Page 46 of Stuck with You

“Yes, things. Like more than one T-shirt and a pair of socks that actually match.”

“Ah, things.” I smiled as she rolled her eyes at me and returned to sorting through her clothes. It was far too easy to get under her skin. If it were an Olympic sport, I felt quite certain I’d win a gold medal in it. That’s if the Olympics still happened this year. Stupid virus seemed to be ruining everything.

I hugged one of Clary’s pillows close to my chest. It smelled like strawberries and the light vanilla fragrance of Clary’s perfume. I had to stop myself from dipping my nose closer to immerse myself in the smell.

“So, did you have a prom dress picked out?”

She glanced at me and nodded. “Yeah, I bought it a few weeks ago. Not that it’ll do me much good now.”

“Can I see it?”

She seemed to freeze on the spot, but her eyes flickered back to her closet as she hesitated. “I don’t really see why you’d want to.”

“Come on, please?” I begged.

Her expression was torn, but as she looked at me once more, her shoulders relaxed and the smallest smile appeared. I was giving her my best pleading puppy-dog eyes after all. I hadn’t needed to use them in a while, but they’d always worked on my mom, and it looked like they worked quite well on Clary too.

“Fine, I guess I can show you,” she muttered. She went to pull it out but I put a hand across my eyes before I could see the dress.

“I thought you wanted to see it?” Clary exclaimed.

“I do.”

“Then why are you covering your eyes?”

“Because when I see it for the first time, I want to see you wearing it. Not on a hanger.”

Clary grunted. “I’m not putting my prom dress on.”

“But you already agreed to show it to me.”

“Notonme!”

“Come on, if you don’t put it on now, you might never get a chance to wear it.” She didn’t respond straightaway, so I assumed she was thinking about it. “Besides, I can’t picture what a dress looks like when it’s hanging up, and you already have your makeup all done, so why not get all dressed up too?”

“Because it’s stupid,” she grumbled.

“It’s not stupid.” I kept my eyes shut as I waited for her to give in, and she finally let out a sigh.

“Fine, I’ll put it on, but you can’t make fun of me.”

“Why would I make fun of you?”

“Because that’s what you do.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Okay, I promise not to make fun of you.”

There was a rustle of movement as Clary went to leave the room. It was probably too much to hope that she’d change into her dress in here. I wasn’t sure I would have been able to resist the temptation to sneak a peek.

I lowered my hand, but my eyes stayed shut as I lay on the bed and waited for her. My house was always so quiet, but here I could hear soft noises wafting through the air around me. There was a small child giggling as they played next door, and I could hear a lawnmower buzzing in the distance. They were comforting sounds that made me feel quite at home in Clary’s room.

Clary cleared her throat, and the distant noises from outside seemed to disappear. “Okay, here it is…” she said.

I slowly opened my eyes to look at her, and my jaw dropped open. Clary’s prom dress was gorgeous. It was made from a deep red, silky material that rippled as she moved. A long slit ran up one leg, and it was nearly impossible to drag my eyes away. I knew Clary had amazing long legs, but this dress highlighted them in a way that was hard to ignore.

I swallowed as I stared at her, my chest feeling suddenly tight. I was almost too scared to look directly at Clary because I knew the look in my eyes would probably reveal my true feelings for her.

I was grateful when she gave a little spin—anything to disrupt the way I was staring at her legs. But the spin only made things worse. The back of her dress dipped irresistibly low, showing off her smooth tanned skin and making the desire I felt for her even stronger.

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