Page 140 of Cruel Legacy

I push her hand away from my face. “Here’s a thought. If we don’t pluck them like the feathers off a chicken, you don’t have to paint them back on.”

“And your bikini area? Did you want the Brazilian?”

My eyes snap to Moira’s, who gives me a reassuring smile. “It’s not as bad as you may have heard when they hold the skin correctly.”

I’ve had a Brazilian before. Sasha and I found a Groupon. It was cool and all, but I also remember how sensitive I was afterwards. I’m just shocked she put it on our schedule. LJ hops up on the table and says, “Do me. I’ve been neglecting my maintenance.”

“LJ, you are not about to spread your legs with me sitting here.”

She laughs at me. “They have a rolling curtain, silly.”

The ladies bring in two more tables and rolling dividers. Moira grabs a table and I climb onto the last one.

“Know what this reminds me of?” LJ giggles. I should probably cut off her mimosa consumption. “It reminds me of the day The Trium was naked on your balcony.”

Moira screeches. “They were what?”

Moira and Scott haven’t exactly expressed their views on dating. Not that I would listen, but I get the impression they’d pick out a nice, sweet, safe boy. Somebody from Scott’s office, to bore me to death.

“Relax, Aunt Moira. LJ’s a little tipsy. They weren’t naked on my balcony.”

“Oh, okay.”

My lips twitch. “They were naked on Finn’s balcony.”

She makes a sound like she’s choking on her spit. “Was this, um, a fraternity prank?”

“Nope. It was Finn’s weekly rub and tug and they did it exhibitionist style.”

“Do the boys often just sit on the balcony with their parts out for the world to see?”

She sounds more concerned with each question. I’d draw the curtain back to look at her, if someone wasn’t situated around my lady bits with wax and tape.

“Only when they want to annoy me.”

LJ sighs. “They don’t annoy me when they’re like that. Those men are yummy. Too bad they only pay Thea any attention.”

“Is this true, Thea? Have you caught one of the Trium’s eyes?” I recognize the lead up to a lecture when I hear it. I’m a little old for the sex talk and I’m not having it with my aunt.

“Like I told you before, Aunt Moira, they’re a bunch of jerks. Finn and I have a neighborly feud going on. It’s nothing more than that.”

“Okay, but if they’re a problem, you have to let us know. We’ll take steps.”

“It’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

She doesn’t say anything else after the technician tells her to keep still.

LJ’s house is bigger than my aunt and uncle’s. That’s saying a lot because that place is massive. She lives ten minutes away, her neighborhood the middle divide between Moira and Scott’s level of wealth and where she told me The Coxsuckers live.

LJ’s dad’s in tech, and developed some kind of micro mini processing circuit that electronic companies were willing to pay big money to use. He licensed it to a company, catapulting their lifestyle to this. Her mother wanted big and fancy, her father wanted quaint and comfy. This was the compromise. LJ got the wrong end of the deal, since Eloise lives across the street.

“I can’t believe in a couple of weeks it’ll be Christmas break and I’ll have to deal with that all day.”

She waves her hand at the line of cars in Eloise’s driveway. Since their parents are all friendly, Eloise and the plastics posse will be at the party tonight, too. I’m thinking of going back to Nags Creek to hang with Sasha for the holidays. Maybe I should drag LJ with me to save her from having to deal with them.

I step out of the car, hyperaware of how sensitive I am in my freshly waxed areas. I knew I would be, but it was fun being pampered and just hanging out with LJ and Moira. It reminded me of the times Sasha and I would do mani pedis and each other’s hair.

Speaking of, I’ve got my color touched up. The bottom layer of my hair is full ombre, but the rest is a dark chocolate with ombre strands serving as highlights, adding random pops of color to my hair.

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