“You look amazing, and no one will think you’re actually naked.” She rolled her eyes. “Think of it this way. You won’t have to worry about flashing anyone if you bend over since you’re wearing a freaking bodysuit underneath that covers your entire torso.”
I pursed my lips. She had a point there. I eyed her outfit — a tight dress covered in cut-outs. It was super revealing, but at least the scraps of cloth covering her private parts were hot pink and made sure you knew she wasn’t naked. The body suit covered all of my privates. It was beautiful, and I knew that people wore this nude-looking thing to red carpets these days, so maybe she was right.
“Stop overthinking this,” she said. “You look hot.”
I took a deep breath and nodded.
At least Prescott’s parties were by invitation only, and he had a no-phone rule. You could keep your phone, but you had to either turn it off or set it on airplane mode. If you were caught using it or taking any pictures, you got kicked out and banned from future parties. Because it was such a big deal to be invited at all, everyone followed the rules.
I took a deep breath as we walked in and decided that Mar was right. I looked hot and felt comfortable in the damn dress. And she was right about the nude aspect. I’d seen at least three celebrities wear this style to award shows this past season. Fine, no one would think I was naked, but they’d be able to get a better picture of what I might look like if I was. And for someone who’d worn baggy clothes for two straight years, that made me panicky. I took another breath. It didn’t matter, at least not at this party. And I was technically more naked wearing a bikini. I followed Marissa inside and said hello to the guys who greeted us by the door. Marissa grabbed my fingers as we continued walking.
“I feel like he has the same crowd every time,” she said.
“It’s better that way. It means he trusts everyone here.”
“I guess.” She sighed as we beelined to the kitchen.
We found Prescott and Drew pouring themselves drinks. I looked around for Lach but didn’t see him and didn’t ask. I said hello and let Pres pour me a shot. I looked outside. His favorite wall wasn’t here, so he couldn’t be guarding it. There was a beer pong table and a keg set up, so maybe he was outside.
“You look. . .” Drew’s eyes went up and down my body, then he shook his head.
“Naked?” I supplied.
“I know you’re wearing a bathing suit, but yeah, you look naked.” He chuckled. “Regardless, you look hot as fuck.”
“Thanks,” I muttered quietly.
“I’m also here, asshole,” Marissa said.
“Yeah, but you always dress like that, and you know you always look good.” He smirked and pointed at me. “This one hides it.”
“No one will think you’re naked,” Prescott said, knowing that might freak me out. He took a sip of his beer. “And you look hot, so who cares?”
“You’re right.” I nodded. “We’re out of here in a few days, so fuck it.”
I finally let myself relax and forget what I was wearing. We talked about where everyone was going next week after we got out of college for good. Drew was saying he was also going to med school, and we started talking about that. He wanted to be a surgeon, and I wanted to be a sports medicine specialist — a completely different career path — but the first three years of school would be the same.
“You’re done in three years, though, right?” Drew asked.
“I am. I mean, as soon as I figure out where I’m going to school,” I said.
“You still don’t know?”
“Nope.”
“She was accepted into all the ones she applied to,” Pres supplied.
“She’s going to pick while we’re in California,” Marissa added.
“What are you going to do?” Drew asked her.
“Probably open up my own business,” she said and went into all the details.
Our parents had set up bank accounts for us when we were kids, but graduating college meant we’d have full access to them. Marissa would use her money to open up a healthy cafe featuring smoothies or bowls; she hadn’t decided. While she spoke about it, I heard someone behind me shout my name.
“Lyles!” he said again, closer now.
I turned around to see Banks standing there with a dart in his hand. His eyes returned to mine after he quickly took in my outfit.
