Page 38

38

HEIDI

“ W hat are you wearing?” I ask Mila from my room.

I’m trying hard not to over analyze how I look in the mirror. Whether it’s the way my form-fitting black dress hugs my hips, or the way my hair is sitting, the piece in the front refusing to curl properly. I could find a million things that I’m not happy about if I really wanted to look for them.

And sometimes, I really, really wanted to look for them.

Instead, I get to work on some simple makeup.

Mila pops her head into my room, her face completely done up and gorgeous as usual, her black hair perfectly wavy and shiny.

“I was thinking of this.” She steps into the doorframe, twirling before she untucks the large sweater from the waistband, pulling it forward. “Look at how roomy it is. I’m about to eat so much damn stuffing it’s insane.”

I smile, chuckling. “Someone in this apartment needs to get stuffed.”

Mila winks. “You could you know. Whether Emmett gets his head out of his damn ass or you talk to Connor. He may not be good for too much but a dick is a dick.”

“Mila! I feel like you know that’s not true.”

“Listen. Until you find the one, which I personally haven’t, there’s either bad or there’s adequate. Frank from down the street? Bad.” She shivers. “Never again.”

“Did he stop calling you?”

“Yes, thank the lord.”

“I don’t think I’ve been with enough people to really tell.”

I’ve always been a little bit scared of it. Not that I ever judged friends who slept around. Honestly, I think I’d be in a much better position if I had.

As my mom always says when she asks if I’ve been seeing anyone, you have to test out the car to see if it’s worthwhile.

“ I could never marry someone without taking them for a test drive ,” she would say with a flippant wave. “ And you shouldn’t either. I don’t want to hear specifics, but make sure you’re going to be happy.”

She never judged people who didn’t sleep together before marriage, but it just simply wasn’t for her.

And yet she had a daughter who couldn’t really be bothered.

I have a vibrator in my dresser. That was good enough for me. Got the job done with no strings attached at all.

“See, that’s why we need to get you out there,” Mila responds with a smile, going through my makeup bag.

We spend a couple more minutes talking before grabbing our things and heading out the door. The drive to the city wasn’t long, and before I know it we’re joining the group of people entering the building and heading up to Leo’s apartment. Usually, you’d need a key card to get in. They’ve been more intense about security lately, but Leo talked to the owners of the building and hired a doorman just for this occasion.

We walk through the door of the apartment to find the room already packed… and we’re here pretty early. Briar stands in a gorgeous green velvet dress and knee-high boots, her blonde hair I’ve always been so jealous of styled into a long braided ponytail.

Elara stands next to her in almost the same exact outfit. From everything Briar says, she’s been obsessed with matching with her mom lately.

It’s the most precious thing I’ve ever seen and I won’t lie, it makes me want to use this dusty uterus of mine.

“There’s Isla!” Mila yells over the thrum of voices. She grabs my arm, pulling me toward the pies where she and Owen stand.

“How many did you make this year?” Mila immediately asks in leu of a hello.

“Like, ten,” Isla responds. About the average amount. Other people have started bringing food as well, including a large amount of pies. We have enough dessert to last weeks. If people don’t bring it home for their families, Leo brings it to one of the local homeless shelters.

“That’s insane,” I reply, looking at them all. They all look absolutely delicious, as always.

Owen wraps his arms around her with a goofy grin on his face, and Isla turns her head to kiss him.

And I want to die.

But only because I know what happened the first time they made pies together and what likely happened last night.

“Okay, we get it, you love each other,” I roll my eyes.

Isla grins from ear to ear, throwing her head back as she laughs. “You’re getting there, Heidi.”

I let out a low chuckle. “Am I? Because I’m not sure I am.”

Isla looks behind me before asking, “How’s Connor?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him in awhile. I guess I should probably say happy Thanksgiving, now that I think about it.”

“You’re seeing someone and haven’t even wished them happy thanksgiving?” a voice comes from behind me, enshrouding me in the most magnificent, masculine, vanilla scent.

And I immediately know who it is.

I gasp, my eyes widening as I whip around. “Why are you just standing behind me like that?” I ask, my fingers immediately going to my necklace.

“I was coming over here to say hi,” Emmett smirks innocently.

I look back at the others, who look like they’re having a silent conversation between each other. When I look back and spot Amara across the room shooting daggers who I assume to be Cooper, I feel the others brush by us, Mila looking back with an apologetic smile, her thumbs in the air.

I’m on my own with this one.

“Is that all you were coming over here for?”

He looks down at his shoes, giving me a better look at his slicked-back dirty-blonde hair. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man look so damn good.

While he’s not looking, I allow my eyes to wander down his body. The way his arms threaten to rip through the fabric of his button-down. The way his slacks show off just how thick and unholy his thighs are…

He clears this throat, and my eyes snap back up. His eyes are electric, glimmering with something that looks a little like hope.

I only recognize it because I know how it feels.

“See something you like?” he smirks.

“Don’t flatter yourself. Come to think of it, don’t joke with me unless you mean it, Gardner.”

“I do mean it.”

“You called me “Baby” that night.”

“And I would do it again.”

“What made you change your mind?”

He pauses, chewing at his lip. “I realized that I was a dick.”

My eyes widen in faux shock. “Holy shit, you were?”

Emmett looks down with a shy smile that takes me out.

I think it added ten years to my life, actually.

I think I need to sit down.

I collect myself, pushing my shoulders back, and his eyes drop to my chest. “What if I don’t like being called Baby? ”

“Then I’d call you every pet name in the book until we found one you liked.”

I consider this, tapping my cheek with my finger. “I’ve never been a pet name girl.”

“I’ve never been a pet name guy, but I feel like it fits.”

I study him suspiciously. “I’m not sure I like where this is going, Gardner.”

“I think I do.”

We stare at each other for quite some time, and it feels like a standoff. His eyes search mine, and I can tell that he’s thinking… a lot of thoughts.

Meanwhile, all I hear in my head is buzzing.

Emmett is flirting with me. He said he would call me “Baby” again. He said he realized he was a dick.

But with him, I never know. He could change his mind tomorrow.

“I think I’m going to go find my friends,” I tell him slowly, my thoughts slowly creeping back into my mind.

I’m starting to dethaw.