Page 31 of Like First Love, Again

“Then you’d seem very generous.” Mia laughed. “Getting people a gift without so much as a sliver of chicken cordon bleu in exchange. Pick me up at six on Saturday?”

Tori sighed then chuckled. “You’re the worst.”

“You love me.”

Fuck if I don’t already know that.

Sixteen

Mia stared at herself in the full-length mirror behind the bedroom door and doubted her choice. She’d been indecisive while standing in the dressing room. In nothing but a strapless bra and Spanx up to her damn eyebrows, Mia had allowed the pushy sales lady to convince her she was making the right choice.

The lighting in her bedroom wasn’t as kind as that in the store. The off-the-shoulder, dark green gown didn’t look as elegant as it had that morning. She hadn’t resembled a freaking thumb in the store.

Mia stood in front of the open closet, gaze bouncing between two pairs of heels. Both nude. One a reasonable little pump she’d be able to wear all night. And the other, a spiked and considerably sexier option she’d be lucky to endure for twenty minutes before snapping an ankle.

Barefoot and undecided, she meandered into the bathroom. She’d paid too much for a simple updo and now her professionally applied makeup seemed over the top. She doubted herself. Doubted what Tori would think of her. What she would say.

A ringing doorbell forced Mia to make a choice. She grabbed the deathtraps because they made her four inches taller. That they also made her ass look fantastic was a bonus.

With clammy hands, she smoothed down her dress where it was gathered on one side to hide a plethora of sins. Should she have gone for the black dress? The damn sales lady had been so insistent that this one brought out the green in her eyes, but now, Mia wasn’t so sure.

Ugh, damn it. Whatever.

She charged for the front door and flung it open, completely unprepared for Tori on the other side. Speechless for too many seconds to play it cool, she gawked at Tori.

In a three-piece tuxedo that looked hand-tailored to her strong body, Tori had gone without a shirt or tie. The deep plunge created by the vest showed off so much cleavage it was obvious Tori wasn’t wearing a bra. Flushed with jealousy and something that made her scalp sweat, Mia’s eyes widened.

“Ready?” Tori’s slicked back hair showcased her dark eyes and made them look radiant.

Captivated, Mia’s mouth dropped open, hanging for several seconds before she managed to make sounds. “Are you fucking kidding me with this?” It wasn’t what Mia had meant to say, but her insides were a confused tangle of emotions she couldn’t name—emotions she didn’t have a reference for.

Tori laughed, obviously taking Mia’s disbelief as a compliment. “Should I change?—”

“Don’t you dare.” Mia grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her inside. “Even if you’re going to make all of us choke on our jealousy.”

“What?” Tori chuckled, closing the door behind her.

Mia gestured vaguely at Tori’s body. She had to know she looked unbelievable. When Tori replied with a guilty grin, Miastarted for the kitchen counter where she’d left her clutch and phone.

Standing in the foyer with her hands in the pockets of her slim-fit trousers, Tori had the nervous energy of a teen picking up their prom date. Mia gripped her clutch until the crystal beads were digging into her palm.

“You’re going to make us take a picture before we go, aren’t you?” Tori’s attention was on the phone Mia was holding too tightly.

“Yeah,” Mia breathed but she couldn’t force her brain and body to fuse back together.

Her mind jumped back in time, rewriting history as it went. What would have happened if Tori had confessed that she liked girls before prom? If she’d told her she had a crush on her? If they’d gone to the dance together?

An unintentional cliché, Mia had slept with her boyfriend for the first time after prom. Just to make the whole thing doubly trite, she hadn’t slept with anyone else before then.

She’d never believed in purity culture and virginity had always seemed like a social construct, but it was only after she’d slept with him that she realized she wasn’t ready. That she’d thought about the fun without knowing sex would make her feel so vulnerable.

She hadn’t known to communicate what she wanted. So when her boyfriend got dressed and strode out of their hotel room to rejoin his friends getting drunk by the pool, she hadn’t asked him to stay. She hadn’t really said much of anything before, during, or after.

Instead, she’d taken a shower and put on her sweats and left for Tori’s room a few floors above hers. Tori and a bunch of girls shared a suite, and Mia still remembered her bone-deep regret that she hadn’t stayed with them.

Feeling exposed, Mia had let Tori abandon her game of beer pong. Let her stop having a good time to take her to the adjoining bedroom and slip under the covers with her. Had she been selfish?

She hadn’t told Tori about the sex. Acting like the little spoon for once, Mia hadn’t spoken a single word while lying in Tori’s arms. Why hadn’t she said anything?

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