“Sure.” Liam grins. “We’ll send you pictures of some dresses so you can choose, and then we’ll drop it off on Friday. I’m already looking forward to it.”
“Me too.” Even though I’m scared as hell.
I have no idea how I’m going to survive this. But I’ve survived until now, so I should be able to hang on a little while longer, right?
Right.
11 Max
“I’m still not convinced it’s such a good idea.” I look at Liam over my plate of rare steak and fries. We’re at our favourite restaurant, since Liam was convinced we had something to ‘celebrate’.
“It’s not against the rules to bring a human.” He shrugs, stealing a fry from my plate, dipping it in the weirdly fragrant sauce on his own plate. I have no idea what it is, it’s too strong for me, but he seems to love it. “Humans have attended in the past, and there isn’t anything that says that we can’t invite someone as our plus one.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” I chew on a piece of the perfectly prepared steak. “I meant that Cyra didn’t look comfortable when she agreed to it. We shouldn’t have pressured her.”
“We’re all getting what we want from this deal. She gets the money she obviously needs, we get someone to talk to while we’re at the event. I don’t see the problem.” He sips of the red wine, and then stares out the window. “She accepted it easily enough.”
“Yes, because she probably knew she wouldn’t be able to afford the cost of the repairs on her car otherwise.”
She’d looked scared and upset, and that doesn’t sit well with me. But it’s not like the event is dangerous. We can protect her if there’s a fight between Alphas, and if she’s really uncomfortable we’ll just leave, simple. It’ll be fine.
But thinking of the party is too early, there are things we’ll have to take care of before then. “What are we going to do about the dress? It’s not really like I know where to get a dress that fancy or one that will fit her...”
“Leave that to me,” Liam smirks. “I’ve already thought of the perfect plan. After this, we’re going to the little boutique that your cousin got her dress from for the midsummer party. I already messaged them and they’re still open. Cyra and your cousin are similar enough in size that we should get a good fit easily enough.”
“That’s... That place is expensive...” Hella expensive. As in, a single dress is easily four or five times the cost of the repairs on Cyra’s car...
He shrugs. “She doesn’t need to know that. As long as she can look pretty, that will make her feel better and it’s not like she’ll stand out. All the women will be wearing crazy expensive dresses. Not getting a dress from there would probably make her stand out more.”
He’s right, but that doesn’t make me happier. “That’s a lot of money just to impress some human girl, you know...” I level a look at him. “I do hope you don’t have any less respectable intentions, do you?”
His smirk grows as he looks back at me. “Wanting to spend time with a pretty girl is now considered a bad thing?”
I sigh. “It’s fine, as long as you don’t get her hopes up. Don’t break her heart or ruin her life, just because you’re bored and want a plaything and she’s conveniently within reach.”
“Yes, yes, big protector.” His eyes change as he looks at me, more serious. “I’m not planning on anything. I just want to give her a fun evening and...”
“And?”
“And maybe see her a few times after that. She seems like good company.”
“Liam...” I growl.
He holds up his hands. “If you want to spend time with her instead, if she’s yours, I’ll keep my hands off, I promise. Say the word and I’ll step back right now.”
Shaking my head, I take another bite of the steak but I don’t really feel it anymore. I really wanted steak, but now I don’t anymore. It’s too... too something. A strange sensation has settled in me and I don’t know how to make it go away.
I clench my jaw, my eyes settling on a point on the table between us. “No. Go ahead. Just don’t hurt her.”
“Yes, sir.” He lets out a quick laugh. “Well, now we’ve got that figured out, time to move onto the next problem. Do you even have a suit to wear?”
“One of the ones I’ve got is fine.” I don’t like shopping, I really don’t, and I don’t want to have to buy a new suit just for this one party.
These things are always so much more troublesome than I want to deal with. But between my parents and Liam, I generally don’t seem to be able to avoid these types of events. Why do I have to go to these parties? It’s not like I’ll ever meet new people, just the ones I’ve gone to school or college with, and I already know that I’m not interested in those people. So what’s the use?
“This one?” Liam points to a green dress, it’s really long, but the bodice is... Ehhh...
“No.” I shake my head definitively. “Remember what she said, not too revealing?”
“This has fabric all the way from her throat to her feet.” He pokes at it, showing what he means. “She’ll be totally covered.”
“And most of it is see-through. I don’t think that’s what she had in mind with that request.” I look around and find a low chair to sit on as Liam walks around the store, looking at the dresses.
“This, then?” He comes over with a red dress. It’s
