Page 4 of Nothing But the Truth

“He’s wishing me happy birthday.”

Nina snatched the card. “Then why does it say Sorry about last night?”

Lucy snatched it back. “He’s just busy.”

Nina shrugged. “You’re busy and you make time for him.”

Lucy could not argue that.

Nina arched a brow at her and finally took note of her outfit. “What’s going on here?” She waved a hand over Lucy’s spandex and half-clasped sports bra.

“I got stuck. It’s too tight to pull over my head. Can you help?” She thrust her chest at her friend, and Nina stepped in without question.

Nina tugged and pinched, working the stubborn zipper from top and bottom, biting her lip and mumbling.

“Pull it down,” Lucy instructed.

“I am.”

“No, like at an angle.”

“I am.”

Nina’s dark brow furrowed. She wore her hair in matching braids over her shoulders, and Lucy could smell her freshly laundered spandex and minty deodorant, they were standing so close. She was all long limbs and willowy frame and had a good four inches on Lucy. “Hold the bottom,” she told her.

Lucy did as she was instructed, marveling at the fact that it took two people to free her from an undergarment.

Nina went in, aggressively, from the top. She got a solid grip and yanked. The zipper gave way, and the force of her tug sent her hand straight into Lucy’s nose with a sharp whack.

“Ow!”

“Oh!”

Lucy threw a hand to her face and felt a warm trickle. Her eyes instantly swam with tears.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Nina rushed off to the kitchen and left Lucy dazed.

Tiny stars sparkled in her blurry, wet vision. She moved her hand to see blood spotting her palm, and for some reason, it made her laugh.

“You just gave me a bloody nose! Because of a bra!”

Nina rushed back in with a wad of tissues and a handful of ice cubes wrapped in a towel. She shoved both at Lucy’s face and guided her into a dining chair. “Hold this and pinch.”

“Thanks,” Lucy mumbled in a nasally hum, grateful her friend was a nurse and knew exactly what to do, even if she had caused the injury herself.

Lucy sat still until the coppery taste of blood left her throat. She’d had bloody noses before, but always from dry air or altitude or a really, really bad cold. Never from being hit in the face.

Another laugh shook her shoulders. “I can’t believe you gave me a bloody nose! On my birthday!”

Nina cringed in shame, but she too was laughing. “That’s not your present, promise.”

Lucy set the ice and tissues near the little terrarium centerpiece she’d made on a wine-and-art date night with Nina when Caleb had bailed on her, and sniffled. She checked the time. “Maybe this is all a sign I’m not supposed to go to spin class today.”

“What’s a sign, me punching you in the face?”

“That, and the fact I got stuck in my bra and can’t find my spin shoes.”

“They’re right there.”