Page 31 of Fall Hard

“Well, then I’ll see what I think when I get there.”

Bryn squeezed my arm gently. “You’ve got this. This is supposed to be fun.”

I nodded, but internally I was already running through all the stores in the mall, trying to remember exactly what was in there.

Buy something scandalous.That was what I’d put on my list. While I’d definitely broadened my horizons when it came to going out clothes since I’d been at Radclyffe, there were still lots of things I steered clear from—my mother’s voice chastising me in my head when I looked too long at a lacey piece of lingerie or a particularly sexy dress. The first vibrator I’d bought had sat unopened in its box for at least a month before I’d felt brave enough to open it without feeling like I was doing something dirty. It was natural, but I’d often been told the opposite growing up, at least through implication if not directly.

The mall loomed up ahead far faster than I’d anticipated, but I relaxed when I saw Jamie and Kat approaching from the direction of the small parking lot—Jamie must have decided to drive. Not a bad decision for one of us to have a car if we ended up buying a lot.

“Hey,” I called and we walked in together, the familiar sounds settling my nerves as people chatted in the food court and milled in and out of stores.

“What prompted this trip?” Jamie was watching me carefully, she’d been doing that a lot since I’d walked out ofThe Boxa couple of weeks ago. I understood that she was trying to look out for me, but it was spooking me more than helping me.

“Bryn needs more clothes after the flood wrecked a lot of hers.” Kat cooed sympathetically and I peered at her when she wasn’t looking. “So what’s new with you?”

“Me?” Was it my imagination or was she squirming a bit too much to not be hiding something? “Oh, you know. Nothing much. Just work. The usual.”

Jamie raised an eyebrow at me and I gave her a tiny nod. So it wasn’t just me who had noticed Kat’s recent shiftiness.

“I, um, also need to get something.” They all peered at me and I grimaced. “Bryn is helping me with a… project. I need to buy myself something scandalous.”

Jamie grinned. “Hellyes. Oh, I am so down for that.”

I tried not to let my thoughts go anywhere inappropriate after that comment, and managed fairly well. “Cool.” I cleared my throat and nodded for emphasis.

“So what’s the project for? Class?”

“Actually, kind of the opposite,” I said slowly. “They want to kick me off the course.” I held up a hand to ward off the flood of protests and questions I could already see forming. “It’s fine, I hate it anyway. But Bryn is trying to help me figure out what exactly I might enjoy.”

“How is buying something scandalous going to help with that?” Kat said dubiously and Bryn grinned in a way that was both a little intimidating and a little scary.

“The things we’re scared of say a lot about us,” she said easily and I laughed awkwardly before protesting as Jamie dragged us into what looked like a lingerie shop.

“Go wild,” she said with a throaty laugh. “Pick out whatever scares you the most.”

Why had Bryn thought this was a good idea again?

I looked around the store with begrudging admiration. It was gorgeous, the space was bright and open with fake florals and plants on the walls and in between the displays. Neon pink light-up signs marked out the different sections of the store and I instantly made a bee-line for the sleep and loungewear section.

“Is this place new?” I muttered as I browsed. “I swear I’ve never seen this place before.”

“I think they opened up a week or so ago.” I jumped and turned to find Bryn standing behind me, looking amused as she watched me sulkily sort through silky negligees and cute sleeping eye masks. “Found anything you like yet?”

I held up the pink embroidered eye mask hopefully and Bryn narrowed her eyes.

“Does that scare you?” I shook my head. “Then put it back. Or get it anyway, I don’t care, but the objective is to find something you would normally be too nervous to buy.”

I sighed. “I know.”

The thing that really rankled me was that there were some truly gorgeous things in this store and I’d only been looking for five seconds. I guess part of me had hoped I wouldn’t see anything I liked, because surely Bryn wouldn’t make me buy something I hated just for the sake of it? Unfortunately, it didn’t look like that was going to be a problem.

I brushed my hand across a sheer bodysuit as I walked through the store. It was stunning, a dark green with embroidered butterflies in deep pinks covering the area over the boobs, a little scandalous but not completely out there.

I slowly picked it up and draped it over my arm and glanced over at Bryn like I was a kid who’d been caught doing something naughty, only to find her browsing a nearby rack herself. She held up a two-piece that was barely fabric, just dark red straps criss-crossing in a configuration that was as mind-boggling as I was sure it would be difficult to get on. I swallowed hard as I thought about how fun it would be to unwrap someone wearing that particular piece though, the way it would curl around curves and tease you by being covered and yet bare. Bryn looked up and I blinked, realizing I had been staring, and turned away quickly.

I kept walking until I came across a slightly more sedate display than what Bryn had been checking out, but only slightly. A baby pink piece caught my eye and I lifted it from the rack to examine it better. It was a balconette bra, sans actual cups, garter belt, and sheer pink panties with a lace overlay. It looked a little strange on the bottom though, and when I turned it over I saw why. Crotchless.

I could feel myself blushing, but I didn’t put it down. It really was a cute set, and the lack of barriers in the… crotch area, could definitely come in handy.

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