When I hesitate, Grace assures me it’s supposed to look like that and promises it’ll fit. I decide to trust her since she knows more about this stuff than I do.
I slip into the bathroom to try it on, and to my surprise, it hugs my body perfectly. One glance at the mirror, and I fall in love with how it looks on me.
The black bodycon dress has full sleeves, a deep V-neck, and a crisscross cut across my abdomen that reveals a hint of skin. The hem reaches my mid-thigh, but the sheer stockings Grace gave me keep my scars from drawing too much attention. It’s the perfect blend of classy and sexy.
I step closer to the mirror, admiring how Grace used neutral tones to highlight my features. I especially love the shimmer on my cheekbones and eyelids.
When Grace asked me to pick a lip color, I opted for a cherry lip balm instead. My lips forever feel too dry because Angel keeps kissing me and stealing my gloss.
My long hair falls over my shoulders in soft, defined curls. I can practically hear them weeping with joy that someone is finally treating them right.
When I step out of the bathroom, Hazel is sitting on the bed scrolling through her phone, and Grace has just set down her hairbrush. Grace lets out an excited squeal when she sees me, and Hazel’s jaw literally falls open.
I don’t know if I should feel good or bad about their reaction. I know I look different, but now I’m rethinking my usual comfy hoodie and sweatpants attire. I don’t think I’ll ever give up wearing my mate’s hoodies, but maybe I should switch it up sometimes.
“You look so pretty!” Grace coos, quickly dabbing away a tear before it messes up her flawless makeup.
“Your Angel is going to eat you alive tonight,” Hazel says, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Yeah? Let’s talk about how goodyoulook.”
“Coming!” Hazel bolts for the door before I can tease her.
She can make a forty-minute video about the weirdest sex imaginable, but she can’t take a compliment?
I turn to Grace, soaking in how stunning she looks in her champagne bodycon dress, glittering with tiny embellishments. The sweetheart neckline highlights her sharp collarbones, and the sleeves flare delicately around her arms.
“Honeybunch, you look like a literal goddess.”
Grace ducks her head, trying to hide her smile. The only reason she’s not visibly blushing is because of her warm caramel skin tone.
“Really? You don’t think it’s too short or the neckline’s too low—?”
“Hey,” I grip her shoulders and wait for her to look at me. “Do you like how you look?” She nods shyly. “That’s the most important thing. As long as you feel good and beautiful, don’t overthink it, okay?”
I can only imagine the bullshit Rick has planted in her head. It must be hard to silence his voice, but I swear I won’t let those thoughts win whenever I’m around.
The fact that Rick is tagging along today isn’t helping her nerves, either. Nobody asked him, but he insisted on coming for “security reasons”.
Security reasons, my ass.The bastard just wants to keep tabs on Grace.
Grace agreed before Angel could shut him down, and that was the end of the discussion. I’m counting down the days until Grace leaves Rick so I can finally settle the score with his pathetic ass.
“What about my hair? Should I leave it natural? I’ve never done that before,” Grace asks, fixing her feisty curls pulled into a high ponytail that puffs out like a halo at the end.
“It looks perfect. I love this look more than when you try totame them.”
After a much-needed hype session, we head out of Grace’s room to join our wild crew. I spot Seiji in the kitchen helping August with his dinner, so I’ll have one less thing to handle before bedtime.So thoughtful.
Seiji is a fashion genius. Tonight, he’s rocking a sheer black shirt sprinkled with black roses. The sheer shirt is tucked into black leather pants, highlighting his physique. Finally, the black boots tie the whole outfit together.
“Look at you! You look so handsome.” Seiji turns at my voice, beaming at the compliment.
“Why, thank you, pretty lady. You look fabulous yourself. I like you in your oversized mate clothes… but this? Ilove.” Seiji takes my hand, spinning me to see the whole outfit, and winks in approval before turning his attention to Grace.
Hazel pretends to gag when Grace and Seiji start showering each other with compliments. Monkey laughs so hard at her silly antics that he nearly falls off his chair, but thankfully, I catch him before he can go down.
I lean down to kiss Monkey’s head while he stuffs himself full of spaghetti, not bothered by the sauce on his collar. This boy feeds his clothes as much as he feeds himself.
