Kara rushed into the ladies room with a bundle of white cloth in her hand. “Lupe told me about your plan so I grabbed this out of one of the guys’ packs. I’m sure it’s too big, but it was just the quickest thing I could find and…wow.”

Tetra smiled at Kara’s reaction. She’d washed off all her face makeup while Lupe had fetched her bag from her locker. She had allowed Lupe to work her magic with the cosmetics, but only after she’d promised her new friend that she’d teach her how to recreate the liquid lines and smudged shadows that Tetra had perfected as a shining dark beauty queen.

Lupe was now in the process of braiding Tetra’s hair into a crown, artfully hiding the blue streaks beneath the golden brown locks.

Kara laid the shirt on the counter. “If you had walked up to me in the parking lot looking like this, I never would have recognized you.”

“That’s the point. I’m undercover.” She made a gun with her fingers and blew imaginary smoke off the barrel with lips now covered in pale pink gloss.

“Double-O Tetra,” said Kara.

“Is that a nickname or something?” asked Lupe.

“It’s my screen name on the 10mm Conspiracy fan forum. Plain-old ‘Tetra’ didn’t have enough letters, so I put two zeroes in front of the name.”

“The minute Xander hopped online and saw that, he started referring to her as ‘Double-O Tetra,’” said Kara. “He’s a crazy James Bond nut.”

“Confession: I have never seen a single James Bond movie,” said Lupe. “But for that man, I would binge watch. Holy mother of god, is he handsome. Does he have a girlfriend?”

“He does, actually,” said Kara. “But our publicist advised us to keep that on the DL. Apparently, keeping up the illusion of a single Xander is quite the sales boost.”

“I get that,” Tetra sighed.

“Girlfriend,” Lupe pointed out. “Not wife.”

“Now, now, don’t wind her up more than she already is,” said Kara.

Blushing now, Tetra brought the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Is there reserved seating? Do I need to find a chair, or stand politely in the back or something?”

“This reception is meant to be a casual affair,” said Lupe. “It’s being served buffet-style. There are no assigned seats—just pick a table and you’ll blend right in. Or don’t. The guests will be encouraged to drink, dance, turn their dinner into a picnic on the beach, or jump in the ocean with all their fancy clothes on.”

“Seriously?” asked Tetra.

Lupe nodded. “We’ve been instructed to cater to the whims of our guests this evening. They can do pretty much whatever they want.” Lupe lowered her voice to a whisper. “I can tell you some stories later about exactly what types of shenanigans have fallen into the ‘whatever they want’ category.”

“It’s a date,” said Tetra.

“No fair!” said Kara. “I want to hear stories about shenanigans! Too bad I have to go play stupid keyboard in this stupid band.”

“Hey! No badmouthing my favorite band,” said Tetra.

“Second confession,” Lupe said as she pulled another strand of Tetra’s hair up to add to the braid, “I have never heard of your band before. I’m sorry!”

Kara waved the comment off with a hand. “Don’t be. Like Liam always says: loving the music is not a condition of our friendship.” She put a hand on Tetra’s shoulder. “Granted, it does help.”

“My house has always been full of music, but usually salsa or banda. Probably why most of what I like is something you can dance to. Pop, hip-hop…current stuff, you know? It’s a weakness.” Tetra would have commented that love for music was never a weakness, but Lupe’s fingers in her hair felt so relaxing and Lupe seemed to be on a roll, so Tetra just let her talk. “Really, I like all kinds of music. No wait…except reggae. I can stand reggae for about five minutes. After that, every song sounds the same to me and I get bored.”

“I completely understand,” said Kara. Whether she meant about the music or reggae or Lupe’s capacity for boredom, Tetra wasn’t sure. Not that it mattered.

Lupe placed the last pin into Tetra’s braid and stared into the mirror, scrutinizing her handiwork. She snapped her fingers before removing the hibiscus flower from her own dark hair and placing it in Tetra’s. “Finished,” she said. “Now, what treasure has Kara stolen for us?”

“A white linen shirt,” said Kara. “It was the only thing I came across that looked like it would breathe.” She held it up by the shoulders and squinted at it. “Though for the life of me, I can’t remember whose pack this came from. If it’s Xander’s or Liam’s, they haven’t worn it yet on this tour.”

“Doesn’t matter,” said Lupe. “We’ll just pretend it’s Xander’s. No, no,” she said as Tetra began to pull the linen shirt over her tank top. “Off with that tank.”

“But I’m wearing a black bra,” said Tetra.

“Pretend it’s a bathing suit,” said Lupe. “Trust me. As hot as it is out there, you want as few layers as possible.”

Tetra slipped into one of the stalls to do as Lupe instructed. It took a few extra seconds of wriggling—the black tank was already so damp it kept sticking to her. She was a little worried about the longer sleeves and extra material of the oversized linen shirt, but it felt amazing against her skin.

“Much better,” Lupe said as Tetra stepped out of the stall.

“You don’t think it’s too big?” Tetra asked. It had a deep V-neck, almost scandalously so, but if Tetra took Lupe’s advice and imagined her strapless bra was just the top of a bathing suit, it seemed perfectly normal. The bottom of the shirt hung almost to the hem of Tetra’s short black skirt.

“It’s actually kind of perfect,” said Kara.

“What should I do about shoes?” asked Tetra. Flowing shirt and fancy hair were one thing—giant pleather stompers were another.

“Ditch them,” said Lupe. “Half the guests won’t be wearing their shoes after five seconds, I guarantee it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me. There’s a reason it’s called Barefoot Bay.”

“Well, shoot. Then I’m ditching mine too.” Kara bent over and began to untying the ribbons of her wedge sandals. “When in Rome, right?”

“Exactly.” Tetra unzipped her boots and peeled off her socks. The air on her toes felt amazing; she was almost instantly cooler.

“Fantastic,” Lupe said as she shoved the extraneous clothes and shoes into her oversized bag. “Then let’s go, ladies. It’s showtime!”

Kara, now significantly shorter without her shoes, put her arm around the serving girl. “Lupe, my dear,” she said. “I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”