Page 74 of Give Me a Shot

He rolled onto one side, then the other. He realized he hadn’t texted her good night, so he grabbed his phone.

Mo:

Good night m’lady

She might have been asleep already; she’d said she was bone tired when he left. He reached over to put his phone down when it buzzed in his hand.

Jess:

Do I have an official nickname now?

He smiled.

Mo:

Sure

Jess:

Then I wish you good night, m’lord

He chuckled but paused before replying. There was something he’d meant to bring up after the movie, but they hadn’t gotten around to it.

Mo:

M’lady. What if you dressed as Westley?

Jess:

Westley?

Well, Westley as the Dread Pirate Roberts. From the Princess Bride. For your garb. You could move around easily to shoot without worrying about how your clothes are moving around.

Doug had emailed garb suggestions a week earlier. All the choices for women had been oversexualized, and the blacksmith suggestions had been fire hazards. Mo and Jess had vented their frustrations to each other during a video date. They were moving closer and closer to the event, but it had been nice for Mo to keepit from his mind as much as possible. Being confronted with choosing garb had forced it to the forefront, along with the steely-cold tension of anticipatory anxiety that flared in his jaw whenever he imagined how it would go.

Right then, there had been a long pause between Mo’s last message and the little ellipsis starting on his screen. Mo’s throat was a little tight. He worried that he’d insulted her by suggesting she dress like a man, before her reply appeared.

Jess:

That is an *excellent* idea, Fezzik the Giant.

Fezzik?

Mo:

?

It’s a basic costume. No billowing sleeves. Should be safe near fire.

She was right about the sleeves. And Mo liked basic. He smiled.

Mo:

Sounds like a plan.

She sent a smiling emoji.

The idea to say something about dressing up together and having fun together like she had with Cassie passed through his mind. But he didn’t know if bringing it up would raise positive feelings or painful ones. He decided to let it rest.

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