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Chapter 44 : Dressed for Him

*Lena*

“Abigail won’t mind, not one bit,” Heather grinned as she pulled a studded leather jacket from Abigail’s closet. She turned it around, holding the hanger as she ran her fingers over the leather. “You know how she is, always wanting us all to dress a certain way for these tilings.”

Heather wasn’t wrong. We’d been calling Abigail our pageant mom for years now, but tonight just didn’t feel the same without her.

I glanced in the mirror in the tight bedroom Viv and Abigail shared, fluffing my hair. Heather had curled and styled it to fall over my shoulders in beachy waves, which highlighted the angles of my face beautifully.

Hair, check. Makeup? It would do. I wasn’t used to seeing myself with dark plum lipstick and heavy, vampy eyes, but the liner Heather had chosen did bring out the flakes of blue that speckled my gray irises.

It was my outfit that felt off, despite Heather’s and Viv’s attempts to loosen me up with a glass of wine. The dress was a deep midnight blue, tight around the waist and chest and then hung loosely over my hips. It wasn’t incredibly short, but there was a slit up one side that went nearly to my hip bone. Underwear was impossible, but that was the whole point, at least that’s what Abigail had told me the day she bought it, roughly two years ago.

We’d been browsing through one of the upscale thrift shops in downtown Morhan one sunny, spring Saturday during our sophomore year. She turned toward me, two dresses in her hands, holding them up for me to see.

“What do you think men see when they look at dresses like these?” she’d asked. The other dress was a pale pink bodycon style that seemed grossly out of fashion, and I shrugged. She held up the pink dress, playfully tilting her head toward it. “This one screams “Date Me,” and maybe, “Take me home to meet your parents-”

“I’d be mortified meeting someone’s parents in that!” I’d laughed, shaking my head as I flipped through a rack of sweaters.

“But this one,” she said longingly, running her fingers over the silken blue fabric of the second dress, her finger’s toying with tire upper thigh-high slit. She paused, her eyes flicking to mine. “Men are thinking of only one thing when they look at our outfits.

Did you know that? Normally they don’t even notice what we’re wearing. Ask any man what you wore yesterday and he won’t have a clue.”

“Your point?” I laughed, folding a sweater over my arm.

“This dress is a “’f**k me’ dress. Do you know why?”

“No, why?”

“Because when a man sees you in something like this,” she held it to her chest, doing a little twirl, “the only thing he’s thinking about is how easily he can get it off of you.”

Her- voice played through my mind as I looked in the mirror in her bedroom, two years later, wearing the very dress I’d teased her about. It was fitting for the situation, although I refused to admit it out loud. I wasn’t dressing for myself. Knee-high black leather boots, the dress, and an acid-wash denim jacket were a far cry from the leggings and button-up denim shirts I gravitated towards on a daily basis.

dressing for

away from my reflection while Heather and Viv chatted as they readied themselves for our walk to

ruin the vibe, according to Heather. There was bound to be underclassmen at the party, and

I

late to back out now, anyway. I needed to do this. I

and walked out onto the snowy street. The cold hit me like a freight train, and I wrapped my denim jacket tightly

by the time we reached the street comer and turned to walk down the street toward the warehouse. “I bet

it’s Prince Charlie? He is so dreamy,” Viv purred, and I stifled a

but he doesn’t seem like the wild type. Abigail needs wild. I was thinking Prince Oliver is more her type.” Heather glanced back at me. eyeing me as I

opportunity for me to drop a

“I think you’re right about Oliver and Abigail. He’d like

teased. “You always avoid chatting

same party, our conversations mingling. I shut my mouth, smiling softly to myself. No, not the right time to shock them to the core with the truth. But, I’d been willing, and ready, to do so.

we reached the warehouse, which was settled against the slow-moving, ice-covered rivers that hugged the town of Morhan. Music spilled into the street as we

twinkling lights that hung from the ceiling, and tables with refreshments lined one wall

but this isn’t that bad,” she grinned, leaning in to talk

the thrumming music that sent little shockwaves across the concrete floor. I swallowed back my nervousness, then followed Heather and Viv as they walked through the crowd toward the bar that had been set up on the other- side of

and I felt the lump in my throat loosen. I didn’t have a reason to feel out of place. I’d be leaving in two days. This was my last

***

into the warehouse seemed impossible, but I’d given up on trying to count heads and doing the math. I danced a bit, then broke away from the fray for some fresh air, grabbing another drink before

were milling about, their breath coming out in puffs of mist as they spoke. I walked to the railing overlooking the river below, watching a chunk of ice slide

you’re Lena,

coming face to face with Adrian, one of the guys Xander was often seen hanging out with around campus. They were

said, furrowing my

marked curiosity before giving me a soft smile. “Xander’s kinda a prick sometimes, but he’s not a

turned to face him

you here to

pissed that I am. I just felt like the two of you needed a third party to help untangle this, uh, situation.” He waved his

ground out, giving him