“What if he says yes…”

Mel nods, which makes her thick gold hoops sway back and forth. She seems to have an endless supply of huge-ass earrings. “Yeah, about that—you don’t want him to have an ugly-ass ring for the rest of your life, do you?”

“No, but none of these are quite right.” I glance over at her. Every scenario I can picture fades to black before I can even get the words out of my mouth. It’s like the black hole of horror. My mind stops there and can’t see beyond it. “Why do you think he’ll say yes?”

“Because he thinks with his dick and we’re gonna make it commandeer his brain.”

I smirk at her. “Seriously, Mel. I need to know why.”

She gives me a long hard look and exhales. “Because of the way he acted before he left. Something about it screamed overprotective, which could mean he’s an asshole that planned on ruling your life, or he actually loves you. Since, he let you keep working for Black and skipped town, I’m guessing it’s the latter. The boy may be scary as hell, but deep down he’s a coward. He wouldn’t have run off if he didn’t care about you. Besides, that whole theory lines up with what his brother told you. Sean Ferro has the hots for you.”

Her words are what I want to hear. No, they’re better than that. They give me hope and I can’t hide the stupid look that crosses my face. “So, what do I say?”

“You tackle him to the ground like a linebacker and shove the ring over his cock. Then you say, marry me. Easy peasy.” Mel sees something in the case and snaps her fingers over and over again until Tiffany bounces over. Mel and Tiff exchange deadly smiles. Mel points to a ring. “I’d like to see that one.”

Tiffany has one of those I’m-better-than-you-smiles on her face. “I’m sorry, but we only take jewelry out of the case for customers who intend to make a purchase.”

Oh shit. I glance at Mel, almost afraid to see how she took it. Mel’s face is perfectly smooth with the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. She’s at DEFCON 1 and ready to nuke the place. Just as Mel opens her mouth, I grab her arm and cut her off, “I’m hungry. Let’s go to Friendly’s and then keep shopping. And you—“ I glare at the idiot sales girl. “I just saved your life. Remember to kiss my ass the next time you see me.”

I pull Mel out of the store before she goes into a full rant. By the time she’s onto heavy nostril breathing and death ray vision, we’re seated at a little table. The truth is Friendly’s is one of my favorite places to eat because my parents took me here when I was a kid. It was the special place that I could choose to go to whenever something awesome happened. Basically, it’s a small diner that sells sundaes and milkshakes.

Mel’s nostrils flare and she slams her hands on the table. “I’m going back there. She can’t talk to me like that!”

“So, show her that she’s a dumbass on the way out.”

Mel smashes her lips together and grunts, “I will.”

“Good.” I open the menu even though I already know what I want. My eyes skim over the plastic pages, avoiding Mel’s freaky pissed off gaze.

“I mean it.” Her jaw is locked tight.

Laughing, I say, “I know.”

I order for both of us and eat in silence as Mel stews across from me. She dabs a fry in ketchup over and over again with a vacant look in her eye. It’s not a good look for her. It means she’s thinking, no, plotting, and nothing good ever comes from that.

After a little bit, Mel stuffs her face as fast as she can and then taps her fingers on the tabletop while she waits for me to finish my sundae. It has peanut butter sauce and fudge, which means that I’m not hurrying.

“Oh. My. God. Hurry up, Avery. You’re killing me.”

I lick the fudge off the back of my spoon without thinking. The nerves that have been twisting my stomach into knots are finally fading. I think I might be able to find Sean and ask him without puking on him. Screw wine, chocolate does wonders for the nerves. “Done.” I put my spoon down and Mel bounces out of her seat.

“I’ll pay my half to you after you find me. See you in a second, okay?”

“Mel, where are you going?”

She flashes a wicked smile my way. “Back to the jewelry store, where else?” Before I can tell her that an assault charge will interfere with her life, she’s gone.

I sit in the booth for a second and my phone chirps. I pull it out of my purse and thumb the screen to life. There’s a text message from a number that I don’t recognize. The area code isn’t from around here.

Hey…

I type back, Who’s this?

Someone who misses you.

My stomach swirls as I type in his name. Sean?

Yeah, baby. Do you miss me?

What I type doesn’t convey how much. Yes.

I miss you too… I grin like a dork for a few seconds until his next message appears. So, what are you earring? Pause. I blink at the screen trying to figure that one out when it chimes again. Ducking autocorrect.

That makes me laugh. Ikr? Damn dicks… And I press send before I see the typo. I swear, smart phones were made to make people look stupid. Ducks, ducks! I type quickly and hit send.

