Page 56 of Built to Fall
“At least you look super hot.” Kara smiles softly.
“True,” Meredith agrees, but then she hangs her head to look at the floor.
Okay. That’s weird.
My cheeks are heating as I look myself over in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door. The boys are right. I’m wearing what is most definitely a white lingerie set with a pink silk robe over top. And don’t forget the halo headband in my hair.
I’m just grateful that they don’t have angel wings to force me into. Small victories.
“You guys seriously dressed me up as a Victoria’s Secret Angel?” I ask, although it falls on deaf ears because that is, in fact, exactly what they did.
“Lina, look at you!” Eden squeals. “You can’t deny how hot you look.”
“Boys, tell her,” Meredith encourages.
Jack looks toward Kara before throwing his hands up like he wants no part in it. “I amnotgetting caught in the crossfire of this conversation.”
“Oh my gosh,” Meredith groans. “Your girlfriend is alegitimateVS Angel. You think she’s going to care if you compliment her friend?”
Owen, still very much red in the face, stammers, “You look great, Lina, um—objectively. Respectfully.”
I grin at the two of them. Owen and Jack have to be two of the most kind-hearted, genuinely decent guys I’ve ever met. Just the type who’d avert their eyes when you walk out in borderline lingerie.
Kara snorts. “God, you’re both pathetic.”
I shoot her a glare and pull the robe tighter around me. “If I so much as feel abreezetonight, I’m blaming all of you.”
“We’ll be inside most of the night,” Eden promises with a not-so-innocent grin. “Mostly.”
Jack grabs his keys and wallet. “Alright, let’s go before she changes into sweatpants again.”
Rolling my eyes, I follow them out anyway, tugging the robe down over my thighs and trying not to think about the fact that I am in public wearing glorified sleepwear. It’s fine. It’s Halloween. Everyone is aware of how normalized it is to dress like a slut, in the best way possible.
“Where even is this party?” I ask, climbing into the backseat of Jack’s car.
“Um…” Eden trails off.
“We’re meeting up with Braxton,” Meredith says.
It’s the way she says it that makes me realizeexactlywhere we’re going. “We’re going to Grant’s, aren’t we?”
Meredith gives me an innocent shrug, but her eyes are anything but. “He throws the best Halloween party every year.”
“Oh mygod,” I groan, sinking into the seat. “You guys are tossing me to the wolves.” I make it sound like it’s because I don’t want to be around him, but deep down, it’s more because I’m not sure if I willsurvivebeing around him with whatever fuckboy ensemble he has going on.
I haven’t seen him since he drove me home from the hospital. I also haven’t stopped thinking about him since.
“No, we’re throwing you toawolf, a very hot one at that,” Kara says with a large smile, turning back to look at me from where she sits in the front seat.
“Oh, come on,” Eden chimes in from beside me. “You’re doing him a favor by showing up looking likethat!”
“That,” I mutter, gesturing vaguely at my entire existence, “is exactly why this is a terrible idea.”
“Revenge body,” Kara says. “Own it.”
Jack glances at me through the rearview mirror while he backs out of the driveway. “I’m just saying, if we get there and youreallywant to leave, I’ll pull a fire alarm. No questions asked.”
“I don’t think there are fire alarms in houses, but thank you for that,” I tell him, trying not to let the nerves settle in too deep. Grant’s parties are infamous—not just for the alcohol and chaos but also for the drama. And I’m already in a costume that’s bound to draw some attention.
