do you hate me for not making us change tables?” she asked under her breath.

Avery met her eyes and paused for a long few seconds, before she laughed out loud and shook her head.

“I could never hate you. I mean, yes, of course, I was completely mortified, but it was sort of fun?”

Taylor grinned at her.

“If it helps, I don’t think anyone else in this place had any idea that you were mortified. Other than me, I mean. You did a great job.”

Avery shook her head again.

“ ‘Great’ might be overstating it, but as long as I didn’t embarrass myself, I’ll call it a win.”

Taylor threw an arm around her.

“Not only did you not embarrass yourself, but you surprised even me. I didnotthink you were going to go there with the tassel thing, and you did.”

Avery pulled the boa tighter around her neck with a wide smile.

“Okay, but, Taylor, I couldn’t help myself! Did you SEE the tassels swing in the little circle like that? How did she make them do that? That was total wizardry there!”

“That kind of thing is either years and years of training, or just sheer talent,” Taylor said.

They both laughed again, and then Avery picked up what was left of her drink.

“Um, I have one more question, and it’s a serious one,” she said.

Taylor sat back.