Page 33 of Masters of Control

“As long as somebody’s happy,” he said sarcastically.

“So, what are you doing for the date?” Avery asked, propping her chin up on her hands, elbows resting on the counter.

“Taking her to pub trivia. Do you think that sounds like a good date?” Getting the feminine perspective was always a good thing, in his experience. Angel had approved, but a second opinion never hurt.

Avery looked at the others, who looked back at her. An odd expression of guilt settled on Domi and Rae’s features.

“We don’t really know her well enough, and that’s a pretty niche date,” Domi said after a moment. “You two were rivals in high school? For like, valedictorian and stuff?”

He nodded, looking back and forth between them. Only Rae and Domi appeared to feel guilty about something and he couldn’t imagine what.

“Then it sounds like something she would like. Might be fun to be on the same team now.” Iris grinned at him encouragingly. “I don’t really know her either, but I think it sounds like a unique first date.”

Unique was good, right?

“Didn’t you two take the sub class with her?” Law asked, frowning at Domi and Rae. The guilt in their expressions increased, and they exchanged glances. Rae sighed.

“We did, but we weren’t really good about branching out and making new friends.” She glanced apologetically at Q. “Sam seemed nice, but… we were kinda doing our own thing.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Q replied, a little curious about why she and Domi seemed to feel so bad about it, but he didn’t mind reassuring her. It wasn’t like the whole world had to be friends with each other. “You two already knew each other.”

“Yeah, but it was pointed out to us that we could be less insular.” Domi smiled at Avery and Iris. “And making new friends has actually been really great. I just wish we’d worked on it sooner. Maybe we’ll get the chance to get to know her better now that you’re dating her.”

Q nodded, but he could feel a little niggle of anxiety curling in his stomach. Everything suddenly felt a lot more complicated than it had yesterday.

13

Dress Casual

Sam

Dress casual.

She wasn’t really sure what that meant.

Thank goodness for Morgan and Noelle, who had ended up coming over to help her get ready. She’d asked Q what she should wear tonight, and he’d responded with that direction. Eventually, they decided on jeans that hugged her curves and a sweater that was tight and low-cut over her boobs and loose around her mid-section.

Noelle did her hair, curling the blonde locks and then brushing them out into loose waves that cascaded around her shoulders. The makeup was perfect too, not that she expected anything less from Morgan, making her eyes look huge and her lips even poutier than normal without being a full on ‘glam’ look.

“I need to have you two come over to do me up every day,” she joked, peering into the mirror and flipping her hair back and forth.

“You get up too early.” Morgan giggled as she put her brushes away.

“What time do you get up?” Noelle asked.

“Six thirty, so I can get to work on time. Morgan just sleeps too late.”

“Because I work the night shift. Oooh, do you want some glitter on you? We could make your boobs sparkle.”

“Nope, keep that shit away from me.” Sam lifted her hands, crossing her fingers in front of her as if to ward the evil away. She knew Morgan was joking, but she wasn’t taking any chances. “My boobs are already fabulous. They don’t need any sparkle and neither does the rest of my apartment.”

Noelle laughed, sliding out of Sam’s tiny bathroom and giving herself a little shake. Sam knew how she felt. It was crowded in the small room. She shifted to the side as well, ceding the room to Morgan while she stood right outside the door, so they weren’t abandoning Morgan to her clean-up, but they also weren’t so cramped.

“Maybe we could do a girls’ night sometime and get ready together?” Noelle asked brightly. “I could do both of your hair, Morgan could do my and Sam’s makeup…”

“I am not as good at doing hair as you are.” Sam reached up to twist one of the curls around her fingers. She could do basic stuff, but she’d never gotten the hang of curls—which was why Noelle had done them for her. “I can do like a French twist and a few braids. Do you want your hair up?” She’d noticed that Noelle seemed to wear it down most of the time.

Making a face, Noelle shook her head.