Page 5 of Playing Pretend with Love and Billions

Which, I haven’t. Dating is the last thing on my mind after everything that went down, especially in this terrible city. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do about leaving or not, which is something I’ve talked consistently with Millie about the last two months. It hurts me to see the pain flash across her face every time I bring it up, but I’m not sure what to do.

She’d love nothing more than for me to stay and a big part of me would love that too, but what if I’m no longer happy here now that I don’t have someone tying me down? I’m taking it day by day, I guess.

Millie finally pokes her head from her closet with a big grin on her face. “These will look perfect!”

The red heels in her hand screamI’m going to make Ava fall on her ass, but Millie only rolls her eyes when I start shaking my head furiously. My gaze lands on my sparkly white cowgirl boots in the corner of her room that I brought in with me, in hopes that she’d at least let me wear those.

“No,” she screeches from behind me. “You cannot be serious right now. Come on, these will look amazing on you!”

“Until I trip and fall face first. I’ll pass.”

She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow, giving me her best authoritative stare down, and I shrink into myself. My eyes rake over the heels in her hand, paying extra attention to the length of the heel, before I roll my eyes at her in defeat.

The things I’d do for this girl.

“Fine, but if I make a fool of myself in these, it’s all on you.”

The heels land at my feet as she sits at her vanity to start on her makeup. I rarely wear makeup, which is why Millie loves when I go to things like this because I let her give me a major makeover. She’s naturally beautiful and I wish she didn’t cake all that shit on her face, but it’s something she loves to do.

While she’s focusing on her makeup, I slip my feet into the heels and stand with caution. They aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be, even though I’m still stumbling a little as I walk around her room. After a few minutes of breaking them in, I can finally walk a little straighter and breathe a sigh of relief.

“You worry too much,” Millie mumbles while putting her lipstick on, glancing at me from the mirror.

I walk to her vanity and take the seat beside her, gazing curiously at the mess on top of my head, before letting my brunette waves fall down my shoulders. Millie glides a finger through the strands, studying me in the mirror before leaning over and grabbing something from the drawer to her right.

The curling iron looks foreign to me and she chuckles at the wide-eye stare I give it. Sue me for not being all about my hair and makeup. She’d realize how pointless it is when you’re in Texas. Even if I’ve been here for a short while, I’ve still got my southern roots showing.

“Curl it and we will pin half up, leave the rest down.”

I eye the curling iron, hesitant to even attempt to put this thing through my hair for fear that it will burn it off. She rolls her eyes at me and stands up, coming behind me and snatching the iron from the vanity.

It doesn’t take too long with the iron, since my hair is naturally wavy, but I have to admit it looks better than usual. I won’t give her that satisfaction though, so I keep my mouth shut and let her keep working.

After rummaging in another drawer for a few minutes, she starts pinning my hair up with bobby pins and sprinkles in some jeweled clips throughout.

My eyes widen at the difference and I catch her satisfied smirk behind me.

“It looks amazing!”

She shrugs. “It’s what I do best.”

I scoff. “How come you don’t do this as a full-time job then?”

“Need something that will take care of bills.”

Instead of continuing the conversation, she gathers her makeup together and glances at me while picking different things from the makeup case. Once she’s satisfied, she sits the case down and spins me around until I’m no longer looking in the mirror but facing her bed.

“Trust me?”

I smile sweetly at her. “Always, babe.”

Thirty minutes later and I barely recognize myself, in the best way possible of course. Millie grabs me a clutch while she slips a shoulder purse over her head before walking through her room and out to her apartment’s entrance. I follow closely behind her, shutting the front door behind me and letting her lock it up.

The moment we open the lobby doors, I want to screech at the blast of winter air that hits my body. Damn her and this outfit, even if it makes me look good. It doesn’t take us long to walk down the street and around the corner to the venue though, so the chill only lasts a few minutes before we are enveloped in heat.

Most of the employees are already here, even Brenda who glares at me from across the room. I lift my hand and wiggle my fingers at her in a wave, then blow her a kiss, and she snaps her attention back to the guy beside her. It’s not Alex, that’s for sure. At leastsomeoneknew when to hit it and quit it.

“Girl, you’re something else,” Millie says with a shake of her head beside me.

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