Page 38

Delores

“You didn’t tell us how your new pastel hair went over with Professor GrumpyPants,” Cori says as she threads her needle. My polar bear friend is impressively adept at sewing, which is why she’s the head costume designer for the entire theater program, while Chess only occasionally oversees—so we can say a professor is running things. Her eyes flick to the skirt she’s working on as she mutters, “Definitely a blind hem stitch here. The idiot who made this doesn’t know their ass from their elbow.”

Rufus snorts. “Look at the blush on Dolly’s cheeks! Woooo, girl, I think it went very well.”

Tucking my hair behind my ears, I pick at the buttons on the dress I’m holding. “I’ve had an enjoyable week, yes.”

The two of them howl with laughter, stopping their work completely to give me pointed looks. My face flushes hotter and I squirm under their gaze. Neither of them looks away, determined to drag juicy gossip out of me at all costs.

“Okay, okay. I spent the night at the townhouse after Pred Games. Things got… really hot.” I put my hands over my eyes, feeling ex posed and unsure. “After prom, I didn’t have the chance to talk about losing my virginity with friends, like a normal teen—even with how terrible it was. I don’t exactly know how to do this.”

Cori scoots over and pats my shoulder. Her mouth is full of pins as she tries to comfort me. “Is oh-kay Dowwy. Don’ be shy.”

“We won’t tell a soul, Dollypop. You can share all the nasty details—especially if it’s about hot dicks,” Rufus whispers conspiratorially as he plucks buttons out of the jar to study them.

I wrinkle my nose and grin a little. “Ok. So, I spent the night… with Fitz.”

“Woooo-weeee! Our girl landed herself a big kitty dick to swing from! You know, I hear they have these insane hook things on them when they’re with a mate.” The badger waggles his brows and his hips, making him look ridiculous. “Coco, we have to up our game. Dolly’s making us look dull.”

Leaning in, I swat him playfully until he stops making sex sounds at me like a pervert. “Rufus! Someone will hear you! Stahhhhhp!”

My other friend picks up her sewing again, scrutinizing the fabric intently as the two of us battle. Once she finishes a section, she looks up with a raised brow. “That’s it, though? Just a little fun with the tiger? No other smoking hot profs getting a glimpse of your new La Perla?”

Oh, damn.

I thought my tidbit would be enough to satisfy their need for vicarious thrills. Rufus looks at me expectantly and I sigh, trying to figure out what I’m allowed to share. I don’t want to blab everyone’s secrets; they trust me. But I also desperately want to have friends I can share my life with who actually care what I have to say.

Can I trust them? Ugh. I think so.

“I went on a late-night outing with Renard and Aubrey. We… took a quick trip together, after I danced with the gargoyle in the moonlight.”

Their eyes pop open, and Rufus holds his hand up for a high five. I smack his palm sheepishly, knowing that I’m blushing again as they crack up. Cori holds up the bias cut skirt she’s working on with a satisfied grin and tilts her head.

“You realize this means you have to go to the Halloween dance with all of them, right? It’s only a few weeks away and we need costumes. It’s mandatory.”

“What?” I practically screech. “We have to wear costumes? Everyone? Where am I going to get a Halloween costume better than the cheesy ones on Amazon? We have exams and I have to study and we’re not allowed off campus...”

Rufus grins, stacking his hand behind his head as he lays down on the floor to lounge. “That’s right, Dolly Bear. Why do you think Coco is practicing her herringbone stitch? She’s gonna help us get fancy.”

I must look like someone has smacked me in the face with a brick, because Cori stops sewing to pat my hand. “We can all work on the costumes together—even for your guys. There’s plenty of time, and since we haven’t decided on the musical yet, I’m sure Professor Chess will allow you to work with us on a large costume project like this for midterms instead. Just bat your lashes a little..."

Snorting, Rufus nods his agreement. “Find out what your men want and we’ll help. It’s not like I haven’t had to sew up people after fight night at home. I can’t do fancy shit like Coco, but I’m handy with a pair of scissors.”

The way he says that both creeps me out and relieves any fear of making a fool of myself from building in my chest. I pull out my phone to start a group chat on Predbook. I’ve never messaged anyone but Fitz before, but he made sure I had all of them friended, just in case I got cornered somewhere.

Oh, great. He preset nicknames for everyone. I’m gonna pay for this; I’m sure of it.

BabyGirl: Um, hi, everyone.

CSpot: Delores? Is something wrong?

TigerKing: Who picked these names?

LustyLibrarian: It had to be Fitz.

EmoBatMan: Where am I???

CSpot: Delores, tell us you’re okay.

BabyGirl: I’m fine, Chess. Don’t worry—there’s no emergency.

TigerWoody: Baby Girl, are you naked? That’s def an emergency.

BabyGirl: No! I’m in class. But I have a question.

TigerWoody: Yes, my dick is the biggest.

TigerKing: Fitz…

TigerWoody: Okay, okay. What’s up, baby girl?

BabyGirl: My friends say everyone has to go to the Halloween Ball, including teachers… in costume. Did you know?

LustyLibrarian: What??!!!

EmoBatMan: Uh-oh.

CSpot: I must have missed the email.

BabyGirl: Well, Rufus and Cori said they would help make yours, but I don’t know what you want.

EmoBatMan: That’s very kind of them, petite lapin.

TigerWoody: If you need sizes, I’m an extra large.

TigerKing: For fuck’s sake, Fitz.

CSpot: Why don’t I gather our sizes for you and you can have full creative freedom?

TigerWoody: I’ll give you something to measure, Chessie.

LustyLibrarian: Costumes?!!

EmoBatMan: We’ve broken Flames. It will take a while to talk him off a ledge. I agree; we trust you to choose.

