“What’s wrong?” Ru asked.
“What happened?” Brooke added
“Date. Suit.” I managed
“Sentence?” Brooke prompted and exchanged a glance with Ru. They’d been introduced the morning after he’d arrived when Brooke had popped in for something quick, and then the two of them had bonded over crime thrillers, and she’d never left. It had been three days, and Ru was still quiet, reserved, not wanting to talk yet. But I knew when he was ready, I’d be there to listen, and for now, hearing him discuss grisly murders in books was something I’d happily listen to all day.
Hunter had been squirrely since Ru arrived, butnot in a bad way. He’d been over every night, gone around the market with Ru, played games at my small table in the kitchen, even when he was quiet and introspective. I guessed he hadn’t planned on his affair with the small-town bookstore owner including said bookstore owner’s brother.
“Hunter wants to go on a date…”
“And…”
“And I need to wear a suit, and I don’t even have a suit.”
Brooke burst out laughing, nearly choking, and Ru was bemused. With our parents it had been nothing but suits and ties and formal shit, and he probably thought that was real life. The last thing I would have taken with me when I ran was a freaking suit.
“You look so serious,” Brooke wheezed, wiping tears from her eyes while I glared.
“Hunter’s asked me out on an official date, not just cuddling and reading and sex,” I clapped a hand over my mouth when her lips twitched again, and Ru’s eyes widened. “And I need to wear a suit; there’s nothing funny about that.”
“Of course,” she said, and then snorted another laugh, and half hugged me. ”I’ll text Bailey—he’s about your size.”
As soon as the store shut, I had Bailey standing in my bedroom, arms crossed, grinning as if he’d just beencast in a makeover show, tossing jackets and shirts at me as Brooke and Ru watched. The three of them had a grand time while I sweated bullets in the corner.
“Where is Hunter taking you?” Bailey asked.
“Is it special?” Ru asked.
“I bet it is,” Bailey added.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, flapping my hands. “But a suit. I mean, it’s not BB’s, is it? I’m so nervous it’s ridiculous. And excited. Both.”
Bailey laughed, clapping me on the back. “Relax, you look great. Now walk for us.”
“Work it girl!” Brooke demanded, and I wiggled my hips.
They made me strut up and down the room as if I were on a catwalk, Brooke whistling, Ru grinning, and Bailey applauding, all of them way too entertained by my misery.
By the time Bailey had adjusted the cuffs, and Brooke had insisted on fixing my dark blue tie twice, I was buttoned up, stiff as cardboard, staring at myself in the mirror.
“You okay, Wes?” Ru asked from next to me.
“Yeah. Are you going to be okay here tonight…” unspoken wason your own?
“Of course, I am. I’m twenty-two, not five.”
He had a point. Nervous didn’t begin to cover it. My fingers wouldn’t stay still, tugging at the fabric,smoothing the lapels. I was waiting for Hunter, dressed up like some version of myself I hardly recognized, and hoping he’d think it was worth all the panic.
Right on time, the knock came at the back door, and the three of them hid at the top of the stairs when I went down. My stomach fluttered. I opened it, and Hunter was standing there in his own suit, impossibly handsome, a coat over his arm, his hair neat, a nervous smile tugging at his mouth. For a long moment, we just stared at each other.
“Wow,” he blurted at last after stumbling over half-started words and glancing away nervously before his gaze snapped back to me, eyes sweeping down and back up. “You look incredible.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks, and I laughed awkwardly. “Back at you.” Gone was the grumpy barista, and in his place was a man who reminded me more of the time before I’d stopped being aFairfax-Fitzalan.
I stepped outside, locked the door behind me, and, without thinking, wrapped my arms around him in a hug. “You look so damn sexy,” I murmured against his ear. “Are you sure we even have to go out?”
“Absolutely. I want to showyou off.”
