Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(26)

“Try it on,” she insisted, pushing it toward me and      shaking her head, dismissing my protests.

“With a decent bra,” Emerson inserted.

I looked at her blankly.

“Something with underwire that gives you a little      push.” She motioned to her own perky B cups.

I shook my head. “What I’m wearing is fine—”

“Here.” Georgia opened a drawer, pulling out a pink      bra. Slamming the drawer shut, she waved it at me. “We’re both a C.”

Sighing, I turned my back and pulled my top over my      head. Unfastening my bra, I slipped on the pink one, hooking it behind me and      marveling at the silk against my skin.

Facing forward, I stared at my reflection in the      mirror hanging on the closet door. The bra did wondrous things to what I had      always considered fairly unremarkable breasts. Not that I had ever considered      them much at all.

“Oh, my.” Emerson assessed me with wide eyes,      nodding in approval. I resisted the urge to cover myself with both hands. “Good      thing I’m not lacking in self-confidence ’cause those cupcakes are enough to      give me a complex.”

I laughed weakly. “As if.”

“Now try it on with the sweater,” Georgia      encouraged.

I slipped the incredibly soft cashmere over my head      and smoothed it down my torso. It fit like a glove.

“Yes!” Emerson clapped her hands once. “He won’t      resist you in that. And you can borrow my black boots. At least we’re the same      shoe size.”

“Those knee-high leather ones?”

“Yes.” She nodded sagely, the light catching in her      fresh magenta highlights. “Also known as f*ck-me boots.”

I smiled wryly. “Well. There won’t be any of that      going on.”

“Probably not.” Emerson smirked. “Especially when      you can’t even say it.”

“I can say it,” I protested, staring at Em’s smug      expression. Georgia looked hard-pressed not to laugh.

Still, the word stuck in my throat. In reality, I      couldn’t say it. It was just too, too . . . bad.

Emerson burst out laughing. “Maybe after this      bartender is through with you, you’ll be able to say it.”

“Maybe,” I allowed. “But I won’t be doing it. At least not with him.”

“Hmm.” Emerson turned and started digging for shoes      in her narrow closet space. “Are you sure? Nothing wrong with your first time      being with someone who knows what he’s doing.”

“No. I want my first time to be with Hunter.”

“Of course you do.” Georgia nodded. “It should be      with someone you love.”

“Says the girl who’s only ever been with the one      boyfriend.”

“So? What’s wrong with that?” Georgia squared her      shoulders. “He’s the only guy I’ve ever loved.”

“Well. How do you know you’re not missing out on      something better?”

A funny look came over Georgia’s face. I had never      really seen her angry before, but I thought this was close to it. Splotches of      color broke out across her clear complexion. “There is more to a relationship      than just sex.”

“Yes, but a relationship sure is better when the      sex is good.”

Georgia angled her head. “And just how would you      know? How many relationships have you been in?”

Seeing this going nowhere but ugly, I intervened.      “So, Georgia, can you come out with us tonight?”

She dragged her gaze off Emerson. “No. Harris’s      father is in town on business and we’re supposed to have dinner with him.”

Emerson faked an exaggerated yawn, and Georgia      tossed a pillow at her.

“Maybe you guys could meet us out afterward?” I      suggested.

“Mulvaney’s isn’t really Harris’s scene      . . . ”

At this, Em made a snorting sound. Georgia shot her      a glare. Emerson shrugged and turned her attention back to the contents of      Georgia’s closet.

Georgia continued. “But we’ll try to make it.”

“That’d be great,” I said lamely, hating these rare      moments of tension between them. As different as the three of us were, we had      always made it work. Ever since we’d met each other at freshman orientation,      laughing, not too discreetly, when we were assigned to an upperclassman who      insisted on starting our campus tour with a song she wrote.