TigerKing: I don’t, but fine.

TigerWoody: I’m all yours, baby girl. Make me something sexy. No, wait. Make YOU something sexy.

BabyGirl: Okay. But I don’t want to hear any complaints from the peanut gallery.

TigerWoody: Yes, ma’am! Ooh… how about you go as a dominatrix?—

“What’s the word, Dollybear? Are we making like a Fashion Week strike team or what?” Rufus asks. He’s got his Smackbook out and is already cruising the internet for group costumes as they wait for me to finish.

I give them a sheepish look. “They said we can pick. Chess is going to take measurements so we can get started.”

Cori’s eyes widen, and she covers her mouth with her hand. “Oh my gawd. They said… you… can pick?!!”

My brow furrows in confusion as I nod. “Well, yes. Why is that such a big deal?”

“It’s a big deal because with no input, we can completely flip the script on your alpha assholes,” Rufus replies with a fancy grin.

“Mmmhmm,” Cori hums, scooting over to look at the costume websites. “Halloween costumes are disproportionately skewed to make women look like overly sexualized versions of everything. Who the hell fights ghosts in a goddamn thong? No one, that’s who!”

Smothering a giggle at her indignation, I study the pictures of the group costumes with a fresh eye. She’s right; everything from a sexy firefighter to a slutty pumpkin is represented, and it’s more than a little gross. I scrunch my face, thinking about what Fitz demanded. I’m not opposed to looking hot; if I’m honest with myself, I enjoy the hungry looks I get from my professors, even if they think I don’t notice. But that doesn’t mean I can’t have some fun with a little role reversal.

Five slutty dude costumes coming up.

“Okay, I’m in. What do you guys have in mind?”

Rufus whoops, the dark flash of mischief in his eyes simultaneously frightening and appealing. “You’ll have to give us the inside scoop, cutie. We need to hit ‘em where it hurts.”

I arch a brow. “Inside scoop?”

“Tell us their soft spots, Dolly. You know, like what would irritate the hell out of them, and we’ll plan the costumes around that,” Cori responds as she clicks the trackpad to advance the page.

“I don’t think Fitz is ashamed of anything, guys.” My lips curve up as I consider for a second. “But we can make him look silly, regardless. It won’t bother him, but his antics will drive the others nuts.”

“Sexy nurse it is!” Rufus declares, scribbling on a notepad. “The hardest part will be shoes for these giant dudes, but don’t worry. I know a place.”

“Didn’t you say Fitz has big old feet like yours, Dolly? You had to wear his shoes that time, right?”

I nod at Cori, ducking my head. “The big ass feet make sense now that I know about the bunny part, I guess. Lucille always made fun of me.”

“They made you exactly how you needed to be; that’s what my mama says. I wasn’t meant to be a skinny-mini ‘cause polar bears are self-insulating, and you have big tootsies because you gotta hop away. Now, let’s plan how to bring these alpha doggies to heel.”

I ponder for a moment, considering her words. Perhaps she’s right that I’m built exactly how I needed to be to support my animal when it emerged.

Maybe all I needed was a shift in how I was looking at it.

As for what to do with the guys—I already have ideas. This will be a perfect opportunity to teach them a lesson, I think. “Whatever we do for Felix has to be girly. He’ll flip his lid because he’s so ‘I’m a big, bad king. I’m the strongest shifter ever’. Blah, blah, blah.”

“Oooh, if we do that, maybe he’ll get annoyed enough to turn you over his knee!”

Her excited clapping makes my eyes widen and I trip over my words for a few minutes before I can even plan an answer to that. I mean, I’m definitely not averse to that scenario, but I don’t think I’m quite ready for it, or to discuss it with anyone out loud. The best I can do is hiss at her. “ Cori!”

The ongoing cackling from my friends makes my cheeks flame red as I add a few ideas to Rufus’ notepad. I can’t even look at them as Rufus smacks his ass and squeals like a girl on purpose before Cori follows up with a well-placed spank of her own.

Hera, help me, I’m going to die on the spot.

“Dollypop, loosen up! You’re never going to fill ‘er up with five dudes if you can’t even take us handing out spankies in front of you.” Rufus snorts and turns his attention back to the website, pinning me with a look. “Time out—let’s talk about our costumes for a moment.”

Cori grabs the list and scribbles a few things on it as she mutters to herself. When she finishes, she gives me a bright smile. “Just making some notes on materials. Rufus and I are doing 80s cartoon characters.”

I look at the pink metallic material, finally understanding what she’s been hemming while we talked. “Ooooh! I wanna be a cartoon character. Can I do it with you?”

A slow grin creeps over Rufus’ face. “Oh, definitely. That’ll get their goats; you won’t match their sexy vibes. Good idea!”

My brows furrow and I pout. “I wanna look cute. Lucille never let me dress as hot as the Heathers—not that I wanted to go as far as they did—but now that I can, I want to be sexy!”

A flash of multi-colored hair is all I see before Cori barrels into me with a laugh, squeezing me into a tight hug. “I don’t know if you could be any damned cuter, but we will make sure you look both sweet and smoking hot, Dolly. Trust me. I’ll come up with something perfect.”

“Okay, now back to torturing your harem. Tell us what evil schemes are in that cute wittle head of yours and we’ll start ordering the supplies, stat. We’ll have to bust our fabulous asses to get all of this done in time,” the badger tilts his head, looking at me expectantly.

I grin broadly, thinking about what I can put each guy in that will make him squirm—besides Fitz, of course. The Halloween party sounded like a nightmare when they first brought it up, but now I’m actually looking forward to it. Maybe it will erase the memory of the shitty prom I attended here in the spring.

I can finally move on as I was meant to.