Agreeing that leaving Nashville forever was maybe a little hasty, I agreed to wait for her at the airfield, where we hopped back on my plane and flew to Odin. She’d been confused–as you can imagine–and then I’d had to fill her in about my past life and the Kings. Suffice it to say she’d been a little hurt that she didn’t know everything there was to know about me.
“Welp,” Sondra said, clapping her hands as she hopped off my bed, effectively pulling me from my thoughts. “You’re in luck because I have just the thing.”
My brows went up. “Babe, whatever you have in your bag isn’t going to fit me.” We were the same height, but I had more junk in the trunk than her.
She waved me off, then disappeared down the hallway, coming back a minute later with an arm full of clothes. “I may have been packed to party it up in Nashville.”
One by one, she neatly laid out each outfit across my bed. “Let’s see…” she tapped her chin as she eyed the garments thoughtfully. “This. This is it.” She pointed to the black leather pants, red pumps, and white bandana halter top that was to freakin’ die for. “What do you think?”
I picked up the leather pants, running the buttery soft material between my fingers. They were exactly what I would have picked for a night out.
But... I held them up to my waist. “If–and that’s a big if–I’m able to squeeze my ass in these, they’re gonna look like I painted them on.”
Sondra waved a hand. “Uh... yeah! That’s the point,” she grinned. “Trust me.”
“O-kay.”
Thirty minutes later, I was looking at my butt in the mirror. The pants were super tight. They technically fit, but if I bent overfor any reason, the button was going to be history. But the white bandana halter top? That fit perfectly,andit was sexy as hell. It was cut in a V that came to just above my waistline. The sides were open, showing off a hint of skin. It was perfect. “Where did you get this top?”
Her eyes met mine in the mirror and she waggled her brows. “Shein. Twenty bucks, baby.”
Sondra was the ultimate thrift queen. Those couponers that could go in a store, buy a bunch of stuff, and the store owed them money. She was one of those. The girl knew how to stretch a dollar. It was one of the things I loved about her. She had money but she knew its value; she was frugal.
“You’ve got good taste.” I lifted my foot and grinned at the red pumps that made my legs look a mile long. “Because these are hot.”
“What’s hot was that man you left looking like a sad puppy on the porch, earlier.”
I spun away from the floor length mirror and pinned her with a look. “We’re not talking about him.”
Sondra’s brows went up. “Why not? The best way to get over a man is to get under another one, and that man was fine.” Her face went dreamy. “Tall with all those muscles and thick thighs.”
“Weston and I... we have history.”
Sondra sobered. “I’m sorry, Hattie. I didn’t know.”
I half-smiled. “It was a long time ago.”
Turning back to the mirror, my mind went straight to where I didn’t want it to go. Seeing Weston earlier felt like getting stabbed in the heart all over again. When he’d ended us, he took half my heart with him. He still had it.
But Sondra wasn’t wrong. He’d filled out since high school. Gone was the lanky boy I’d fallen in love with, replaced by a beast of a man covered in tattoos.
I sighed as I fluffed my hair in the mirror. I had to stop thinking about him. He’d already broken my heart once.
“I’m nervous,” I confessed, catching Sondra’s watchful eye in the mirror as I put on my big gold hoop earrings.
Her expression softened immediately. “This is your family, babe. You don’t have to be superstar Hattie with them. You only have to be you.”
My shoulders relaxed for the first time all day.
She was right.
The Kings didn’t expect anything from me. They’d always accepted me exactly as I was. I didn’t have to perform for them.
“You’re right.” Spinning around, I planted my hands on my hips. “So. Are you ready to party?”
Sondra bit her lip, suddenly looking uncertain. “I think so.”
A wicked smile spread across my face. I might have recently sworn off men, but that didn’t mean my girl had. “I just had the best idea. I’m gonna find you a hot biker for the night.”
