Page 6 of Forbid Me

"Well, from now on, I'm only rolling with my ride or die bitches.Only the women that I can trust. And that excludes those who slept with my boyfriend."

"Which is slim pickings," said Niamh.

I tossed a bottle of nail polish at her. She caught it deftly before holding it up to the light to see if it would match her skin tone. It did. Everything matched her skin tone.

"Too soon, Niamh," Tori admonished.

"No, actually it's not. I only promised to keep my mouth shut as long as she said she's happy. Now she's not. So I'm speaking the truth. Ken was a dickless dick. To say our girl deserves better is the most-duh statement of the year."

My eyes pricked at that impassioned speech. There was a small part of me that wasn't sure if the tears were from my shame at being used and abused or if they were from the unadulterated joy of being loved by my friends.

"I don't deserve you guys."

"Yes, you do." Tori reached back and grabbed my hand, squeezing it like I was sure she'd been wanting to squeeze life into me for the last year. "That idiot didn't know what he had. You deserve to be treated like a princess."

"Fuck princess." Niamh came to my other side and wiped the tear that threatened the corner of my eye. "We deserve to be treated like queens."

"Queens of the Crossroads," declared Tori.

I did love my girls. I wished I could live off their love alone. But contrary to Niamh's assertion, Ken wasn't dickless. And I had a dick addiction. I just didn't want a dirty community dick.

"Oh my God, Niamh, I need to touch up your roots. Your blond is showing."

They knew what I was doing. I'd changed the subject on them more than once when they started dissing my boyfriends. Like the best friends that they were, they let me get away with it yet again.

Tori scooted out of the way, and Niamh took her place on the floor in front of me.

"Having you as a friend is better than going to a beauty salon," said Niamh as she leaned her head back into my hands.

"Because you get me for free."

"We pay you in friendship," Tori chimed in.

I sighed, gazing at my friends' expressions. Tori, with her calculating eyes and cautious demeanor, was the voice of reason in our group. She was a realist and had always questioned my constant search for love. Niamh, on the other hand, didn't begrudge my need to be on the arm of a man. She only sniffed at my need to cling to them.

Both women had fae blood that made them stunning. I was part witch and part… other. The other part of me they didn't know about. No one knew about the sleeping animal that lived inside of me. The two halves added together made me a big, curvy girl.

Don't get me wrong; I loved my curves. Ever since I was young, I'd loved looking at paintings from the old world where the women were voluptuous and rosy. Growing up, that was all I knew. It's what I thought was the standard of beauty. Until I came in contact with the willowy fairies and the anemic vampires.

So while I might love my hourglass figure, it was a few centuries out of style, and the men of the Crossroads were looking at the present.

Niamh reclined gracefully on the floor, relaxed in the notion that I would enhance her beauty. Men and women alike adored her. My magical abilities seemed futile in adding to her already flawless features. She had the perfect figure, with a small waist and lean limbs that made heads turn wherever she went. Niamh often teased me about my quest for love, reminding me that I should treat men like side dishes, not the main course.

"You know, you guys could give me a little credit here," I said, trying to sound cheerful despite the sadness that lingered within me. "I just thought Ken was The One, that's all. He always paid for dinner. He bought me lavish gifts. He even said the L word first, just a few days after we started datingand?—"

"Stop it," said Niamh.

"What?" I looked up.

"I don't need to be psychic to see you're doing it again. You're thinking about all his good qualities, which I still can't see a single one."

"He is pretty," volunteered Tori.

"Yeah, and he knows it, which is why he thinks he can get away with dipping his tool in every toolbox in the neighborhood," said Niamh.

"You get various tools dipped into your box," I shot back.

"That's true." Niamh grinned. "But unlike you, I don't let my feelings get involved."

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