Katia
After Anya and I had cleared away most of the clothing, I threw on some black jeans and a white sweater. Devin was taking us to Enchanted Wild, one of LA’s newest and trendiest restaurants. I’d been there before when I’d gone to the soft opening with Anya and some of her friends, but I was excited for the chance to see Devin in public again. After all, despite the stares he’d garnered at the coffee shop, I couldn’t ignore the fact that everyone was as drawn to him as I was.
“Come on,” Anya grumbled. I sighed.
“It’s not good,” I said. I leaned back from the mirror and wiped off my lipstick for the third time in a row. I couldn’t explain it, but I didn’t feel nearly as confident as I normally did. Something about my makeup seemed off, and even though the black jeans I was wearing were my favorite pair, I wasn’t enjoying the way I looked in them as much as usual.
“Well, you look stunning,” Anya said. “That’s what you wanted to hear, isn’t it? That you look incredible.”
I sighed. “Not from you,” I said too softly for her to hear. Reaching into a cabinet on the top of my vanity, I pulled out a silver clip and pinned my hair to one side like I was some pop star from the eighties.
“Devin’s waiting,” Anya said. She tapped her toe on the bathroom floor. I wanted to snap at her and ask her why she cared so much, seeing as she obviously didn’t want me staying with him in the long term.
Or even the short term, I thought sadly as I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse and let them rest on the top of my head. She doesn’t believe that I truly love him. What kind of a person does she think I am? The sun was setting among an array of warm colors, but that didn’t do a thing for my black mood. I pouted all the way to the restaurant. Anya drove her grandmotherly Subaru, and Devin sat in the back, like she was his chauffeur. I kept sneaking peeks at him in the rearview mirror. He looked even more handsome that usual with his hair was sticking out in messy cowlicks all over his head, almost like a Dior model from twenty years ago. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt and black jeans. The outfit wasn’t tight, but it still clung to his muscled frame whenever he twisted in the seat. When he laughed, he threw his head back and I stared at his neck, suddenly wondering what would happen if I threw myself in the back seat and kissed the exposed skin.
“Hello,” Anya said. “Earth to Katia! Are you even listening?”
“Sorry.” I flashed a bright smile at Anya, then peeked into the backseat. Devin’s eyes were trained on me, and I blushed when I saw the intense look on his face. The sun was just beginning to slide behind the LA hills and the low light reflected into Anya’s car with startling precision.
“So, I asked, what do you think your schedule will be like next week? I’d like to get a photo-shoot done for that pageant you’ll be judging at the end of the year,” Anya continued. “We don’t have any recent bikini photos of you, so I’d like to get some. But since you’re twenty-seven now, they’ll have to be a little tasteful. Maybe something with a high waist and fuller coverage, kind of like what Taylor Swift would wear?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I hate her,” I said. “She looks like an asexual little twit. She never even shows her belly button. I bet she doesn’t have one.”
Devin burst out laughing. “It’s true,” he said.
I turned around in surprise. “What does a big tough biker like you know anything about Taylor Swift?”
“Troy dated some chick who loved her,” he said. “But she looks so fucking fake to me.”
“See?” I pointed into the backseat. “Anya, Devin has the right idea. I can’t dress like her; no one’s going to think that’s cute.”
Anya sighed. She put on her right blinker and turned into the parking lot of Enchanted Wild. I had to giggle; Anya was probably the only person in all of LA who still thought to use her blinker each time she needed to turn.
The restaurant was packed. Immediately, I wished that I’d worn something a bit dressier, but it didn’t stop men from staring at me as the maître d’ led us to our booth in the corner of the restaurant. Normally, I would have fussed over having such a shitty table, but something told me that our discussion this evening was better left private.
“Katia, you’re popular around here,” Devin said dryly. He reached for his water glass and drank greedily. “All of those men.” He glanced around. He was getting stares, too, but they were of a much different sort. I was surprised that he hadn’t been asked to put on a jacket while we had been standing in the lobby.
I shrugged. “I can’t help it,” I said delicately. “I’ve worked on building an image.”
Anya rolled her eyes. “Katia, even going through a crisis doesn’t change you,” she muttered.
