Page 10 of Fire of the Fox

My mind was in a daze the entire walk back.

Did that really happen? Did I actually pet and talk to a fox?

What a day.

Chapter Five

WHEN I MADE it back to my dorm room, Dallas had changed into a tight black shirt that cut off above her belly button. She wore a red jacket over it, and her hair hung in loose curls down her back. She paired it with black leather leggings and red stilettos. As soon as I saw how she was dressed, I knew she had big plans for the night, and something in my gut said I was going to be dragged along.

She saw me come in and immediately dropped what she was doing to face me with worried eyes. “There you are. Are you okay?”

I gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m okay. My walk was … interesting.”

Her face lit up at my reassurance, and she jumped up and down. Grabbing my hands, she squealed, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, because we are going to have so much fun tonight. Now that you and that mega asshole are finally over, you can join me when I go out to clubs and parties to find you a new special someone.”

I gave her a pointed look. “You know that’s not really my thing.”

She waved a dismissive hand and ran her free one through my long hair. She pursed her lips as she took me in from head to toe. “Let’s figure out what to dress you in and how to do your hair. We want you to look your absolute hottest.”

“Dallas,” I groaned, already exasperated.

She ignored me and started digging things out of her closet. “You hush up. It’s my job as your best friend to cheer you up by getting you all sexy so that when we go out, all the guys come crawling to you.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. “I don’t want all the guys to come crawling to me.”

She threw something black and red at me and turned to face me with her hands on her hips. “That’s just the part of you that’s still clinging to Dax talking. We are going out, and you are going to wear that.”

I held up the clothes she had thrown at me. I looked back at her with a look that said, Are you insane?, but she crossed her arms and turned her head away from me. She snickered knowing I wouldn’t argue with her, which I didn’t. I sighed in defeat and changed into the clothes.

When I finished getting dressed, I turned to the full body mirror, and my jaw nearly hit the floor. Dallas had me in a black off-the-shoulder shirt that also failed to reach my leggings, exposing the lower part of my stomach. To go with it, she’d given me red silk leggings with black heels.

My wide eyes found hers. “I look ridiculous!”

She laughed and started curling my hair. “Yeah, ridiculously sexy! God, I’m a miracle worker. You look even hotter than me, which is a challenge in and of itself.” She gave an appraising flip of her hair over her shoulder. It made me burst into a fit of laughter. Her confidence was enviable.

Talking about our upcoming evening, I couldn’t help but get a little excited. It was during the height of my excitement that I finally told her about the study abroad offer. As expected, she couldn’t have been happier or more supportive, which is why I didn’t bring up the issue of the money. I didn’t want to ruin the upbeat energy of the evening. Right now, I wanted to ride this lively mood with her. Tonight was about having fun. Worries could come tomorrow.

Watching Dallas curl my hair made her final vision all the more real. When she was done, she piled it on top of my head in a high ponytail, but my curls still managed to reach the top of my back. After checking our final looks in the mirror and locking our dorm room, we settled in her car, and she took off.

A smile was plastered on my face as we drove to the club. Despite how overwhelmed I’d felt earlier in the day, I was actually eager to get out and do something fun with Dallas. A lot of crazy things had transpired during the day. Even if this wasn’t my typical idea of a Friday night, I wanted this tonight.

I’d been cooped up in our dorm room doing homework every day while Dallas often went out for a night of fun. It felt good to be going out for once, and now I could enjoy myself without having to worry about pleasing Dax by getting all his work done for him.

I was finally free.

It was evident when we neared the club, because I could hear the music above our own in the car. The place was a large brick building with its own street and fields for parking. It was at the head of the road, and the fields on either side of the place were filling up fast. We had to park a long way away from the club, so walking there in our heels sucked.

When we finally reached the line leading inside, the music was so loud, the beat pounded beneath my feet. Every change in the music was like a shock wave moving through my whole body.

Dallas’ gaze took me in again to make sure all of her hard work still looked good. She fluffed my ponytail and tugged the v-neck of my shirt lower.

I smacked her hand away and pulled it back up.

She laughed and said, “Sweet pea, cleavage is good. If you have it, show it.”

“I’d rather keep it to myself. Thank you for the advice, though.” I looked at the large man who stood by the door to check IDs as people came in. My eyes turned into saucers, and I quickly grabbed onto Dallas and whispered, “Wait! We can’t even get in. We aren’t 21.”

She rolled her eyes and patted my shoulder as though she were an adult talking to a child. “You don’t have to be 21 to get in. You have to be 18, which you are. You have to be 21 to get alcohol from the bar, but that never stops anybody. If you pair up with someone who’s at least 21, they can buy you drinks, which is what you’ll do if you want something.”

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