Page 23

CHAPTER 23

EMILY

I turn, getting a good look at myself in the full-length mirror in the corner of my bedroom. I hate my outfit. I’ve always been a jeans and a nice top kind of millennial, but as I look at myself, I can’t help but feel like I should be in line at some school drop-off somewhere. With a huff, I tug the black off-the-shoulder top over my head and toss it into the corner with the pile of clothes I’ve already rejected.

My bedroom door opens, and I scream because I’m home alone. Clutching my hands to my chest, I spin around to see Tess standing in the doorway, and my shoulders sag on a relieved sigh.

“Jesus Christ, I thought you were an intruder!” I place a hand over my heaving chest.

A know-it-all smile lights up my sister’s face as she looks me up and down. “And where do you think you’re going?”

I roll my eyes, moving back to search the remains of my closet. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going out.”

“A date ?” Tess gasps, inviting herself in and flopping down on the bed.

I turn, clamping my bottom lip between my teeth, nodding.

She squeals, falling backwards and kicking her feet in the air .

Again, I roll my eyes, turning back to the closet.

“You can’t wear jeans on a date.”

“Why not?” I scoff.

“Because… it’s a date ,” she says as if that’s that. “You need to look sexy!”

I stare at myself in the mirror wearing jeans and a bra, and suddenly I’m hit with the kind of overwhelming anxiety I certainly wasn’t prepared for. Tess is right. Burying my face in my hands, I groan. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Tess is suddenly behind me, her hands resting on my shoulders, face right there as our eyes meet in the mirror. “It’s a date, Em… hardly rocket science.”

I heave another sigh, tentatively meeting her eyes as I confess with a whisper, “I really like him.”

Tess’s face lights up. I swear, you’d think I just told her I was marrying the guy. She squeals again, wrapping her arms around me from behind, squeezing me so tight I can barely breathe.

“Bronny!” Tess shouts.

Bron suddenly appears, her head poking tentatively through the doorway. “What’s up?”

“Crack open a bottle of Veuve,” Tess says with a beaming smile, chest shimmying. “Our Emmy’s caught the feels!”

I roll my eyes yet again, but I can’t stop my smile because Tess’s excitement is infectious. And she’s right. I have caught the feels. I just don’t know what to do with the feels because the feels are foreign to me. I’ve never felt these feels before. Not even with Luke. And I was going to marry him.

“Tell me everything!” Tess pulls me to sit on the bed with her.

“I don’t know where to start.” I shrug.

“What happened last night?” she presses, bouncing up and down excitedly.

Reluctantly, I tell Tess what happened at the event, and how I felt jealous so I left, and how Dallas came running after me. She swoons, of course .

I tell her that I went home with him. She waggles her eyebrows.

I tell her about my meltdown, and how I told him about my past. She gasps.

“Wait?” Her brows knit together as her gaze flits between mine. “You told him?”

I swallow hard, nodding once, nervously picking at my nails.

“Everything?” Her gaze dips to my chest.

I nod again.

Tess’s smile is watery. “Emmy, that’s huge!”

I rake my teeth over my bottom lip, shaking my head at the memory. “He was… amazing. With everything that I told him.”

Tess looks like she’s about to cry, but instead she reaches over and wraps her arms around me, pulling me in for a bone-crushing hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Two Veuves.” Bron walks into my bedroom carrying two glasses of champagne, complete with strawberries at the bottom of each one. She takes a seat next to Tess, joining us.

I almost down the entire glass of bubbly, careful not to choke on a strawberry, and Tess eyes me cautiously over her glass, sipping hers like a normal person.

“So… what’s the problem?” she prompts, raising her eyebrows.

I huff, throwing a hand up in the air. “Everything.”

She stares at me, waiting.

Placing the empty glass onto the bedside table, I push my hair back from my face. “I’m scared that it’s all a smoke screen. And that when he sees me… the real me—” I indicate my breasts. “He’s going to change his mind.”

Tess goes to say something, but I stop her, speaking again. “He’s a renowned playboy, Tess. Loud and proud about it. I’m scared that he’s going to realize he’s not ready to settle down, especially not with a mangled, middle-aged woman who might not even be able to have babies. And he’ll go back to sleeping with any and every woman who throws herself at him. ”

Tess opens her mouth again, but I’m quick to continue. “I’m scared that I’m going to make a fool of myself and end up all alone, again , broken even more than I was after Luke, with no job because Andy was right, and this is exactly why he has a strict non-fraternization clause. I don’t know if my heart can handle that kind of hurt again.”

“Okay, you’re spiraling.” Tess grabs me by my shoulders, steadying me with a serious look. “Look at me.”

I take a few slow breaths, looking in her eyes.

“I can’t tell you how to feel, Emmy,” she begins. “And I’m not going to tell you that you’re being dramatic or silly because… I saw you at your worst. I know how bad it got for you—” Her voice breaks and tears fill her eyes.

