Feeling giddily naughty, I closed the blinds and then stripped out of my clothes. I tried on the pale blue one first, then the pink set. Finally, I tried on the red, fringed-in-black ensemble. After inspecting myself in my full-length mirror, I decided the wheelchair kind of threw off some of the sexiness, so I climbed out and sat on the bed, posing and then laughing because I looked ridiculous.
Well...kind of ridiculous, anyway. Caroline had prettied up my face and my hair looked good. And okay, the bra made my breasts really push up and seem almost full and rounded. And with the cut of the panties, the way they emphasized the curve of my hip and dip in my waist, I might actually consider myself half-decent-looking.
Actually...I was amazed how nice I did look. Hesitantly, I reached out to slide my finger down my ribcage and over the dips and curves until I reached my hip. Someone somewhere could possibly even think I looked beautiful.
For the first time in my life, I felt pretty, like really pretty. And it wasn’t just my physical appearance, it was a feeling, like...I’m not even sure…something deep inside me, a self-awareness that started out as a sensation in my toes, then traveled up my legs and settled warmly in my belly before moving up to brighten my heart.
Maybe I wasn’t completely hopeless. Maybe somewhere, someday, someone might even love me.
A rapping on my window made me scream in surprise. Crap! I hadn’t been expecting that. Heart leaping into my throat, I scurried to grab my clothes, but the knocking kept coming and seemed to gain intensity with every bang.
With no time for clothes, I grabbed my terrycloth robe lying at the foot of my bed, wrapped it securely around me and lifted the window blinds.
I wasn’t sure why I was surprised to see Brandt; he was the only person to ever visit me via window. But I was surprised, anyway, and not necessarily in a good way.
What the heck was he doing here?
I had a bad feeling this visit was going to end not-so-well.
BRANDT
This Seth douche was pissing me off. I’d been by his apartment half a dozen times now, and he’d yet to answer the door. I even sat outside his building in my truck once, hoping to catch him coming or going, but no luck. Mason had never gotten his last name and I didn’t bother to grill Sarah for it. She would’ve just refused to tell me.
But she had let it slip she’d met him at the writing center. So I’d stopped by there once when I knew she wasn’t working and asked around a little. But even if the girl who’d been working then would’ve helped me—which I had a feeling she might have by the way she kept smiling at me and twisting her hair around her finger—she had no idea how to look up all the Seths who’d ever been tutored.
I went as far as to look up every Seth on campus in the school directory. There’d been twenty-one, and none of their addresses matched the one on Locust Street that I kept visiting. I had a bad feeling the fucktard might just get away with hurting Sarah without a single broken bone to his name, which bothered me on a whole new level of pissed off that drove me insane.
“So I guess Eva went into labor today,” Colton announced from next to me at the supper table, ripping my thoughts from murder and mayhem.
“What?” Aspen screeched across the table from us. “Why didn’t you say something earlier? I didn’t know about this. How did you find out?”
I frowned. Yeah, I hadn’t heard about it either. I was sure Sarah would’ve texted me first thing when she found out, and she would’ve had to be one of the first ones to know because Mason and Reese were set to take care of Pick and Eva’s older kids while they were at the hospital.
Curious about that, I tugged my phone from my pocket and checked the screen for messages.
She hadn’t tried to contact me all day.
Huh.
I went into my message history to realize we hadn’t texted in days. The last time I’d talked to her had been the night of our date.
Swallowing, I wondered if she was still upset because I’d turned her down. I’d thought we’d ended our argument on good terms, but if she hadn’t bothered to tell me about Eva then...something must be wrong.
“Yeah, I was over at, uh, Caroline’s today when she got the call,” Colton was telling Aspen as I contemplated shooting off a text to Sarah, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
I kind of wanted to demand an explanation why she hadn’t told me my boss was about to have baby number four, but I didn’t want her to know I was hurt she hadn’t already told me.
“Caroline already knew?” Aspen asked, sounding a little hurt herself. “Why didn’t she tell me?”
Yeah, why was everyone being so goddamn secretive today?
“Um...not sure,” Colton hedged, sounding suspiciously...suspicious. I glanced at him, frowning, but he looked too busy finishing the last of his steamed carrots to notice much of anything going on around him...which was bullshit in itself. He hated steamed carrots.
“I got the dishes,” he announced suddenly, something he never volunteered to do.
“Uh...okay.” Aspen blinked before sharing a look with Noel, who simply shrugged and then made a face saying he wasn’t going to question their good fortune.