Page 29 of Something Cheeky

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Good grief, the woman has agreed.” Th?o smacked him. “Don’t let her change her mind.”

“Yes. I’ll do the costumes.” Zoe finally looked at him with a wide grin. Her eyes were bright.

Derek wanted to jump up and down like a kid, but he kept his cool. Instead he smiled so hard that his cheeks started to hurt. Operation Win Zoe’s Heart was going according to plan.

“Thank you!” Derek exhaled loudly in relief before he wrapped his arms around Zoe. “I knew you’d say yes.”

Behind them, Th?o snorted.

“I’ll walk you to the production office so they can get your contract and the rest of your paperwork.” Derek turned to Th?o. “Do you mind working on your own for a while?”

“Go,” Th?o said indulgently. “Get out of here, you crazy kids.”

When Zoe turned back toward the door, Th?o mouthedTell herat him.

Derek shook his head. He wasn’t ready to turn their friendship upside down yet. Not when they’d barely had any time together.

Chapter 13

“I know you said rock musical, but how do you feel about aParis by Nightmeets Eurovision aesthetic?” Zoe asked as she flipped through her binder stuffed with ripped magazine pages and printouts of different outfits.

She’d transformed the largest cutting table in the Something Cheeky workroom into her design center. It was stacked with various books on fashion history and Vietnamese magazines that her cousins had brought back from their travels. Her pencils and markers were strewn in between all the reference materials.

“Eurovision?” Derek cringed. He’d set up camp at her tiny desk in the corner. “That’s too much spandex.”

“You look great in spandex,” she teased. “RememberInto the Woods?You wore that spandex bodysuit with a big fluffy tail and a codpiece.”

“I prefer to leave a few things to the imagination,” he interrupted. “Even if your designs were brilliant.”

Zoe scoffed.

“I’m serious. Who else could have taken our professor’s vision for a Southern-and-vampire-inspired fractured fairy tale and made them look good?” he reminded her.

“Oh my God. He had some weird ideas, but I had fun working on it during junior year.”

The head of their theater program was into unlikely mash-upsbecause he thought it made him edgy. His challenging combinations forced everyone to dig deep into their creative well. Somehow the productions always worked out.

“We need to keepT?m Cám’s fairy-tale energy no matter what,” he said as he tapped away on his laptop. “We loved your suggestion to keep the Emperor nameless. Th?o suggested that everyone else’s names should be their job or title. Only the sisters will have actual names.”

Zoe nodded, but her brain was stuck on the memory of fitting him for that ridiculous costume. He’d looked hot in that costume. Fairy vibes paired with big dick energy. Zoe’s eyes widened. Luckily Derek wasn’t looking at her or he’d see the blush creep up her neck to her face.

Why was she even thinking about his—she bit her lip and took a deep breath. Yes, Derek was attractive, but they were friends. Semi-strangers, since they’d been out of touch for so long.

“You’re right. No spandex. Maybe justParis by Nightwith a strong Viet historical influence?”

She picked up another binder, in which there were printouts of her favorite outfits from the California-based entertainment show. Zoe’s grandparents always had it playing in the background when she was growing up. The flashy American pop covers paired with body-hugging costumes and choreographed dance numbers had captivated her at an early age.

“I’m getting flashbacks to all theParis by Nightvideos you forced me to watch.”

“Forced? As I recall, you were dancing and singing along.” She hummed and mimed his moves.

“Don’t remind me how much my Vietnamese sucks. My mom would not approve.”

“Drunk Derek singing was entertaining. I have video proof.”

“Please never show that to the world,” he begged her.

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