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Chapter Eighteen

Lainey

“Dang. My boobs look amazing in this dress.”

I turn slightly in front of Mara’s full-length bedroom mirror, admiring the fit of the fitted, floor-length sapphire gown I’m wearing.

There are sparkly little crystals sewn into the bodice, trailing away past my waistline.

The strapless cut emphasizes my full breasts, as does the hundred-and-ten-dollar bra I bought.

I didn’t own a strapless one, and this one pushes my breasts up perfectly.

“You just have amazing boobs,” Mara says. “That dress is lucky to be touching them, and Bash will be, too.”

I laugh, giving myself one more appreciative look before I turn to face her and Suki. “This must be what a wedding day is like. Where everyone knows you’re having sex that night.”

“Not my wedding day,” Suki quips.

“Really?”

“Long story, but we hardly knew each other. I fell for my husband after we were already married.”

“I want to hear that story at some point if you’re okay sharing it.”

“Of course.”

Suki looks like a goddess in a red halter-cut gown that hugs her curves just right. Her long hair is styled in big waves and she’s waiting for Mara to do her makeup. We decided to go full high school and get ready together at Mara’s apartment.

Mara is wearing a short, black-sequined dress. Her dark hair, which she usually wears flowing down her back, is straightened and styled in a French knot at her neckline. She’s a walking thirst trap, and I don’t know how she’s still single.

I didn’t know what to do with my hair, so I let Mara decide. She put loose curls in it and then did a half-down, half-up style I love, with loose pieces framing my face. I don’t think I’ve ever looked so elegant.

Mara has a two-bedroom apartment, and she has a lighted vanity for hair and makeup in one room. She works on her own makeup while Suki and I slow dance.

“I’d dip you, but I’m not very coordinated,” I say.

“I’m saving all my fanciness for tonight. Carter and I have been practicing the Dirty Dancing lift.”

Mara gasps, meeting Suki’s gaze in the mirror. “You whore! You already married a pro athlete and got three beautiful girls with zero vaginal stretching, and now you’re doing the Dirty Dancing lift?”

“Nobody puts Suki in a corner.” She grins and twirls me beneath her arm.

“At least I can dance with Dex,” Mara murmurs. “Harry’s going to be all wrapped up in his boyfriend all night.”

“I can’t wait to meet him,” I say.

“Same.” Suki does a sexy pose in front of the mirror. “You guys, I’m wearing crotchless undies for the first time. I sent my husband a photo of the bra and panties lying on the bed before I got dressed and he responded with a GIF of a cartoon dog with its tongue rolling across the floor.”

Mara groans. “Just keep rubbing the salt in. You guys are both getting railed tonight and I’ll be alone with my overworked vibe.”

I laugh. “You’re gorgeous. If you’re not getting any, that’s a choice.”

“Right?” Suki says. “Carter has single teammates.”

“Ugh. Who, Leo? Hard pass.”

She finishes her makeup, then does mine and Suki’s. We take a selfie of the three of us and I send it to my mom. Then we relax over a glass of wine until there’s a knock on Mara’s door.

My heart pounds as we all stand up.

“It’s for you,” Suki says.

She and Mara go into Mara’s bedroom, leaving me to answer the door.

When I do, Bash is standing there in a perfectly fitted tux.

He’s clean-shaven and his hair is tamed.

This Bash is so much...broader and filled out than the high school guy I crushed on.

He’s all man, the affection and desire in his eyes directed at me.

“You look incredible.” He slowly rakes his gaze down my body and back up again.

“Thanks.” I take a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. “So do you. Come in.”

He steps inside, a boxed corsage in hand. “Why are you already blushing? We haven’t gotten to that part of the evening yet.”

I go up in flames. I’ve never been so excited—or so nervous. I’ve only eaten Club crackers today because I’m so worried about my IBS. Food is usually the cause of my flares, but stress can be, too.

This isn’t stressful, really, but my nerves are pretty raw. I’ve been dreaming about Bash seeing me as more than a friend for so long. Even after he turned me down, my feelings never disappeared. I just learned to ignore them.

“Anything blush-inducing isn’t guaranteed.” My tone is a thousand times lighter than my stomach right now. “We’ll have to see how things go.”

He grins. “Understood. I was talking about making you blush with a goodnight kiss later. What were you thinking about?”

I suppress a smile. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He closes the distance between us, snaking an arm around my waist and pulling me close. I inhale sharply, my palm flying to rest on his chest.

Damn. His body is just unfair. How can I speak full sentences when such a tall, broad, powerful man’s body is flush with mine?