“But you cannot live the rest of your life scared that the same thing is going to happen. It might happen.” She shrugs. “It might. And if it does, I will be right here to help you pick up the pieces again. I’m never going to let you face anything like that alone.”

I sniffle.

“Emmy…” Her gaze is imploring as she searches mine. “You can’t close yourself out to the possibility of amazing things happening just because you’re scared. Imagine what you could miss out on.”

I wipe my tears with the back of my hand, nodding because she’s right.

“I don’t know Dallas.” Tess shakes her head. “But let me tell you this, right now. When he was here earlier, I snuck a sideways glance at him while you were talking to Mom, and I caught him looking at you, and oh my God, Em.” She smiles despite her tears, shaking her head slowly. “The man was looking at you like you hung the fucking moon, sun, stars, fucking Mars… I’ve never seen a person look at anyone the way he was looking at you.”

I manage a smile, my heart fluttering in my chest .

“And, no offense,” she continues with a wince, “but baby, you looked like a hot mess.”

I laugh out loud.

Tess smiles softly. “Just stop thinking so much. Get out of that pretty little head of yours and enjoy it. Whatever it is.”

I sniffle again. Glancing at Bron, she offers me a kind smile, reaching out to squeeze my arm in a show of support. “We’ve got your back. Both of us.” She indicates herself and Tess. “As someone who grew up as an only child, you’re my sister now, Em. Not just in law , but in every way a girl can be a sister. I love you.”

I can’t remember a time my heart has felt this full. These girls are my whole world.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you… both,” I say through a sob.

“Honey, you’d be living in Mom and Dad’s basement with that creepy-ass carboard cutout of Don Mattingly and his huge mustache watching you while you sleep,” Tess says with a grimace.

I laugh again. “Will you help me get ready?”

Tess downs the rest of her champagne like it’s a shot of Fireball and she’s at some Frat house ready to party. “Baby, I was born to help you get ready.”

D: I just pulled up, Goldie. Do I come to the door?

D: This is my first date in 26 years, after all.

Panic sets in the second I read Dallas’s text messages, my self-doubt returning with a vengeance at the thought that this is his first date because, again, he’s a serial womanizer. I chew nervously on my bottom lip, butterflies the size of birds flying around my stomach.

Me: No, I’ll come down. My family has embarrassed me enough for one day.

Looking at myself in the mirror one last time, I’m suddenly doubting Tess and Bron’s mini-makeover. Slouchy thigh-high boots and a sweater dress that is so short I’m convinced it’s actually just a sweater. I’m not sure if I’ll freeze the second I walk outside, but Tess is adamant that it’s the perfect first date outfit. I rub my red lips together and do one last fluff of my hair before grabbing my purse and my coat.

“Is he here?” Tess jumps up from the couch the second I walk out of my bedroom and into the hall, her face lit up with excitement.

“Yeah, he’s downstairs.”

“He’s not coming to pick you up from your door?” She places her hands on her hips, her smile falling.

I glance at Bron to find a knowing smirk on her lips.

“Uh, no,” I say, lying as I add, “he wasn’t able to find a parking spot.”

Tess frowns.

“It’s okay,” I placate her with a hand on her arm. “You’ll see him again. I promise.”

That seems to do the trick, her smile returning. She assesses me with a slow look from head to toe, nodding. “You look—” She kisses her fingers for effect.

I start to leave, but then I stop myself, turning back to my sister. And, surprising not only her, but myself too, I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in for a hug.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “For everything.”

As she pulls back, I notice a telling sheen mist her eyes. But she doesn’t say anything. Just nods once and steps back, watching as I turn and continue down the hallway toward the entry .

When the elevator reaches ground, I walk out through the small lobby area, the night doorman opening the glass door for me, and when I see Dallas standing there, casually leaning against the side of his car, arms folded over his broad chest, dimpled grin lighting up his face, I almost trip over my own feet.

He’s giving country boy, dressed in blue jeans that fit him perfectly, a flannel shirt, and brown suede boots instead of sneakers. His hair is swept back from his face, stubble lining his jaw, and I know I’m ogling him right now, but I don’t even care.

“Chrissake, Goldie,” he mutters, taking my hand and looking down at me, his gaze lingering on the short hem of my dress. “You fixin’ to get me into a fight tonight, or what?”

Tugging on the hem of my dress, I’m suddenly more self-conscious than I was upstairs. “Should I change?”

“Over my dead fuckin’ body,” Dallas whispers, pulling me flush against him and leaning down to claim my lips with the kind of kiss that feels like almost too much for a public sidewalk outside my apartment building but also not nearly enough.

Dragging his lips along my jaw with peppered kisses, he stops just shy of my ear, murmuring, “Let’s go before I drag you back upstairs and have my way with you in your bed.”

At the thought of Dallas with me, in my bed, I feel myself shiver, and when I meet his twinkling eyes, I can tell he knows exactly what he’s doing to me. And as nerves and trepidation battle it out in my belly, I can already tell tonight is going to be a long night… in the best possible way, of course.