My hands grabbed for the edge of the dresser so I didn’t fall to the floor.
Noah pulled away and walked to the bedroom door.
That had been his moment to touch me again. I would have melted into him, forgetting everything that happened and what was at stake.
I wasn’t sure if he was being a true gentlemen or just dumb.
He looked back at me one last time. “You sure you don’t need me to help you get out of that?”
“I’m fine on my own,” I said.
Noah nodded.
He left the bedroom and I stood there for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath.
I spun back around and looked at myself in the mirror.
I waited maybe a minute to make sure Noah was actually gone and was going to stay gone.
That’s when I walked to the bed.
The dress was loose on me since the zipper wasn’t done up.
I sat on the bed.
I looked around the room.
I inched down and put my nose to the pillow Noah had been resting against.
As I took a deep breath to smell him, I shut my eyes.
There was a flash in my mind… this moment where I imagined him sliding the dress down my shoulders, down my body… kissing me… his hands guiding me back to my own bed… laying me down…
I hurried to jump up out of the bed.
I stripped out of the dress as fast as I could and left it on the floor in a heap of expensive cloth.
My bra fell to the floor too.
I ran to the bathroom then shut and locked the door.
I needed a shower.
To wash it all away.
But if there was one thing I knew about myself…
I could never forget.
Chapter 16
paid to leave
With the help of Gia and my mother, I had a fourth dress in my hands by the next night. All I did was give them an idea of what I wanted and I trusted them to figure out the rest. My mind kept going back to Noah. Whatever that was between us, it was… I don’t know.
Then again, the same could be said for Easton and Xavier.
The way Easton kissed…
The way Xavier looked at me and was so protective…
It didn’t make sense.
Which meant they were messing with me as much as I was messing with them.
Only I had the upper hand because they didn’t know my memory was completely intact.
So nothing else mattered but that.
I actually had a bit of a productive day, and the day didn’t revolve around Noah, Easton, and Xavier.
It kind of went by fast too.
I hung out with Gia, went for a run with her. It was my best run yet.
Which was still a terrible run for her.
When I was done running, she kept going and I went home to shower.
I actually took time to do some work for BFH just because I knew that ultimately once this thing with Noah, Easton, and Xavier was done, I would need to get out of BFH and move on with my life.
What that actually looked like I had no idea, but when the time came, I would figure it out.
After I finished the BFH work, I crashed for a long nap.
I blamed thinking so much for the nap.
At the same time, when I felt tired, I just said screw it and went to sleep.
Why not, right?
I woke up and it was almost midnight.
That meant I was in store for a long night.
I checked my phone and everything was quiet.
Almost too quiet.
I sent Gia a quick text telling her I fell asleep and text me back if she was awake and wanted to hang out.
When no response came through, I wandered through the beach house just for the heck of it.
My mother was actually home for a change.
That explained why things felt so weird.
I laughed to myself and went back to my bedroom.
When I shut the door, I saw the dress hanging on the back of the door.
I had already seen it.
It was perfect.
A dark purple color, looking black in dim light. Shining hauntingly purple in bright light.
In a funny way, it reminded me of a witch’s dress.
That’s what I wanted to be then.
A witch.
I wanted to cast a spell on Noah, Easton, and Xavier’s hearts. And heads. And bodies.
I wanted to watch them cry, grovel, beg for me to stop hurting them.
Just so I could smile and know that everything that had happened was kind of worth it.
In a really bad, scary, sick and twisted way… it was all worth it.
I grabbed the dress off the hook and stripped down to nothing but my panties.
I slowly put the dress on and bit my lip as I wrestled with the zipper in the back.
I managed to get it zipped up a little. Then I reached behind me, over my shoulder. I wasn’t sure how I did it, but I got hold of the zipper and pulled it up.
“Ha!” I cried out.
I managed to get the dress on all by myself. Zipper and all.
The dress was perfect too.
I felt comfortable in it. I felt pretty in it.
It didn’t show off too much of anything, yet I still felt good in it.
The shoulder straps weren’t too thin or thick.
The top didn’t pull down and hang off my chest. The hip area wasn’t too tight.
Everything was perfect.
Because it was the dress I wanted.
I smiled as I stared at myself in the mirror.
I pictured Noah, Easton, and Xavier all debating on which dress I was going to wear. They were hoping for some kind of answer based on the dress. Like I was going to choose one of them.
This idea was better.
Much better.
It was absolutely fucking perfect.
I was so excited that I did a twirl.
I stopped halfway so I didn’t end up dizzy.
I let out a scream.
I didn’t realize Talon was in my bedroom.
He let out a long whistle, which made my cheeks turn bright red.
I stood in place, knowing there was nothing I could do about it now.
He had caught me twirling in a dress.
Oh well, right?
“You put that on for me?” Talon asked.
“Again… you can’t call or text?” I asked.
“I like the element of surprise, darling,” he said.
“Well, you’re going to be surprised one day when you break into my house and I call the cops.”
“Break in?” Talon asked. He laughed. “The window is unlocked and open.”
“I didn’t invite you in.”
“Oh, you know you did,” he said. “Stop playing games, Winter.” He pointed to the dress. “What’s that all about?”
“My plan,” I said. “I have my own plan in place too, Talon.”
“Good for you,” he said. “I mean… you look amazing.”
“I do?” I asked.
I touched my hips.
“Yeah, you do,” he said. “It fits you perfectly. You’re wearing that around those assholes?”
“I am. I going to a thing with them.”
“One girl, three guys,” Talon said. “That’s a hell of a date. How does that work?”
“I don’t know.”
“So if you’re wearing a dress, and it’s some fancy Bump party, what about the music?”
“What music?”
Talon laughed again. “Fuck, Winter, are you sure you didn’t hit your head for real? And forget shit? You Bumps love your music. Any time you have a party, big or small, there’s always music playing. So when it comes to dancing… who are you going to dance with?”