“Yes, please.” His deep, eager tone makes me clench my thighs together. “I’d really fucking like to know.”

“Jesus, Bash, are you going to start humping her leg?” Mara’s approaching voice makes Bash take a step back. “Corsage her and let’s get this show on the road.”

He flicks a glare in her direction and opens the corsage box. I didn’t want anything I had to pin to my dress, and Suki must have told him. He got me an old-school wrist corsage, which is made of beautiful flowers in several shades of blue and accented with small white flowers.

Suki takes pictures as he puts it on me, and then she takes more of me pinning on his small corsage. It’s completely unnecessary and silly, but it makes me smile anyway.

“Where’s my date?” Suki asks.

“Waiting out front.”

Bash has hired a limo for the evening, and when we walk out the front door of Mara’s building, Carter is standing there smiling at Suki. We give them a minute of privacy by getting in the car, where Dex, Harry and Harry’s boyfriend Aden are waiting.

“Damn, girl,” Dex says to Mara when he sees her. “If I was straight, I’d take you home with me right now.”

Aden and Harry are holding hands. Aden is handsome, his blond hair cut short. He has a short, well-groomed beard. Harry’s giving him an adoring look. I force myself to play it cool, but they are ridiculously cute together.

“Aden, great to meet you,” Bash says, shaking his hand. “I’m really glad you guys could make it tonight.”

“Are you kidding?” Harry says. “I wasn’t out yet in high school. I never thought I’d get to do this.”

Carter has lipstick smeared on his lower lip when he climbs into the car. Suki wipes it away.

“Your eye looks better,” Carter tells Bash.

“Yeah.”

Suki convinced him to try on a fake eyebrow, which she trimmed out of a fake mustache, but apparently it looked so awful she laughed for five full minutes, so he’s sporting his natural look tonight. It doesn’t bother me in the least. I’m just glad his eye wasn’t injured.

The limo drives us to a downtown warehouse that’s been converted into an event venue. My stomach churns nervously as I try not to think about all the things I could do to embarrass myself.

Trip and fall—because heels. And I’d be one of those who stepped on my own dress and ripped it at the waist, exposing my ass to the world.

Spill something on my dress. Drop food into my cleavage. Break my water glass.

I want to be beautiful and polished for Bash. One false move, and he could remember I’m just Brainy Lainey in a fancy dress.

Bash takes my hand and leads me into the venue, my heart racing so fast I’m a little lightheaded.

As soon as we walk through the doors, I lose it. He rented out a massive space, big enough for a large wedding reception. There’s a large table for dinner set on one end, and the rest is a huge dance floor.

It’s decorated with purple floral arrangements and balloons, which is my favorite color. Twinkle lights sparkle on every post and are draped from the ceiling.

I didn’t know he was going to do this much—just for me. I wipe tears from the corners of my eyes and look at him.

“I can’t believe this. It’s beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it. We’re going to get pictures done before dinner.”

My brows fly up. “Pictures?”

He spins me around, and I see photo props set up in one corner. There’s a dark-purple backdrop, a white half pillar, and a purple and white balloon arch.

“How did you have time to do all this?” I ask, shaking my head with wonder.

“I hired someone. But the ideas were mine.”

Dex and Mara are already posing for the photographer, her standing behind him with both arms wrapped around his midsection. I laugh, then lean up to kiss Bash’s cheek.

“This is the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”

His expression turns serious. “I’m all in. I want a chance to show you how much you mean to me.”

There’s a twist of something in my gut. I know I mean a lot to him. But if I fall completely in love with him, will I be the only woman he ever wants, forever?

“Are you sure you feel enough...attraction toward me?” I ask softly. “It’s not just that you feel sorry for me?”

He narrows his eyes slightly. “I’m a thousand percent sure. I wanted to give you some time after the breakup, but yeah, I want you. So much I can hardly breathe.”

I swallow hard, warmth rushing from my cheeks down. All I can do is nod.

Shane never made me feel this way. No one has. I didn’t even realize it was possible for two people to be on fire for each other at the same time. At least not if one of those people is me.

But it’s happening. Bash and I are seriously, for real, posing for prom photos. He’s actually putting his hand on my ass as we get into the pose the photographer wants us in, and that’s genuinely his erection I feel against my lower back.

Pinch me.

Maybe Bash will pinch me later. Preferably, my nipples. I can’t believe I’m thinking that, but the idea of getting spanked and pinched by him is hot . I’ve always known I’m Velma on the streets and Daphne in the sheets. But no one else has.

Dinner is catered, Harry having nothing to do with it. Bash said he wanted Harry to enjoy tonight and not have anything to do with the menu.