Lol. Sure. There’s a pause and then he sends, I need to see you again.

My heart rate picks up and thumps along at a million miles per hour as it soars through the sky. He wants to see me! I try to play it cool and decide to refrain from writing back YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSS!!!!! like an orgasmic hornball. I’m beaming. It’s a sure thing now. If Sean can’t leave me behind, he must want to be with me. My decision to ask him to marry me seems like a better plan now. I can’t wait to see him, and I don’t want to wait. I’m getting a ring and finding him tonight.

I type back, I’d like that.

Then I’ll see you soon. I need to take care of a few things and then I’ll be in touch.

Acid couldn’t wipe the smile off my face after reading that.

When I finish at the restaurant, I pay the tab and then wander through the mall with a goofy look on my face, resisting the urge to skip and tap my heels together. Oh hell, I do it anyway. I skip twice, which is really more of a gallop, before I jump. When I go to tap my heels together, I miss. It’s the most uncoordinated thing I’ve ever done. I come down with my ankle at a strange angle and fall on my ass.

A couple of guys clap loudly and chide, “Nice, honey! Way to stick the landing!” They laugh and walk by me like I’m too stupid to be alive, but I so don’t care.

I jump up and brush off my butt with a huge blush across my face, giggling. The other guy winks at me, like I’m really cute. Who knew my super sucky coordination skills were attractive? I duck my head and scurry away before I manage to trip on my feet.

When I catch up to Mel in the jewelry store, Tiffany is glowering in the corner with her arms folded over her plastic boobs. I bounce up next to Mel. “What are you doing?”

She beams at me. “I figured I needed some stuff while we were here—ya know, some gold hoops, a 3 carat diamond pendant to match. Nothing much. My friend Roger here is ringing me up and I’m going to pay in cash.” Her voice is so loud. If pride had a face, it would be Mel’s. She beams at me as she lays out over $10,000 in cash, slapping it down on the counter, bill by bill, grinning.

Tiffany rolls her eyes. I wave her over and she looks hopeful. “Hey,” I ask, “you got a second?” She nods, hoping that I’m going to spend as much as Mel. Like I’d spend it with her after that? Seriously, someone sniffed too many markers. We both glance at Mel. After a moment, I say, “It’s too bad you went super bitch on her ass, before. On the bright side, you just pushed your friend’s sales quota over the top for the month.”

I beam at her and walk over to Mel, who’s wearing her new jewelry. “Damn, that’s a big diamond.” It’s a princess cut and looks stunning against her dark skin. The chain is white gold and matches the crusted diamond earrings she bought to match it.

Mel flashes her bright smile my way, actually giddy. “I know. I said to myself that I needed to buy myself a present. I work hard and I deserve nice shit, so I came back in here and Roger—this wonderful man—helped me pick out the biggest diamond pendant they had. Now it’s mine!” She squeals and claps her hands together like she’s too excited to breathe. Then, she looks over at Tiffany and waves. “Have a nice day, Bitchy Barbie.”

CHAPTER 4

On the way home that afternoon, I get a call from Black. When I answer the phone, her voice is terse and the epitome of unfriendly. “Where are you?”

“I’m with Mel, why? Is something wrong?” What could go wrong at an illegal brothel? For a second I think the cops are raiding her office, but it’s too quiet.

Black’s teeth click together when she speaks. “You have a client this evening, Avery. You need to stop in here before you go. It’s late, so I reiterate—where are you?”

I’d planned on driving to Jersey tonight to find Sean. Mel glances at me out of the corner of her eye while driving Southern State like a race car driver. She cuts off a pickup truck who blares his horn at us. We’re going to get caught in rush hour if we don’t get back to the dorm soon. I need to pack a bag before I go.

“I didn’t sign up to work tonight. Mel and I are off.”

“You and Mel are both working. There are clients, Avery and—”

Pulling the phone away from my mouth, I whisper to Mel, “Are you working tonight?” She shakes her head. “Turns out we are. Can she do that?” Mel wiggles her fingers, meaning for me to give her the phone. “You can’t drive and talk—” Mel snatches the phone from me. “Okay, so maybe you can…”

Mel’s voice is as hard as Black’s. “Hey, Miss Black. I was out with my home-fry, Avery. What up?” Mel mouths, “I’ll handle this. No reason to go whiter than you already are. We need to get you some color, girl.” Mel jerks the car and changes lanes, leaving my stomach behind us. I hate driving with her in traffic. She bobs and weaves, yanking the steering wheel, changing lanes abruptly, and flying like the car should have wings.