Page 46 of Love, Academically
Lila pushed out a breath and laid her hands flat on the table.
“What does black tie mean for women, Rhys?” she asked, but he just looked confused. “Is it a long dress? Is it a cocktail dress? Is it sweeping? Oh my god, is itMet Gala?”
“Um,” Rhys said, obviously dredging his memory. “The last time I went, Elin wore a long dress. So did my mother and Seren.”
He calmly looked back to his chicken.
“That’s a pretty name,” Lila murmured, poking at her pasta. “Sister or cousin? You’re going to have to draw me a family tree. There are too many of you.”
“Seren, um.” Rhys’s mouth turned into a cringe. “I kind of forgot about her. She’s my ex-girlfriend...”
“Oh, lord me.”
“Well, actually, ex-fiancée…”
“Pardon?”
“And she’s married to my cousin, Ieuan.”
What fresh hell was this? “You’re joking me.”
“Nope,” Rhys said, stabbing at his chicken like he wanted to kill it again.
“No wonder you avoid going. She’s tall and blonde and super model-y, isn’t she? Oh no, she’s actually a super model and I’m going to be dowdy and frumpy and ridiculous in a twenty-pound maxi dress from Matalan.”
Lila knocked back her drink for fortification. She was going to a black-tie event as a fake girlfriend, with a supermodel ex-girlfriend who was married to said fake boyfriend’scousin? If this was an American soap, there would be a person with amnesia and a secret baby. Also, her twenty-pound maxi dress from Matalan (the only long dress she owned) was not going to cut it, was it? It was a summer dress with sunflowers on it. That wouldnotgo down well with Rhys I-have-a-custom-tux Aubrey-Dallimore.
Something crushing and hot rose in her. She wasn’t going to be good enough for this. She couldn’t just sprinkle some glitter and make herself acceptable to rich people.
“What’s happened to you? You were all calm and helpful. Now you’re,” Rhys waved a hand at her, “panicky.”
“Rhys, do you know any women? At all?” She stuffed pasta into her mouth. Eating would help. Eating was her safe space. “Some of us like to not look ridiculous in front of her fake boyfriend’s supermodel ex-fiancée, and his rich list family,” she said, trying to slurp the dregs of her drink. “You are not being very helpful. I’m liable to not make a good impression and probably make things worse if you. Don’t. Help. Me.”
Rhys pressed his lips together, but his eyes sparkled. If he laughed, she would stab him with her fork.
“It’s not funny, Rhys!”
But if she couldn’t laugh then she’d just worry and very possibly cry, because it was all so ridiculous.
“It is a bit funny,” Rhys corrected, letting a smile come out. “Besides, I’m sure a twenty-pound maxi dress from Matalan will be fine.”
“Oh no, I don’t think so, Rhys Aubrey-Dallimore. There will have to be shopping. You’ll have to come.”
Rhys’s face slackened.
“You can help me pick something appropriate, okay?” It was more a beg than a question, because she desperately needed help. How was she supposed to know what to get? “Please?”
His eyes shuttered and he let out a long-suffering sigh. The silence between them stretched taut.
“Fine,” he said, turning back to his food.
Lila sat back in her seat and blew out a breath. “I thought you were going to say no for a minute then.”
“Why would I say no?” he said, shaking his head. “You’re helping me. The least I can do is help you help me.”
She made a strangled noise that could have been a laugh in her throat. Did Rhys just make a joke?
“Okay, tell me about Seren and your cousin Ian,” Lila said, stabbing at her food.
