Page 7 of Vegas Duology

"I hit the blackjack tables after you left," she said now."And I may have had too many drinks."

I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I definitely had too many drinks.But, I'm ready to shop.So grab me a coffee and I'm good to go.Oh, and get me inside and away from this sun."

"You poor thing.”I laughed and put my arm around her.“I’ll get you all fixed up.”I pulled her towards me and let her rest her head on my shoulder until we arrived at the mall.

"Lexi.You have to try this one,” Nicole said and shoved a teal green dress at me.We were in a store that Nicole assured me carried all the latest styles but if scraps of clothing hanging on by threads was the latest style, I wasn’t sure I wanted anything to do with it.I couldn't see myself wearing any of the skimpy garments hanging on the racks.I gave her a look but didn't take the dress.

"Come on, Lex.With your body, you can totally pull this off.Seriously, you don't dress to flatter yourself at all.If I had your body, you wouldn't be able to keep me out of things like this.”

"The color—”

"Will be fantastic on you.I'm pretty sure teal was created for you.Only blondies with green eyes can look semi-decent in teal.”

"Semi-decent?”

"You'll look smokin',” she amended.“I wish I had legs like yours.I got better boobs, though.”She laughed and kept flipping through the racks.

"There is nothing wrong with my boobs.”I snuck a peek at my chest just to be sure.

"Your boobs are amazing, Lex.They're just not mine.”Nicole paused her search long enough to flash me a grin.“But they will look even more amazing in this.”She pulled out a halter top, this one red with black gemstones sewn onto the plunging neckline.

"Not too bad,” I said.

She flipped it around to show me the back, if you could call it that.There was only a tie securing the sides together.

My mouth fell open.“That's more like a bathing suit top than a shirt to wear out.”

"I swear, Lex.You are such a prude.Come on, it's my birthday and you have to look hot.”

"I don't see why I have to look hot on your birthday,” I grumbled, but let her lead me to the changing room, where I obligingly tried on one outfit after another, each skimpier than the last.

After what seemed like forever, Nicole selected her outfits and agreed to let me treat her to a bite to eat.Desperate to get her away from anymore shopping, I grabbed a cab and we headed back to the Strip, where I chose a restaurant at random.Thankfully, between the lunch and dinner rush, service was fast and it wasn’t long before there was a mouthwatering meal in front of me.

"How can you eat that?”Nicole looked horrified at my club sandwich as I was about to take a bite.

"It's a sandwich, not a plate of fries dipped in gravy.”I lifted the sandwich to my mouth again.

"All that bread.”

"I like bread.”

Nicole shuddered and resumed poking at her salad.“I think if I even look at a loaf of bread, I gain five pounds.You're so lucky.”'

“I am what I am.”I shrugged and took a bite.I had long since given up trying to convince Nicole that she looked amazing.I still told her every time I saw her, but I no longer kept up the constant campaigning for an improvement in her self-esteem.The truth was that while I didn't take my athletic build for granted, I just didn't think about it much.I never was all that interested in appearances.Nicole said it was because I didn't have to worry about it.But I believed it was because you either liked me or you didn't.It was as simple as that.Which probably explained why I was awful at flirting, and hadn't had a lot of boyfriends.And those I did have, weren't serious, at least not until I met Andrew.Andrew was different.

Nicole's voice brought me back to the conversation.“Did you hear what I said, Lex?”

"Sorry, I missed it,” I said.I took another bite of my sandwich, which I had to admit, did have a lot of bread in it.

"I was saying, wouldn't it be awesome if Leo stopped by tonight?”

I coughed, trying not to choke on my food.If Nicole noticed my reaction, she didn’t say anything.

"It was nice of him to get us tickets, wasn't it?”

I nodded and swallowed hard, reaching for my glass of water.