I do as instructed, performing a slow pirouette. I found this ball gown last year at a secondhand shop and got it for a steal. It’s vintage. An A-line princess cut that’s off the shoulder and made of rich purple satin overlaid by a thin film of tulle and lace appliqués.
With my back to them, I stop and peek flirtatiously over my shoulder.
Luc wolf-whistles. Cash gives me a wink before taking another long pull on his flask.
I laugh and adjust my Carnival mask, a simple lace number adorned with peacock feathers, and turn back to them. When the lead singer of the band breaks into a rendition of “Jock-a-Mo,” the crowd hoots and joins in, glasses raised in the air.
This is what it’ll be like for the next two weeks. Revelry every day, parades rolling through town almost every night.
Tourists come down here and party too hard the first few hours, wearing themselves out before Mardi Gras ever gets here. But the locals know that Carnival season is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ve learned to pace ourselves.
“Cash! Luc!” Aunt Bea calls from across the way, motioning them over. “Come meet Mr. Cormier! He might have a business proposition for you!”
Luc frowns at me. “A business proposition?”
I wince. “While we were all getting ready this afternoon”—it’s tradition that Vee and the aunts and I get dolled up for the ball together; Aunt Bea hires a hair stylist and a makeup artist for the occasion—“I might’ve mentioned that Cash’s house is almost finished and that y’all will be looking to open a security business soon. Aunt Bea said she knows the man to get you started. Sorry.” I make a face. “Talking shop is probably the last thing either of you want to do tonight, but—”
“Cash! Luc!” Aunt Bea calls again.
“What the hell.” Cash pockets his flask. “Might as well go see what the man has to say.” But before he drags Luc away, his eyes linger on mine.
There’s…something there. Something I can’t quite explain, like maybe he knows. But if he does, I can’t tell how he feels about it, and that makes me nervous.
Then, before I can study him for too long, he turns away.
Of course, when Luc shoots me a quick wink over his shoulder, my frown turns upside down and butterflies hatch in my belly.
“What’s got you grinning like a dog with two peters?” Auntie June says, materializing at my elbow. She has a glass of champagne in one hand—of course she does—and a napkin heaped with finger sandwiches in the other.
Her gown is emerald green with flutter sleeves and a fitted bodice. Vee and I had a devil of a time squeezing her into the Spanx bodysuit she’s wearing underneath it. But the effort wasn’t wasted. She looks really pretty tonight.
“Ah…” she says when she follows my line of sight. “Never mind. I see. So you decided to give him a chance, did you?”
A chance? Uh…well… I nod and feel heat steal into my cheeks.
Her eyes fly wide. “Oh my Lord! Youmorethan gave him a chance. Yousleptwith him!”
“Shhh,” I scold her. “Mind keeping it down? I don’t think the entire ballroom heard you.”
Her eyes sparkle. “So tell me, how was it?”
“Auntie June!”
“Don’t go acting all scandalized,” she huffs. “You think your generation was the first to invent sex?”
“I don’t kiss and tell,” I say with an imperious sniff.
“Of course you do. If there’s anythingtotell. If it’s worth a hoot. So was it? Worth a hoot?” She elbows me, wiggling her eyebrows. “Come on. Give me something. Otherwise, my imagination is liable to run away with me, and that’s always a dangerous thing.”
How do I explain to her what it’s like to be with my best friend? How do I explain what it’s like when his big hands move over me, encouraging me to show him where to linger? How do I explain what it is to screw and rut andmake loveall at the same time, to feel my body and my heart and my soul meld with another’s?
I can’t.
It’s too big. Impossible to put into words.
The only thing I can think to say, the only way I know how to explain it is, “He doesn’t close his eyes when he makes love, Auntie June. He watches me. Heseesme the whole time.”
Her breath wheezes from her lungs. “Oh my Lord.”