“But you love me,” I said. I grinned at her, and a few seconds later, Anya smiled back.
“I do,” Anya replied. “God help me, but I do.”
“I’m fucking starving,” Devin complained just as a waiter dropped three heavy leather-bound menus on the table. “What’s good here?”
“I love the lamb tips, and the bouillabaisse is out of this world,” I gushed. “Oh, and the kale salad with peaches and sunflower seeds. It’s incredible, it’s like a taste of summer right in your mouth.”
Devin licked his lips. “I’d rather put something else in my mouth,” he said. He glanced at me, then quickly shifted his gaze down towards my lap. I blushed bright red as Anya lifted a finger in the air and scolded Devin like a schoolmarm.
“Just because I know about this does not mean I approve,” she said quickly. “Devin, the chicken parmesan is good, too. I can’t eat red meat so soon before bed though; it gives me the worst heartburn.”
Devin chuckled again. “I get that, too. It’s a real bitch.” Anya winced at the curse, but she didn’t say anything. When I looked up, she was staring at Devin so carefully that her eyes were patting down the seams of his clothing. I frowned. I wondered what her sudden interest in him was. Was she trying to make me jealous, somehow? Show me that he’d immediately fawn over any woman who paid attention to him?
“You people are old.” I wrinkled my nose. “I’ll have the lamb, probably, and a salad. I’m starving!”
“Between that omelet and my scone, I bet you’re famished,” Anya said dryly. I glared at her just as the waiter appeared.
Devin ordered a wine for the table. I was surprised, until the waiter had gone and he told me his trick: pick the second-most expensive wine. Devin’s rationale was that it was probably as good as the most expensive wine, only less popular because fewer people ordered it.
I burst out laughing. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” I said, shaking my head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Devin laughed. “I’m not,” he said. The wine arrived and he poured mine, making sure I had a giant glass.
“Trying to get me drunk?”
Devin snorted. “Not exactly,” he said. He winked at me, and I felt my heart skid to a stop in my chest. Just staring at him for more than a few seconds was enough to make me feel all fuzzy and warm inside. I shivered at the memory of his touch on my bare skin, of his scent mingled with mine.
“Kids, enough,” Anya snapped. She stood up from the table and jerked her head towards the bathrooms. “Katia, would you?”
I pretended to groan as I stood up and followed Anya away. Being with Devin and Anya together was surprisingly fun. I felt like Devin and I were the naughty children that Anya was babysitting. I didn’t exactly like making jokes at her expense, but she was always good at making it seem like I hadn’t actually said anything too offensive.
The bathroom of Enchanted Wild was plush, done all in shades of purple and violet that reminded me of Gemma’s contacts. Anya pushed the door open and then leaned against it so no one else could come in.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” she said quietly. “I really shouldn’t have spoken to you about Devin like that.” She sighed, and I put my hands on my hips, smirking triumphantly.
“So, you’re telling me that you were wrong?”
Anya nodded. “I like him,” she admitted. “And I can tell he cares about you.”
I frowned. “So, what now?”
“I don’t know,” Anya admitted. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea if you pursue him. After all, your image is built on you being single. And if you want to compete in some of the older pageants, you can’t be married. That’s serious, Katia. If you even lie about a serious relationship, they’ll find out and blacklist you forever.”
I pouted. “I wasn’t even thinking about competing anymore, to be honest,” I said slowly. “I think I’m pretty happy with my life now.”
Anya nodded. “And there’s always the Mrs. California pageants if you change your mind.”
“Oh my God,” I groaned. “No fucking way do I want to compete with those Mom Barbies. I’d lose, and they wouldn’t be able to believe I was still single at twenty-seven.”
“So?” Anya leaned closer to the mirror and picked a small acne scar on her chin. “You wanna go back out there?”
I nodded, suddenly nervous. The fact that Anya had basically given me permission to date Devin changed everything. I was going to have to come to terms with the way I felt about him, especially now that my stalker was going to be imprisoned soon.
“I’m ready,” I said, practicing my most charming smile in the bathroom mirror. “Let’s go.”