He’d be able to do something that I wouldn’t for anyone else, my blood relatives included. The power he holds over me seems to grow every day. It would be a waste of energy to try and fight it.
“You haven’t wondered why I’m not going to this ridiculous gala tonight with him?” I ask, my throat dry.
Brielle pulls the strip of wax I hadn’t felt her lay from my armpit and dumps it in the trash with the others. “Yes, but I was waiting to see if you’d talk to me about that on your own.”
“I wasn’t going to.”
“I figured that,” she muses, rolling her mossy green eyes. “Who are you going with, then?”
“Asher.”
Her expression deadpans as she stares at me, as if to call my bluff. When I don’t take the bait, she leans in and huffs. “Why?”
“Because I’m an asshole.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Right now, that’s exactly what I am. Finn wanted to go with me, but I told him it would complicate things and that Spencer would make a big scene about it. I came up with this stupid fucking lie weeks ago to try and win a battle I didn’t even want to be a part of in the first place, and it might have cost me my best friend.”
“We’re talking about the boyfriend thing, right? The reason why you were going on all of those ridiculous dates?” she asks, easing my second arm down and then leaning her ass against the bathroom counter. “I thought that was why you and Finn started going out in the first place, though. You shouldn’t regret it. That guy isn’t going anywhere, Bree. He’s obsessed with you.”
I nod, hating the fact that I even need to talk about this. “And that makes what I’ve done so much worse. I’m so goddamn stubborn that I couldn’t just call him and admit that I was wrong so that he should be the one coming with me.”
“Why haven’t you? He’d forgive you. Everyone says stupid things they don’t mean when they’re in a relationship. Especially a new one.”
We may be new to dating, but our relationship isn’t new, is what I want to say. I swallow those words.
“Because if I did, I may as well be admitting to him that he holds all the power between us. That if he told me I had to choose between being with him or keeping my job, I’d choose him. I’d be doing exactly what my mother did, and I’d grow to resent him the same way I watched her hate my father all my life.”
The confession burns. It sends heat zipping up from my chest to the backs of my eyes. Clarity is a cruel motherfucker, and I’m drowning in it.
“Hey, it’s okay, honey. You don’t have to be ashamed of that. That isn’t the end of the world. You’re allowed to worry and have your own fears,” Brielle murmurs, in front of me again, her arms wrapping around my body. “The difference is that Finn would never put you in that position. You’re giving him power, yes, but we both know that he’d do the same for you. Neither of you would ever make the other choose. You’re independent people, who have careers they love, but who love each other more.”
I don’t realize my cheeks are wet until Brielle uses her soft hands to dry them, and I choke on a laugh. “Fuck me. I don’t cry.”
“You can with me,” she murmurs, smiling gently.
“I really made a mess of things.”
“And you have plenty of time to clean them up, whether that’s tonight or a week from now. But first, we need to depuff you. This is a gala you’re going to, after all.”
“Are you my fairy godmother now?” I snort, not feeling up for any sort of pampering.
“Oooh, I like that.” She stands to her five-foot-five height and flicks her red hair over her shoulders. “Come on. Do you have an ice roller or eye masks here?”
“I’ve got a roller in the freezer.”
I’m pretty sure it’s the one she got me for Christmas last year. I’ve never used it because I wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. I’ll know now, I guess.
“I think I heard somewhere that if you used one on your nipples, they’d get smaller,” she states before dipping out of the bathroom. The next thing I hear is her pulling the freezer drawer open. “Or maybe that was something else. I don’t remember.”
“I’ll take a pass on being your test dummy.”
“Your loss. But I guess Finn must like them the way they are, anyway. It’s best not to change anything yet.”
“Weren’t you the one that was talking about not changing our bodies for men?”
A pause before the drawer shuts. “You’re right. Fuck him. I’m sure your nipples are perfect the way they are.”
