Page 2 of Allure

She giggles. “Thanks for understanding.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I assure her.

“Gotta get more boxes,” she says, jerking her thumb toward the door.

“Do you have anyone to help you?”

“My mom’s a nurse. She got called into work last minute. She was going to help me, but it’s no big deal.” She shrugs.

“I’ll help.”

“Aw, you’re sweet, but no. I got this.”

“Too bad.” I beat her out the door to the hallway and then hesitate. “I need to know which car is yours.”

Dawn shakes her head. “You’re stubborn, you know that?”

“There are worse things to be called,” I say. “I’ll take it.”

We laugh and talk the entire trip down the stairs and to her sweet ride and back to the room. Apparently, going up and down the stairs is fine, so long as she doesn't look down at her feet.

After two more trips, Dawn insists that I finish unpacking. Before I can relent, my cell rings.

“Momma bear,” I tell her with a groan. “If I don’t answer, she’s liable to call campus police.”

“Then you better answer.” Dawn tilts her head to the side. “Unless you think the campus police might have some hotties on the squad?”

“Eh, I’m not sure the chances are good on that account.”

She huffs a dramatic sigh. “Probably not.”

We both laugh, and she waves before heading out the door again.

I answer before the call can be cut off. “Hey, Mom. I’m here. I’m alive, and I’m unpacking.”

“Oh, good. Jeffrey called to say that he finished. I’m trying to decide how much to tip him.”

“Don’t,” I say flatly.

“Brooke, he did you a service, and you know how I feel about tipping—”

“He was completely inappropriate,” I say firmly. “If you tip him, he’ll pull that same shit—”

“Brooke!”

“—with other girls, and he shouldn’t be encouraged. Your tip money could cause him to not just talk about how ripe a girl’s chest looks, but cause him to have the balls to reach out and grab them to see if they’re real or not.”

My mom says nothing.

Shit. She’s going to be all freaked out now. She’s always been a worrywart, and I probably just set that off full bore. Awesome.

“How close is your dorm to the campus police?” she asks.

“No idea. No need to worry about that.”

“I beg to differ,” she says stiffly. “If he really made inappropriate comments and you aren’t exaggerating…”

“Mom, why would I lie?”

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