Page 17 of Seven Year Itch

And just as she'd said that, Garrett's head swiveled, looking toward the window, his eyes trained right on her. Rearing back, she lost her balance, falling into the bush behind her and becoming entangled in the branches.

"Shit, Ali, are you okay?"

Was she? Nothing hurt. "I think so. Help me up." Ali held out her hand, and Mia grabbed it.

"What the hell happened?" Mia asked as they both struggled to untangle her from the bush.

"Garrett looked out the window. I don't think he could see through the glass with how bright it is inside and how dark it is out here from all the bushes, but it startled me nonetheless."

Mia gave her hand a tug, and she felt a pain tug her scalp. She yelped a panicked, "Wait!"

"What?" Mia released her hand and Ali sank back into the bush.

"I think my hair is caught." Ali felt along the back of her head, trying to discover where she was snared. She heard a few ripping sounds but was more concerned about what else could be in the bush with her, and her desire not to find out. "Okay, I think I got it loose." She held out her hand again. "Help me out, quick."

Mia tugged. Hard. And Ali came stumbling out, feeling quite a bit more air conditioned than when she fell in. She looked down at herself. Her blouse had a long rip down the side and was hanging half off her body. Or should she say Mia's blouse.

Ali gave her a guilty look. "I'll buy you a new one, promise."

Mia waved a hand. "Don't worry, it's an old blouse."

"What am I going to do? I can't walk across that big-ass parking lot like this." Ali said with a note of panic.

Mia pulled the blouse off. "Take off your bra."

What? Had she lost her mind? "I'm not flashing my boobs."

"It's only flashing if there's someone around to see." Mia waved a hand. "There's no one here."

Ali waved a hand right back. "We're standing next to a window."

"That no one can see out of."

"That was just a theory, Mia," Ali bit out.

"Just do it. I have an idea."

"Why do I feel like I get the short end of the stick every time you utter the words, I've got an idea?" But she reached behind her back and unclasped her bra.

Quick as a flash, Mia had the waistband of her skirt up and over her boobs, so she now wore her skirt like a tube top.

"Wow, that's so much better. I won't draw any attention walking through the parking lot like this." It was hard to miss the sarcasm dripping from her words.

"Shut up. I'm not finished."

Ali watched as Mia further ripped the blouse and twisted it into a rope. She then tied the makeshift belt around her waist. Heck, it didn't look half bad.

"One last thing, and then we can go." Mia tugged the rubber band from Ali's hair then fluffed it around her shoulders. "There, good as new."

They hurried through the parking lot, Ali trying to discreetly hide her bra in the folds of hernowreally short skirt. It was an expensive one from Victoria's Secret, and there was no way she was leaving it behind.

It wasn't until they were halfway home and the ramifications of what she'd just witnessed had finally set in that the tears started to flow. And she had a feeling they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon.

≈≈≈≈

Ali stared googly-eyed as a half-naked Channing Tatum strutted his fine self across the stage to the beat of Ginuwine'sPony. Mia whooped and hollered at the big screen TV from beside her on the couch. They were well into a second pitcher of margaritas and Ali was definitely feeling the effects.

Too emotionally distraught to go home after the fiasco at the hotel, Mia had suggested Ali spend the night at her house. Being the respectful wife—though why she cared she didn't know—she'd texted Garrett her plans, and upon receiving a cheerful "Have fun" complete with a happy-face emoji as a response, she'd wanted to throw her phone against the wall. Instead, she'd spent the afternoon crying herself into a mindless stupor until she'd needed to get her act together to pick Noah up from school and drop both kids off at her mother-in-law's for the weekend.

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