I smile to mask whatever emotion I was showing. “Nothing, just, I don’t know how to repay you. All I have is coffee.”
Lacey smiles sweetly. “You don’t owe me anything.”
I scowl. “Of course I owe you something. You’re buying me clothes, and my Docs, and helping me paint, and coming over to try my coffees—”
“Jade,” she stops me as she puts her hand on my shoulder. “It’s just called being friends.”
I bite down hard as a lump swells in my throat.
“Thanks,” I whisper.
“Aww, don’t cry!” she says, wrapping me up in her arms. “I didn’t mean to make you sad!”
“I’m not sad,” I murmur, swallowing down the tightness in my throat as I hug her back. Her embrace feels so genuine and kind. So full of affection. So welcoming but scary at the same time. Do I deserve a friend like Lacey? Have I earned this?
I spy Ace over her shoulder standing on the curb, a soft smile on his lips as he looks out across the quaint shops. A bus sputters by full of ancient tourists and stops at the corner, unloading all the old people into the historic district.
“We better hurry,” Ace says as he points to the growing crowd. “One more stop, right?”
Lacey releases me and I pull away. “Yeah, bud, where you wanna go?”
He wrinkles his nose. “You need masked era, or whatever, right?”
“Mascara,” Lacey corrects. “And yes, just over there.”
She points to the CTS and we all amble that way. Jamie wraps her arm over Lacey’s shoulders and takes the lead. Ace and I fall in line behind them as they chat about Jamie’s day.
“You did look pretty nice,” Ace says, sniffling across the back of his hoodie sleeve.
I smile. “Thanks, bro.”
“You better lock this demon down,” he adds, and this time I do punch him. Not too hard, though.
He chuckles and rubs the spot. “Seriously, once in a thousand lifetimes’ chance.”
“One in a thousand? You really think it’s that common to meet an otherworldly being that has a romantic interest in you?” I ask.
He gestures to Jamie and gives me a perplexed shrug.
I laugh. “Yeah, same thought.”
Lacey helps me find a perfect mascara that’s black in shadows and a radiant blue in the light. She then convinces me to get a foundation face cream that smells like coconut and glitters just a little bit. She tries to pay again, but this time I lay down the law, and Jamie backs me up. Lacey then pouts the rest of the way back to our cars.
Jamie and Ace shake hands as Lacey hugs me again.
“Thanks for the girls’ afternoon!” she says.
“Thankyou,” I say, hugging her over-tight.
She coughs. “My ribs.”
I let her go with a chuckle. “Seriously though, thanks a lot.”
Her eyes sparkle and she smiles. “Go get him.”
twenty-two
Ruining Surprises
