Chapter 13
Effie Harlow
“Ithought we were having a sleepover?”
I was almost positive that was what Aanya had said, right? Yet about three hours later, I had been dropped off at Ryder’s apartment, who unfortunately wasn’t there, and Aanya was countering the statement with something she believed to be far more fun.
“We will sleep here”—she grinned—“after we go out.”
“Go out where?” I couldn’t help but smile at her excitement. Despite her slightly manic energy, you couldn’t help but be affected by her. She practically radiated a vitality that had me wanting to be as excited about life as she was.
“A bar, maybe?” Her eyes danced with excitement. “Yes, we have to do that. It’s your first weekend here and there are so many bars, you probably won’t hit all of them before you graduate, to be honest.”
“I don’t drink,” I pointed out, my cheeks flushing.
I wasn’t particularly against the concept, but I’d had so many bad experiences with others being under the influence of alcohol back in the city, that it somewhat turned me from the idea.
I nibbled my lip, considering having a drink with my mates…
The concept sounded far more appealing, but I would work up to that.
“Neither do I. Not more than a glass of wine, usually.” She shrugged while motioning for me to follow her out of the main room where we’d been waiting for Ruby.
Apparently she was running late. “But it’s more for the dancing.
My favorite place to go has a massive dance floor and everyone is always on it, especially on salsa Saturday. ”
I giggled at that as we came to a bedroom that if I had to guess by the amount of green and pink, I was going to say it was hers. “I can fully assure you that I can’t salsa, or dance.”
At Christmas time, I’d always watched the gorgeous ballerinas dancing across the stage of the television broadcasted Nutcracker.
I’d watched the way they had turned and waltzed easily through space as if they barely touched the ground.
Then I tried doing some of the moves in my room… and nearly broke something.
I had a feeling that sticking to reading was a bit more my speed.
“I’ll show you!” She waved her hand. “Now we need to get ready.”
I looked down at my oversized hoodie and leggings as Aanya began to throw stuff onto the bed out of her massive closet. I was guessing that was a nice way to say that my current outfit wouldn’t do?
“What size are you in dresses?” she asked curiously.
My eyebrows went up as I tried to recall my recent shopping order, only to realize that I hadn’t even thought to purchase a dress. I’d never needed one before… Was that something I should have considered?
“I honestly have no idea. I’ve gotten everything from thrift shops or hand-me-downs up until recently. I think I was a ‘medium’ in most of my purchases, does that help?”
Aanya stuck her head back out of the closet and looked over at me. “You have hips and a tiny waist, so I think this dress should work. I can’t wear it because I end up looking like a tree in silk.”
I frowned, trying to imagine a tree in silk. “What do you mean?”
Aanya sighed and motioned at her thin frame. “I have zero curves, literally none. I would die for some, but can’t ask the Goddess for everything, right?”
I nibbled my lip as I took the blue dress from her, the material so light that I wondered if she hadn’t accidentally handed me a scarf. “I used to get made fun of for my curves a lot back home. And my height.”
“Bullshit. They were jealous,” Aanya stated immediately.
“You are absolutely perfect, don’t let anyone tell you differently.
Sure, we all have things we would like to change about ourselves, but we were made this way for a reason, and anyone who truly loves us, anyone who is truly our mate, probably couldn’t care less what we look like. ”
I nodded, feeling a bit more positive. “That’s true. None of my mates have ever said anything negative about my appearance.”
Aanya looked at me wide-eyed. “If they ever do, tell me and I’ll kill them.”
A laugh broke from my lips. “What?”
She nodded her head. “Dead. Goodbye. One or several less mates to worry about. Balls chopped off. Done-zo.”
I grinned. “I suppose that would be pretty crappy.”
“No man would ever put a woman down for their looks. If one does, it is because he’s insecure about his small dick. Now, go try that on!”
Honestly, I wasn’t positive how that would correlate to a physically smaller dick, but I would take her word for it.
I looked down at the fabric in my hands. “And you are positive this is a dress?”
“Gooo!” She pointed towards the bathroom door, and I went to get changed. As I undressed, I folded my clothes neatly and used my fingers to comb through my hair before holding up the dress. My eyes widened.
This was not a dress, it was a top. Right?
