The Allure of Julian Lefray (The Allure #1)(78)

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god!”

I turned toward the squealing voice just in time to catch my best friend as she hurled her full body weight at me. Lily wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my hips, nearly toppling me over. I stepped back and caught my balance, but she still clung to me with her full strength.

“You’re like a flying squirrel,” I laughed.

She loosened her grip around my neck and stepped back, flailing her arms.

“I cannot believe you’re here right now,” she said, beaming from ear to ear.

Getting a good look at her made me want to cry. I’d missed her so much over the last few months—especially in the last few days—and now there she was, standing in front of me in her full glory. Lily had clearly been out in the Texas sun. A smattering of freckles ran along the bridge of her nose and across her tan cheeks. Her blonde hair was streaked with honey highlights. Whereas I was tall and on the slender side (hence why Marc Jacobs had pulled me up onto the runway), Lily had been the adorable one growing up. I’d always envied her heart-shaped face and bee-stung lips. Our small town boys were never sure what to do with my height, but Lily was always the center of every adolescent boy’s heart.

“Do you understand how happy I am to see you?” she asked. “This town is slowly crushing my soul.”

I laughed and passed her my backpack so I could grab my suitcase from the top of the pile near the bus.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,” I contested, though I knew she wasn’t really exaggerating.

She shot me a pointed stare.

I laughed and trailed after her toward the parking lot. Her beat up red car sat in the very last row, backed into the spot just in case it didn’t start and needed to be jumped. Our high school and college years had been marked by continuous failings on the part of her old car. Even still, I was happy to see it. I tossed my luggage in the back and slid into the passenger seat. It still smelled like the Ocean Breeze air freshener she hung from the rearview mirror and the pealing upholstery clung to my skin as soon as I took my seat.

“That was the longest bus ride of my life,” I said as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the gravel drive.

“Well at least you’ll have me beside you on the way back.”

I smiled.

“We’ll have to find someone to drop us off though. I’m selling this bad boy tomorrow afternoon.”

I glanced back. “What? Really?”

She slid her hands across the steering wheel and nodded. “Yup. I’m only getting a few hundred bucks for it, but it’s better than nothing.”

I frowned and glanced around the car. The dashboard was cracked and peeling off near the corners. The numbers on the radio had chipped off years ago and the CD player had never worked. The cloth covering on the ceiling had lost hold a while back and it dipped low in some parts. Even still, I’d kissed my first boy in the back of this car. Lily and I had tee-peed quite a few houses in high school using this bucket of bolts as the getaway vehicle.

“I’m kind of sad to see ol’ hoopty go,” I admitted.

She grunted. “That makes one of us. I can’t wait to get rid of it.”

“Well thanks for picking me up. I was scared you weren’t going to show up since I couldn’t call and remind you.”

She turned off the main highway and pulled onto a dirt road, toward our small town. We still had miles to go before we’d be home.

“Yeah, I tried to call you this morning, but I figured you didn’t have signal.”

I nodded.

“I’m assuming you have to eat dinner with your family tonight?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Today is my dad’s birthday so I can’t miss it. I’m going to help my mom with the cake and stuff.”

Her eyes lit up. “I just put together a bunch of good cake recipes for my blog. You should test one of them out.”

I smiled. Typical Lily. “I’m pretty sure my mom is just going to make a box cake. We aren’t fancy like you.”

She cringed. “Why do people have so little creativity in the kitchen?”

I reached out and gripped her shoulder. “Have no fear, Lil. Soon you’ll be in New York City and there will be crazy restaurants galore. You’ll have so many restaurants to review for your blog, you won’t know where to start.”

She smiled. “If only I could afford to eat at one of them.”

I let my hand drop to the car console and stared out the front window. We were two broke bitches, but that wouldn’t always be the case. Lily was so talented and she knew food. She’d gone to culinary school instead of a standard college. She didn’t want to be a chef. She wanted to be a restaurant reviewer for the masses, a trustworthy version of Yelp with easy to read reviews posted weekly with photos and interesting tips.

“We’ll figure it out,” I promised, offering her a smile.

By the time she pulled into my driveway to drop me off, I was wholeheartedly confused on what I was supposed to do about the Vogue position. A part of me didn’t want to tell Lily about it until it was a sure thing. I’d already be upset enough if I didn’t get it, maybe it was best if I didn’t have to spread the bad news around.

“Call me tomorrow and we’ll go over plans for New York,” she said as I leaned down to close the passenger side door.