Melina

I was at the dress fitting from hell!

It’s not like I hadn’t already realized how much I hated the bridesmaids’ dresses Allie had picked for us to wear. My hatred of those dresses was one of the biggest reasons I was having my final fitting so close to the wedding. The witch at the dress shop was clearly annoyed with me over the last minute fitting, and she’d made a point of stabbing me with several pins.

“If you stab me one more time, I’m going to kick your ass,” I threatened in a sweet voice with a smile pasted on my face.

The blonde Barbie of a witch hadn’t been expecting me to threaten her, and she jerked back, yanking out the pin she’d been about to stick me with. Admittedly, I had no proof she was going to stick me with the pin, but judging by the last five minutes, it was a safe bet.

“Mel!” Allie called out from the entrance to the fitting area. “Stop threatening the poor woman. She’s just frazzled about getting your dress ready on time for the wedding.”

“Dress?” I asked, looking down at the skin tight, strapless, ice-blue fabric that barely covered my ass. “This is a belt, Allie.”

“It looks fantastic on you,” Barbie piped in with complete sincerity.

I snorted my disbelief. “Now I know why you keep stabbing me with pins. You obviously don’t see very well.”

Barbie wrinkled her nose at my comment, and I almost regretted being rude to her when she was trying to be nice. That is, I might have regretted it if she hadn’t stuck me with so many pins already.

“She’s right, Mel,” Allie told me. “I picked those dresses with you in mind. You’re the only one of my bridesmaids with the curves to pull it off.”

Allie’s other bridesmaids were her sisters, who were all tall and slender. They also glided along in the heels we'd be wearing at the wedding. The fact that Allie had somehow been talked into making her sisters bridesmaids was the only reason I’d agreed to be in her wedding. I’d avoided being a bridesmaid for the first thirty years of my life. Even my own sisters hadn’t talked me into it, but I knew how awkward things were between Allie and her sisters.

Allie’s dad is a man-whore warlock, and Allie’s mom was one of many women he’d slept with before his wife got tired of him and ended their marriage. Allie was the only off-spring from those affairs, and she hadn’t spent much time around her sisters growing up. I had no idea how Allie’s dad had talked her into asking her sisters to be in the wedding, but she’d called me, freaking out, right after they’d agreed.

“This is the thanks I get for doing something nice for my cousin,” I grumbled. “Everyone is going to see my big ass pop out of this dress.”

Barbie giggled, and I was beginning to hate her less since she seemed to get my sense of humor. “Sorry,” Barbie said, fighting back her laughter. “I still say it looks great on you, and I promise your backside won’t pop out.”

“Seriously, Mel, you look fantastic in that dress,” Allie insisted. “Trevor is going to trip over his own feet when he walks you up the aisle.”

“Trevor?” I gasped. “You didn’t say anything about Trevor.”

“He is Dylan’s best friend,” Allie reminded me, which made me feel like an idiot for reacting the way I had.

I knew Trevor would be at the wedding, yet I’d still been hoping to avoid any contact with him—literally avoid contact. Touching Trevor was very bad, and not just because his touch got me so wet I was worried I’d embarrass myself. I had good reasons for only dating demons, all involving my demon powers. With Trevor, I sometimes forgot all the good reasons I had for not dating warlocks.

“Earth to Melina,” Allie called out to me, and I could tell she was laughing at me, so I glared back at her. “Stop giving me the death stare. I promise Trevor is only being paired with you for the ceremony. We even avoided having a special table for the wedding party to keep you away from him at the reception. I also scheduled the rehearsal dinner for a time you can’t make.”

“You did?” I was shocked that she’d do something like that.

“Yeah, Trevor’s been asking about you, so I figured it was best to keep you apart as much as possible.”

My stupid heart was beating faster after hearing Trevor had been asking about me. I hated that I was excited about him wanting to see me. That’s one of the reasons I’d made such an effort to avoid him in the last few months. Staying away from him was hard, even though I knew it was the smart thing to do.

“Good,” I said. “The last thing I need is that annoying man-whore warlock trying to flirt with me.”

“You know, Mel, Trevor’s not a bad guy,” Allie began.

“No offense, Allie, but I’m not sure you’re the best one to make that call,” I pointed out. “As I recall, you recently had a friend try to kill you.”

“He wasn’t planning to kill me,” Allie argued before laughing. “Okay, I’m not the best judge of character in most cases, but Trevor’s a nice guy.”

I wanted to argue, mostly because I’m bitchy and arguing works for me, but I agreed with Allie. Trevor was a nice guy. “You’re right. I know he’s not a complete man-whore. That would actually work out better for me. Trevor is looking for his forever witch, and we both know I don’t have that in me.”

Allie shrugged without looking at me. There was definitely something the annoying succubus wasn’t telling me.