Well Played, стр. 45
“A week or two ago.” She threw a quizzical glance over her shoulder. “I sent the link to you, remember?”
“Well, yeah, but I didn’t know you’d actually ordered it.” I tugged on the laces from the bottom of the corset and moved up, meeting in the middle and tying it off. “Okay, the other question. Did Simon approve it?”
“Do you think I gave him a choice?” She grinned and turned back around, and something in my expression made her face fall a little. “I’m sorry. I really thought you knew I was getting a new outfit. I thought you were too.”
I shrugged as she started gathering the black overdress up, pinning it up at her hip as I’d taught her to do during her first year of Faire so that the deep red skirt underneath showed. “It’s okay,” I said. “I’ve been a little preoccupied lately.” That was putting it mildly.
“What do you think?” Her expression was uncertain as she shifted around in the new outfit, which was understandable. It was a departure from her wench’s outfit, that was for sure. The corset was tighter, the colors were bolder.
But she looked great in it. I smiled. “I think you look like a pirate’s bride. So that’s fitting.”
“That was the plan. You should have seen his face when it came in the mail.”
“You’re going to give that poor boy a heart attack before he’s thirty.” I wrapped my loosened corset around my rib cage and fastened it down the front before turning so Emily could lace me up.
“Eh, he’s fine.” She pulled on the strings, and the breath whooshed out of my body. Not only because she’d tightened my corset, but because I spotted Daniel across the way. He looked like his normal self, the one I’d seen every summer: black jeans and black T-shirt, red hair under that black baseball cap. He held a clear takeout cup of iced coffee in one hand, the beverage pale with milk.
In an instant, I flashed back to that awful day earlier this year, when my mother had been in the hospital and I’d been so scared. He’d kept me distracted, starting with a picture of his coffee order, the same kind of coffee he held now. That was who Daniel was. Not a creepy catfisher, looking to take advantage. He was the guy who’d gotten me through that terrifying day, sending me silly memes to make me laugh when I’d been at my worst. He cared about me, the way no one else had in a long time. He was . . .
He was talking to Simon, whose face was like thunder.
“Oh, crap.” I said the words on an exhale.
“Did I pull too tight?” Emily froze behind me, the laces of my corset still in her hands. “I’m sorry, this seemed about right, but give me a sec, I can loosen . . .”
“No.” I put my hands on my waist, tracing the familiar dip and curve that came with putting on this outfit. Wearing these clothes, changing my body’s shape, really helped me get into character as someone else. “No, I’m good, you can tie it.”
“You sure?” But Emily tied the strings into a firm knot that would last the day. “So what was the ‘oh crap’ for . . .” Her voice trailed off as her gaze followed mine. Daniel and Simon were deep in conversation, Daniel gesturing while Simon finished buttoning his vest and started adjusting the cuffs of his pirate’s shirt. “Oh,” Emily said. “Crap.”
“Exactly.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Emily was done with my corset before I stepped away from her. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”
She shrugged. “I’m marrying the guy, but I still can’t read his mind. He’s been pretty pissed about how upset you were last weekend, though. Should we save him from Simon or let him fend for himself?”
I was more inclined toward the latter and opened my mouth to tell her so, but my better nature won out. “Let’s go save him.”
We’d made it only a few steps when I skidded to a halt, dragging Emily to a stop as well. “What the hell . . . ?” She turned to me.
“On second thought, let’s don’t.” Because Dex had joined the two of them, and I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. A tight corset, plus the guy I’d hooked up with the past two summers, plus the guy who’d been wooing me by email while pretending to be someone else the whole time? I suddenly couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t speak.
It hadn’t even occurred to me that, now that I’d straightened things out with Daniel, I would have to straighten things out with Dex too. I’d been his wench with benefits for a couple summers now. How soon was he going to expect me to jump back into his hotel bed again? Was he expecting it at all? Was two summers a pattern? God. I didn’t want anything to do with anyone named MacLean. Not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
So like a coward I spun on my heel, hiked up my skirts, and hurried away, Emily trailing after me. It was official. My excitement for the first day of Faire had been replaced by a low-level anxiety that took up residence in my gut. And that made me angry. I’d looked forward to this day, to these four weeks, all year, and now I’d ruined it for myself over a guy.
Well, the hell with that. I wasn’t going to let Daniel MacLean take Faire away from me. I just needed to get away from him long enough to think.
• • •
Once again, Emily earned her Best Friend status by following me on my mad scramble up the hill out of the Hollow, catching up to me when I stopped at the top of