Page 7 of When We Break

Kai: Dinner at eight. Formal attire. I’ll meet you there.

There…? Where?

Another message arrives.

Kai: A limo will wait for you in front of the hotel. The driver knows the address.

Smiling, I exit the elevator and walk to my hotel room. I swipe the key card and enter.

The room is in perfect order, a fresh smell cloying the air. I look around when I notice a gift-wrapped box on the bed.

“No way…” I murmur, picking it up.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I carefully unwrap it.

I remove the lid and retrieve a beautiful bejeweled dress dripping with rhinestones.

Spaghetti straps, a long zipper down the back.

“Who is this…?” I murmur.

It’s him… Kai.

I can’t believe it. There is no card. No message. It can only be him. I let the beautiful dress slide back into the box, my eyes slipping to my phone.

It’s six in the afternoon, and I have enough time to prepare myself, but I don’t move, absentmindedly running my fingers over the rhinestones.

* * *

RAVEN

“A formal dinner party on a Monday?”Giana asks, blinking at the other end of our video call while perusing my dress.

“Uh-huh,” I say, lifting the phone and holding it up so she can get a better idea of how it falls over my body.

It fits perfectly, molding to my frame, emphasizing my tan.

“Who does that?”

“People.”

I put the phone down and focus on applying my favorite shade of shimmering nude lipstick.

My hair falls down my back in waves of black ink. The contrast is striking.

I check the time again.

Why am I so nervous?

“And that’s why you’re still there?” she drones on.

Chuckling, I pick up the phone and sit in the armchair. This way, she can see me, and I glimpse her face on the screen.

“I don’t know why I’m still here.”

“Let me guess,” she says, chewing on her food. “You made up with your boyfriend.”

A blush tinges my cheeks.

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