Page 147 of Veiled

“You look so hot,” Sasha says.

I nod my head in agreement, “Like the Bravo guys might be tripping up the stairs when they see you, hot.”

Emily grins. “Perfect! Then Theo won’t be able to keep his hands off me after graduation,” she says with a wink before turning back to change.

As she gives the associate her dress and gets refills for all three of us, I slip on the dress Sasha pulled for me.

I’m instantly in love with the vivid royal blue dress with off-the-shoulder sleeves that are slightly oversized to add a whimsical feeling. It’s neckline curves like a soft suggestion of a Sweetheart, and a bodice that’s molded to my waist, accentuating my curves before slightly flaring out just below my hips.

The vertical pleats give the appearance that my torso is longer than it actually is, and as I picture pairing it with the heels from Aiden, I can’t imagine a more perfect dress.

“We’re waiting, bitch!” Emily calls, making Sasha and me laugh.

“I’m coming,” I say before throwing on the nude heels I grabbed to give me some height, and walking out.

Neither of them says a word as they stare at me.

“Is that a no?”

“Yes!” Emily says adamantly. “Wait, no.”

“What she is trying to say is that you have to get it!”

“Yes, that! You look absolutely perfect!”

“And it has pockets!” I tell them excitedly, but then the doubt and guilt come back in full force. “But are we positive? Because this dress costs like two full paychecks, and maybe there’s another dress that’s equally as—”

I’m cut off by the sound of a phone ringing, and I realize it’s Sasha calling someone.

“Hey, everything okay?” Matt’s worried voice fills the otherwise silent space.

“No, everything is not okay,” Sasha says, not picking up on Matt’s tone.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” I don’t know where he is, but I hear something fall, metal clink, and stuff shuffling around like he’s getting ready to run here if he has to.

“What’s wrong is that you were right!” Sasha says with only semi-mock frustration. “She found a dress she looks incredible in, and she’s trying to talk herself out of buying it. Can you please talk some sense into her?”

She flips her phone around, and Matt’s face fills the screen. His worried expression quickly changes to an ear-to-ear smile. Sasha smiles up at me and passes me the phone.

“Now, why would you try to talk yourself out of a dress that looks that good on you? Aiden is going to love it.”

“Mattey, it’s sooo expensive!” I say as I walk back into the dressing room to talk to him privately.

He’s the only person who’s seen how hard I used to have to work to keep a roof over my head and the utilities on. He’s also seen what happened the one time I didn’t have enough to cover the bills because I’d been sick and couldn’t work for a week. The electricity wasn’t even turned off—just a late notice and a small fee—but my dad said it made him look bad. In the end, he made sure I paid for his embarrassment.

“Do you have enough money?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Lee, you have a guaranteed paycheck coming in for the next ten years and practically no bills to pay.”

“Okay, true. But, I also have our track night dress to buy in a few months.”

“Which you have several checks coming in between now and then, with nothing to spend them on.”

“Maybe I want to buy a car or something,” I say, which earns me a loud snort from the other end of the call.

“You hate driving, and you have a bonded dragon. Try again.”