Scoring Wilder(21)

“How can I help you two?” she asked with a sugary voice as we crossed the room.

“Oh hi. I have a gift certificate that I’d like to use to get an hour massage and a waxing session, please.”

“What type of wax would you prefer: a Standard Bikini, Brazilian, or a French Wax?”

I coughed and swung my head over my shoulder to check if the waiting room was still empty. It felt like I was screaming about getting my anus bleached or something.

“She wants a Brazilian wax,” Becca filled in for me with a conspiratorial smile.

"So an hour massage and one waxing session," the zenned-out woman repeated from behind the counter. Her face was stoic and completely pore free. I bet she got a facial twice a day, every day. "Would you like to do the waxing session first?"

"Oh, good idea.” I wouldn't be able to enjoy the massage otherwise.

"Same for me," Becca smiled, and the woman worked us into the system.

Since we didn’t have appointments, we were told to change into robes and slippers, and then “calm our chakras” in the relaxation room until they were ready for us. I didn’t know if my chakra needed calming, but before we headed toward the room, I paused.

"Becca, go on ahead, I'll be right there,” I said, holding up my phone as if I had to make a call. She nodded and went on without me. I felt a tinge of guilt about lying to her, but I had one last thing to do before heading to change.

I turned back toward the receptionist with a warm smile.

"Could I ask you for a favor?" I asked gently.

She glanced up from her computer and mimicked my smile. "Of course."

"I was given this gift certificate a while ago and I can't remember who gave it to me. I'd like to send them a thank you card... Could you help me find out the name?"

I’d thought about what the best approach would be while we were heading over, and I didn't think that question set off any red flags.

"Oh certainly, I can give you the last name on the card that was used to purchase the certificate. Would that help?" she asked with her same calm smile.

"That'd be great," I answered, handing it over to her. She typed away on her computer for a minute before smiling.

"All right, it looks like a Mr. Wilder purchased the certificate, but that was only a few days ago. Were you mistaken about when you received it?"

Her voice drifted out after the name “Wilder” passed her lips.

I couldn't even process the second half of her sentence.

Holy.

Mr. Wilder.

Liam-freaking-drop-my-panties-Wilder had taken the time to give me a belated birthday present.

My breathing sounded awkward when I finally muttered a response. "Oh, ha-ha, I guess I was confused about another gift certificate. Thanks."

I didn't even wait for her to say anything else before darting toward the changing room. I fumbled through the process of changing into a robe and slipping on the spa's sandals. My brain felt frozen in shock; like that bit of information had thrown a cog into my whole system.

When I caught up to Becca, she'd already changed into her robe and was lying with cucumbers on her eyes in the relaxation room.

"Is that you Kinsley?" she asked when the door closed behind me.

"Yep," I murmured, all of a sudden scared that she'd ask me about the gift certificate. I didn't want to tell her it was from Liam because I wasn’t sure what his motives were yet.

"These cucumbers burn. Isn't that weird? It's like they're so cold that they're freezing my eyes off."

Leave it up to Becca to make me crack up in the "relaxation room" of a spa.

"Take them off then, dufus."

She smiled but didn't move to sit up. "No. I want my money's worth."

I reclined next to her just as a spa attendant came in and offered us warm towels and jasmine-infused water. To our credit, we acted as civilized as possible until the attendant left the room. The second she was gone, I leaned over and ate one of Becca's cucumbers.

"Ew! That's sick. That had my eye cooties on it."

"Tasted minty," I joked and waggled my eyebrows.

“Hey – have you thought at all about what you’re going to major in?” she asked.

I groaned. She’d just asked the dreaded question. “Oh god, do we have to talk about this at the spa? I have no clue. I just want to play soccer.”

“Yeah, same.”

“We register for classes in a few weeks, right?”

“Yup,” she nodded, taking a sip of her water. “We have like three months left to enjoy sweet freedom.”

“You mean three months to go to as many parties as possible.”

“Exactly. We won’t have time once the semester starts.”

Just then, the door clicked open and a pretty, petite woman stepped in quietly. "Ms. Bryant, if you're ready, I'll be taking you to your waxing room."

What?! I’d had no time to relax my chakra. If anything, my chakra felt even more panicked. What kind of spa was this?

"Can she come with me?!" I begged, pointing to Becca.

Becca groaned. “I don’t need a full-frontal view of your no-no zone.”

"Not like on that side of the table,” I clarified, “I just I don't want to go in by myself."