“Ugh, don’t remind me. Especially given who won it.”
“You know him?” I wonder, still trying to find a solution.
“Yes, his family is our most direct rival. And now, I’m forced into an evening with this pompous and pretentious… man.”
“I mean, you married Lex, so it’s not like you aren’t used to that,” I joke. That falls so flat that I consider abandoning her to her unruly zipper. Why the fuck do I always have to say the most awkward things?!
“Can I have this?” I ask, touching a pin in her hair.
“Yes, go ahead,” she approves, taking it out herself to hand it to me. “I have a million things to do, so whatever it takes to not get back out there with my breasts out.”
“That’d probably get you two million for a date.”
She laughs frankly, which makes holding the corset together a little complicated. “You’re funny,” she notes.
“I’m told I’m even funnier when I’m drunk. Though you might disagree,” I add with an embarrassed wince.
“If it’s reassuring, you make a much better second impression than the first.” Thatisreassuring. A lot more than it should. “Are you managing,” she asks, twisting her head to the side.
“Almost there. It helps that you’re so tall it’s almost at eye level for me.”
“It was worth wearing those heels, then—even if they’re killing me.”
“You should have gone with flats, like me.”
She looks down at my feet, so I bring one forward to show her a shoe. “Those are so cute! You’ll have to let me know where you found them. And your dress as well—it’s beautiful.”
“It’s from a small Seattle creator. I’ll send you his Instagram. He got me the shoes, too.”
Once I have the hairpin in place, I lift the zipper and tell her to let go of the front of her bustier. She does, and everything stays in place. She tries moving around a little, taking a deep breath, twisting to the sides, and nothing moves.
“God, you’re a genius, thank you so much,” she appreciatively says, turning around.
“My pleasure, really. I actually hoped I’d get a moment alone with you tonight to apologize for my behavior the other day.”
Evora’s smile is compassionate, which isn’t the emotion I expected. “Lex has that effect on us, doesn’t he? He used to drive me insane.”
“He did?”
She folds her slender arms together, visibly flustered. “I don’t want this to be weird because it was a long time ago and I have moved on, but yes, he really did.”
I never could understand why she would agree to that terrible sex deal for four entire years, but I think I get it now. Only one thing could have such a woman endure it for that long.
“You were in love with him,” I let out before I can think. The way her eyes go huge with shock shows how inappropriate my assumption is. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to imply anything. It was an intrusive thought that just—”
“No, it’s okay. You caught me off guard is all. I was, yes. Kev knew, but Lex never figured it out. I still don’t think he knows. Back then, part of me hoped he’d see it and reciprocate, so I pushed it until marriage, which was like…Wake up, girl!”she says to herself.
“Honestly, I get it. There’s something about him that’s so lovable, it’s hard not to.”
“Exactly. And I was young, foolish, and so excited. I mentioned getting a house together hours after the ceremony, and he told me there was no point in doing that since things worked perfectly the way they were.”
My jaw actually drops at that. “What an asshole…”
“You said it, not me. Four years. It took mefouryears to realize I was waiting for a miracle that would never happen. And I’m glad I didn’t stick around because it took him over eight more years to finally fall in love,” she adds. “And now that I’ve met you sober, I think I get why he did.”
I’m tongue-tied, unsure how to even answer that. I didn’t expect any kind of approval from her. Hell, I didn’t even expect her to forgive me for the way I treated her two weeks ago. But there she is, giving me her blessing.
“Jesus fuck, you’re unreal,” I say, too shocked to think properly.