The icy blue silk had a square neckline with what appeared to be a bodycon form that cut off about halfway shorter than I thought a dress should.
That wasn’t even including all the ties that went off the top of the neckline and laced down the back, the material completely absent, making me know I wouldn’t be able to wear a bra.
How the heck was I even supposed to put this on?
“Step into it and shimmy it up until you pull the main straps over your shoulder. I can help tie up the back, I am almost dressed!”
I did as she said, glad I’d worn a tan thong today, before placing my bra on my pile of clothes and pulling the dress up from my waist. My eyes widened as I fixed it into place because… I had never in my life looked like this before.
Instead of feeling uncomfortable, as I’d initially expected, I felt good. I felt beautiful, and it was an unfamiliar feeling as I looked over the way the material highlighted my skin and my hair, even making my blue eyes stand out.
The dress pulled in at the waist and highlighted my curves, making me look far older than I was used to. It felt empowering to dress like this, which was so unexpected it had me smiling in the mirror. When the door opened, Aanya slipped in and instantly clapped her hands, looking thrilled.
“That’s a pretty color on you,” I pointed out, her jade green dress cutting at the waist and flowing into a short skirt, the top an off-the-shoulder ruffle.
“We both look fantastic!” she sang happily, my dress tightening further at the waist as she tied up the back. When she was done, the doorbell went off and her eyes lit up. “Ruby is here!”
Honestly, Aanya was so high energy I wondered how she kept it up. Maybe coffee? I followed her barefoot into the other room before hearing her groan.
“Ugh! You aren’t Ruby.”
Ryder’s voice filled the space right as I entered the room where he was setting down a bag along with a bouquet of flowers. “Where is Effie? And why are you dressed like that…”
His words to his sister trailed off as his gaze found mine and ran over my body, a weird expression crawling on his face that had my skin breaking out into shivers. It was filled with almost a dark hunger…but also dazed.
“Fuck.”
Aanya’s phone rang, and she rolled her eyes and waltzed back towards her room.
I stood still, feeling a bit unsure on whether to follow her or talk to Ryder.
After all, the last time I’d seen him, he told me I was the descendant of a god-blessed wolf species…
so I didn’t fully know how to approach him.
Ryder’s entire mannerism shifted the minute his sister was gone, his eyes darkening as he straightened, shrugging off his jacket while keeping his gaze on me.
My breath caught as my nipples tightened against the material, the sensation making my center pulse.
I couldn’t seem to get my feelings under control today, and instead felt like a slave to my reactions to them.
Even now I could feel the effect of Julian’s lips on my neck.
“What are you doing, kitten?” His orange eyes seemed to flash with gold as he leaned against the kitchen island. I licked my bottom lip and drew it back in my mouth, trying to focus on what he was saying instead of how unfairly handsome he was.
“Doing? We are going out.” I swallowed down the shakiness in my voice as his lip pressed up slightly as if what I was saying was amusing.
“Come here.” His command had me automatically crossing the space despite not meaning to, his eyes running across every inch of my form, and I had no doubt he could see every inch. This dress really didn’t leave much to the imagination.
When I approached, his hands came out to hold my hips and stop me from moving closer, his eyes focused fully on my body as he finally flicked his gaze to my face.
“No.”
“What?” I asked, feeling confused.
“You aren’t going out like this,” he explained, brushing a piece of hair off my shoulder. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?” I tried to step back, but in an easy and terrifyingly fast move, I was pinned against the island, Ryder’s large arms on either side of me.
“Have you seen how you look, kitten?”
I deflated slightly, thinking that he must think I looked bad, which really stung since I had thought I looked good… I couldn’t help the frown that came onto my face as my eyes began to sting..
His eyes widened in concern. “Are you about to cry?”
“No,” I lied. I put a hand on his chest. “Can you please move?”
“You can’t want to go out that much, Effie,” he growled, pressing me further against the counter.
“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter, can’t go out like this,” I bit out, thinking suddenly about the woman in the bathroom. The insecurities I felt jumped tenfold as pain surged through my heart.
“Damn straight you can’t,” he growled.
I fought a snarl that formed in my throat. “You’re a jerk.”
“Fine, I’ll be a jerk, but you aren’t going out like this.”
“What is going on?” Aanya asked, walking back into the room, holding the phone away from her ear.