Page 45 of The Red-Hot Stakes

Making sure my fingers were clean, I opened it, gasping when I saw her degree inside. “Avery!” I pulled it out to study it more closely. “Holy shit, you have a bachelor’s degree. I’m so proud of you.”

She’d worked her ass off this summer, managing to eke out an early graduation, giving her more time to focus on the wedding. “It’s pretty great, huh?” She smiled at the paper once more before tucking it safely back in the envelope. “Okay, now spill.”

“About what?”

Her glare would curdle dairy. “About Liam! You didn’t come home again last night. So?”

“Fell asleep on the couch watching a movie.”

“Talking to you is like pulling teeth.” But I could only keep my amusement hidden for so long, and she caught on. “I knew it! Tell me everything.”

When I finished, she had an all-too-familiar smirk on her face. I sighed. “Yeah, I know, I know. You told me so.”

“Yes, I did.”

We shared a laugh, and I told her about Liam’s offer to meet this evening. “What are you guys doing? It’s supposed to be gorgeous. Want to hang out, all of us?”

“Actually, I heard there’s a concert just off campus tonight. One of the frats is having a fundraiser for something or other, but the band’s supposed to be really good. Five dollar cover.”

A frat party wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind, but I liked the sound of being outside with good music. Plus we were pretty much guaranteed there’d be drinks. “Start a group text? Plan on riding together?”

She nodded.

I checked my phone, realizing I needed to hurry to make it across campus to my next class. “Okay, Liam’s in a meeting until five, but I’ll be back at our apartment after class. We could get ready together?”

“Great.” Mischief danced in her eyes as she said, “Maybe I’ll kick Derek out and make him go down to Liam’s. They can pick us up like it’s a real date.”

“Whatever you gotta do.” I put my dishes in a pile. “Later, girl.” I gave her a quick one-armed hug, then hurried on my way.

* * * *

Avery did just that, making Derek go to Liam’s so we had the place to ourselves. I laughed when she shoved him out of the door, him acting for all the world like a kicked puppy.

“You’d think I was breaking up with him.” She shook her head. “All right, let’s get this party started!”

We stood in front of her closet first, rifling through her myriad low-cut dresses. Her favorite feature was her ample cleavage, which I was super envious of.

She grasped a shimmery navy blue short-sleeved one, turning to me for approval. “Maybe this’ll make up for kicking him out tonight.”

I nodded. “I think that’s perfect.” Once we’d zipped her up, we tromped to my closet and started the process all over. It was a whole different ball game, only being my second official date with Liam. I didn’t really think takeout in hoodies and sweats counted.

She shuffled through my outfits. “You going skimpy and sexy? Or classy and fitted?”

A backless silver top caught my attention. It was basically held on with a few strategically placed strings. I pulled it out with a wicked grin.

“Skimpy and sexy it is.” Avery helped make sure my strings were tied tight and nothing peeked out where it shouldn’t be.

I paired the top with a cute dark denim mini skirt and some hoop earrings.

We came to Avery’s favorite part of getting ready, makeup. My best friend wore makeup like most of us wore clothes. She had a different style depending on her mood, mostly using it as a defense mechanism. Her armor, she called it.

We went for a fun, full-on face tonight. Our mascara-lengthened eyelashes, swooping eyeliner and sparkling eyeshadow perfectly complemented our luscious lips and pink cheeks.

Above average in height, Avery steered away from heels, settling for an adorable pair of strappy, tan sandals. Since Liam had a good five inches on me, I went for a black wedge style that lengthened my legs and showed off my cute red toes. We gave each other one last look, making sure everything was just right.

Then she texted the guys. It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door, and I rolled my eyes.

“Really? You made him knock?”

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