There’s salmon and chicken, risotto, and mixed vegetables. I only eat the chicken and veggies because there couldn’t be a worse time for my IBS to show up.

My stomach has been churning since I laid eyes on Bash, though. I hope the food will settle my stomach.

We laugh like we’ve all been friends forever, Aden fitting in perfectly. When I spill a few drops of water on my chest, Bash winks, leans over and kisses that spot, making me hot all over. Even my arms are blushing—I don’t even want to know what my face looks like.

“Dessert, are you serious?” Dex groans. “I’m so full already.”

“Suck it up, you’re gonna dance off every calorie,” Mara says.

One of our servers is approaching with a rolling cart of silver dome-covered desserts, and she announces the selection as she pulls off the lids.

“Chocolate mousse with a gold leaf garnish, cheesecake with raspberry sauce and,” She clears her throat. “Frosted cherry Pop-Tarts.”

My chin drops. “What?”

Bash squeezes my hand beneath the table. “I know what my girl likes.”

His girl. He just said that.

Everyone at the table politely ignores the tears in my eyes.

“I’m going to stuff that cheesecake into my mouth so hard,” Mara says.

“You are one classy broad.” Dex puts his cheek up against hers.

Of course I choose a Pop-Tart. And after we finish eating, a DJ comes out to start the music. He’s a tall, fit Black man with a great smile.

“Hey, y’all, I’m DJ BJ and I’m ready to get this party started,” he says, doing a raise-the-roof motion.

“DJ BJ,” Dex says, a brow arched. “Sounds promising.”

The first song is “Alone” by Heart, and Bash immediately pulls me close for a slow dance. He sings along so softly only I can hear him. My stomach is rolling, but I ignore it. I’m only open to happy vibes right now. Or horny, but that’s under the happy umbrella.

It takes three songs for me to realize every song at this prom is from the ’80s. Bash knows I love ’80s songs. That man is so getting laid tonight, possibly even in the limo on the way home if we drop everyone else off first.

My feet ache from all the dancing by the time we all leave several hours later.

“This was the best evening I’ve ever had,” I whisper in Bash’s ear. “Thank you.”

He gives me a soft, sweet kiss. “Same here.”

The limo has just pulled away from the curb, heading for Harry’s house, when a shot of pain hits me in the stomach.

No. This can’t be happening. I’ve made it through this entire evening without tripping or nerding out about science. I have to make it back to Bash’s.

The next cramp is like a bolt of lightning to my midsection. I cringe.

“You okay?” Bash asks, concerned.

Fucking irritable bowel syndrome. I did everything right tonight. I only drank water and ate chicken and noncruciferous vegetables. It has to be my nerves.

“I need a bathroom,” I say, already mortified.

“Okay, we’ll stop.” He pushes a button to talk to the driver. “Hey, we need to stop at the nearest place with a bathroom, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

My cramps worsen. I clench my ass cheeks together, wishing I could tell Bash to just leave me here. He wouldn’t, though.

It’s happening. I’m going to shit. The only question is, will I make it to a bathroom in time?

“Sorry, guys,” I mumble.

“Don’t worry about it,” Suki says. “There’s a gas station in the next block, I’m sure he’ll stop there.”

“Nice,” Mara says. “I can get a KitKat.”

“I could go for some Takis,” Aden says.

“Ooh, I love me some Takis,” Mara says.

I’m clenching with everything I’ve got. Bash is gently rubbing my neck, his hand beneath my hair. Tonight can’t end with me shitting in the limo. It just cannot.

The limo slows and I intensify my clenching. I can’t physically hold in the diarrhea, but if I have to, I will die trying.

We’re turning. I see the glowing sign of a gas station. Bash pushes the button again.

“Take us right up to the front door,” he says.

My desperation must be so obvious. If I don’t make it, this will be the least of my humiliation.

As soon as the car stops, I open the door and fly out of it. I race to the front door and whip it open, picking up the skirt of my dress so I can run faster.

My sore feet are forgotten. There’s only one thing I care about right now.

Must get to a toilet.

I see the Restrooms sign in a corner of the store. When I get there, I grab the handle to the women’s room. I’m like three seconds away from losing control.

The door is locked. No!

I lunge at the door handle to the men’s room. Unlocked. Thank you, Jesus.

Throwing the door open, I lock it with one hand and pull my underwear down with the other. It’s going to be a photo finish.

I pull the skirt of my dress up and wrap it around my waist, and I’m only two inches above the toilet seat when my body lets loose.

I made it. I almost cry with relief. I never thought I’d be so happy to be shitting in a dirty, smelly gas station bathroom.