Page 12 of Only You and Me

I’ll admit, it looks nice, but I’m fully prepared to feel awkward all evening. Still, I hope for the best. I move over to an area next to a wall, Emily and Shayna following, and try to tug down the bottom of my red dress that falls just about two inches below mid-thigh.

Shayna slaps my hand.

I glare at her. “Ow!”

“Stop doing that. You look amazing and your dress is a respectable length for this kind of event,” Shayna chastises me.

“You guys, I have colleagues here. Several of whom I supervise. I don’t want them to see this much of my body. What was I thinking?”

Emily moves in front of me and places her hands on my shoulders, focusing her gaze on my eyes. “Listen, your dress is not too short. Plus, we purposely went with the thick crisscross straps across your chest and shoulders so, as you requested, you wouldn’t have any cleavage showing?—”

“Which I think is a shame because you’ve got great boobs,” Shayna interrupts. I roll my eyes at her and turn back to Emily.

“Yes, the back is open, but you look fucking amazing and hot. So, own it. Plus, the other firefighters see you working out in shorts and a tank top, so this is actually more clothes.”

“Yeah, but I’m sweaty and gross then. Not sexy,” I counter.

Shayna guffaws. “If you don’t think those guys find you hot AF when you’re working out, you’re naïve.”

“You’re not helping, Shay,” Emily chuckles.

I take a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll focus on that this get-up may help when I’m in the bachelor and bachelorette auction and it’s for a good cause.”

Emily smiles and drops her arms from my shoulders while Shayna grins like a kid getting her first ice cream cone.

I take three steps toward where the bulk of the attendees are, and I whirl around to face them.

“But I swear, if I accidentally flash someone my panties because you fashion monsters picked this dress, I’m kicking both of your asses.” I face forward again and head to the bar. I’m gonna need a drink to settle down a bit.

Shayna and Emily chuckle behind me and, even though I act tough around them sometimes, I smile because I’m happy these two have each other. They’re the epitome of best friends and have been since they met during their freshman year in high school. Well, the epitome of best female friends. Because I wouldn’t trade my best friend for the world. Truthfully, I’ve never had many close friends at all. But Fitz and I clicked when we met in fire academy almost ten years ago and bonded almost instantly.

When I met Fitz, Ben and I were together, but I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Fitz or Emily. I was afraid he’d end up hurting me and I’d look like a fool. Boy, did he prove me right.

When I think back on that time, I’m pretty sure it was right around when I started the fire academy that things first got tense with Ben and me. We’d been together about six weeks, and he wanted to make our relationship public. I still wasn’t ready, though. So, when he pushed me on it, I dug my heels in, and we had our first fight. I never gave him the explanation he asked for since I didn’t want to hurt him more, and I was sure that would. Still, it only lasted a few hours that time and he was at my door apologizing for not being more patient. In truth, I get now why me insisting on keeping us a secret for so long upset him. Not that I’d ever admit that to him, though.

“Tri? He asked what you want to drink,” Emily says, tapping my shoulder.

“Oh, sorry.” I offer the bartender a small smile. “I’ll take a chardonnay, if you have it.”

“Coming right up, beautiful.” His flirty grin and boy-next-door good looks result in a warm flush creeping into my face and I’m sure my cheeks are pink. All I can do is smile back.

After we’ve got our drinks and settle into a high-top table near one of the side walls to people watch, Shayna points at me. “That right there is what I’m talking about. The bartender was totally flirting with you, and you missed it.”

I throw an incredulous glance across the table at her. “He was not. I’m sure he says that kind of stuff to lots of women to get good tips.”

Emily shrugs. “He didn’t say it to either of us. Nor to any of the women right in front of us in line…”

Fortunately, I’m saved from further commentary on their part when Shayna glances back over at the bar.

“Oh great,” Shayna mutters, sarcastically.

“What?” Emily and I ask in unison. We both follow Shayna’s gaze.

“The guy over there, walking toward the bar now in the navy-blue suit, see him? That’s the guy I kind of made out with on New Year’s Eve and ghosted him when he texted me after.”

“He’s attractive enough,” I say, after giving him the once-over. “Why’d you ghost him?”

“I don’t know. There weren’t sparks when we kissed. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I didn’t stop him, but I didn’t have any tingles anywhere,” she answers.

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