Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"You look beautiful, Butthead."
I duck my head slightly to hide my smile at Chloé's words. Glancing up, I catch her eye in the floor-to-ceiling mirror. She's standing at the door to the dressing room, leaning against the door frame, expression soft.
"You don't look half bad yourself, Chlo," I answer, urging her towards me with a lift of my eyebrows.
Chloé saunters in wearing the yellow tulle dress with printed hearts we picked out a few weeks ago. It's got a mini skirt and sweetheart neckline with long wide sleeves and an embellished waist. Around her neck hangs the gold chain with little butterflies she always wears.
She looks like sunshine.
I move aside so we can both fit in front of the mirror, noticing the differences between our appearances.
They've always been apparent. Our height difference. My vivid auburn hair next to her golden curls. Even our mannerisms set us apart. I used to hate those things that proved I wasn't a Reed.
I always wanted to be a Reed.
I guess that's not something I need to worry about anymore.
Chloé adjusts the strap of my satin dress. It hugs my every curve falling all the way to the floor with a corseted bodice. But my favorite is the full tie back, crisscrossing over my tanned skin in an elegant pattern.
I love this dress. I never want to take it off.
"How do you feel?" Chloé asks, leaning forward to apply a fresh coat of lip-gloss.
"Great."
"You know my brother will freak out when he sees you, right?" She smirks, bumping her hip to my thigh.
There's a nervous flutter in my stomach, and I plaster on a convincing smile. Even after all this time, I still get flustered at the idea of seeing Mattis. "In a good way?"
"Uh, yeah, Cat." She throws me a look like I might be crazy. "But please just keep it in your pants tonight; I bet Emmy fifty bucks that you would wait for the hotel room. He didn't think you'd last two hours."
I throw my head back with laughter, the knot of tension in my belly loosening. I miss Emmy. I wish he were here today. "Why on earth would you take that bet?" I ask, lacing my voice with suggestion. "Get ready to lose your money."
She shudders. "In my mind, you're waiting for marriage."
The flutter is back. "That was never going to happen."
The bells start ringing in the distance as if on cue, and I suck in an excited breath. I turn to Chloé.
"Cool?"
She nods. "Cool."
"Cool."
The door to the room flings open, revealing Sarah with Millie on her arm.
