by RC Boldt
“Yeah, if my date turns out to be lame, I’m totally going home with you,” Tate wiggled her eyebrows at Raine.
“I’m going to have to decline that lovely offer, as much as it pains me,” Raine said with a laugh.
“I know who will have a tough time declining an offer from you in that dress,” Laney said in a sing-song voice.
Raine looked at them confused. “Who?”
Tate shot her hand in the air excitedly. “Oooh! Pick me! Pick me! I know this one.” Her hand returning to her side, she stood primly. “The correct answer is: Mac.”
Laney stared at Tate a moment before turning back to Raine. “You can take the teacher out of the school but you can’t take the school out of the teacher.”
Tossing her thumb in Tate’s direction, Laney said, “But what little Miss Crazy, here, is saying is true.”
Raine gave her a tired look. “Laney.”
“Raine,” her friend parroted back.
She unzipped the side of her dress carefully and began to remove the dress. Tate helped her step out of it and replace it on the hanger. Raine put her sports bra and tank top on before pulling on her shorts.
Laney looked at her curiously. “So . . . you and Mac are still just friends, huh?”
Raine took the three dresses on hangers and replaced them in her closet, knowing it was pointless to try on the two others judging from their reactions to the black one.
“Yep. He’s awesome.” She was also hoping that her succinct reply would stop them from having this conversation for what had to be the six hundredth time. Her friends were both abnormally quiet and she turned back to find them staring at her. “What?”
“Nothing,” Laney dragged out the word. “I’m just curious how that works. I mean, you’re both super cute, you know?”
“Laney.” Raine gave her a look that said ‘Don’t go there.’
Holding up her hand in protest, her friend continued. “I’m just saying that it kind of seems like a waste when you both clearly get along so well.”
Laney shrugged and looked toward Tate for affirmation. Tate nodded. “This is a fact.”
“It’s not like that. Plus, you know he doesn’t ‘do relationships,’” Raine used air quotes for emphasis.
“Maybe that was before.”
“Before what, Laney?” Raine threw her hands up in the air, clearly aggravated.
Laney and Tate just looked at her, their sympathetic gazes on her. “Before you,” Laney spoke softly.
She opened her mouth to respond but found herself unsure of how to answer. She plopped down on the bed with a sigh, sitting quietly for a moment before finally speaking.
“I can’t think like that. He’s one of my best friends. I don’t want to lose that.” Her voice was faint as she turned to look at her friends, a tormented expression on her face. “I can’t lose that.”
Laney and Tate sat on each side of her, putting their arms around her. The three of them sat there, saying nothing and Raine simply took comfort of her friends’ presence.
AFTER LANEY AND Tate left, Raine attempted to shake off the melancholy mood. She set off for her kitchen to get started on the dishes she offered to bring that night. After placing her phone on the docking station, she chose one of her music playlists, pressing the button to fill the silence with some of her favorite songs. Soon she was singing along as she set out ingredients on her cutting board.
A moment later, she was startled by a loud knock at the back porch door. She had the blinds closed but could see a familiar, tall silhouette of a man. Curiously, she opened it.
“Mac? Everything okay?” She was surprised to see him, expecting him to be busy preparing his house for the festivities later that night.
Mac tilted his head to the side, looking serious. “I was wondering if you could help me out. I was looking for the cutest girl in Fernandina.” He looked at her expectantly with a grin, flashing that dimple at her. “Know where I can find her?”
“Ah, the man has jokes.” She tossed him a wry smile before moving to let him to slip inside before closing the door.
“I really just came over to see if you needed any help since you’re the only one who’s bringing two dishes tonight.” He held up his hands. “These hands were once world class apple peelers, you know,” he told her in mock seriousness.
“Really? I had no idea your hands were that talented,” she said dryly.
He raised his eyebrows suggestively. “You have no idea just how talented they are.”
She groaned, shaking her head at him as she headed back to the kitchen counter. “I totally walked into that one,” she muttered.
Mac washed his hands in the sink while Raine set four large apples on the counter with a paring knife for him. Returning to her cutting board, she continued dicing vegetables for the salsa.
“Do you have everything ready for tonight?” she asked him as she chopped and diced.
“Yep, pretty much. Just have to set up the tables outside but that’s not a huge deal,” he told her as he peeled the apples for the pie. “You ladies figure out what you’re wearing and all that girly stuff?”
Raine sighed. “Yeah.”
Mac paused his peeling to look over at her. “I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
Not looking up, she concentrated on continuing to dice the tomatoes she was now working on.
“Well, my dress is a little bit out of my,” she paused, wrinkling her nose,” comfort zone, that’s all.”
“Is it completely see-through? Or is it like that green J. Lo dress?” He looked at her with wide eyes, humor showing in them. “Because, if so, that’s hot.”
Raine laughed. “No, it’s not either of those things.”
Mac sighed dramatically. “That’s disappointing.” He looked back down as he resumed apple peeling.
“And what are you planning on wearing tonight, mister?” she asked.
“Well, it’s a toss-up between the one gray button down shirt or the blue one. It’s tough work dressing this work of art,” he joked, gesturing to his torso.
“Wear the blue one. It brings out your amazing eyes,” she offered, without thinking. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she froze in mid chop. She looked over to see his smile falter.
Idiot, idiot, idiot.
Just like that, Mac recovered and his smile was back in place. “Why, Raine, I do think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said,” he replied in an exaggerated southern drawl.
“Whatever, dude,” she muttered, smiling down as she continued prepping her salsa ingredients.
What she missed was the tender, contemplative way he looked at her for a moment before going back to peeling. They worked side by side, in companionable silence as they listened to the music playing in the background.
IT MADE HIM feel like a grade A, wimpy assed guy to get warm fucking fuzzies from Raine’s comment about his eyes. Yet, he did. He tried to dismiss it as his best friend just being complimentary. The same way he would tell her she was the cutest girl in Fernandina. Sure, it may come off like a joke but he meant it.
More like the most beautiful girl in Fernandina, an inner voice argued.
“So, are you bringing anyone along tonight?” he asked casually. Or what he hoped was casually. He kept his head down, concentrating now on slicing the apples into smaller chunks, as if to give credence to the nonchalant tone to his question. Mac felt her turn her gaze on him.
“No,” she answered slowly, as if unsure. “Is that . . . okay? I mean, I just really don’t have anyone in particular I’d want to invite, at this point,” she shrugged and returned her attention to prep work.
“Totally fine, Raine. Just wondered.”
God, could he make this conversation any more awkward?
“Hey, there’s a bowl game today. Should be coming on pretty soon.” Mac changed to a much safer topic. “We should be able to whip this stuff up pretty quick and catch it if you want.”
“Sure. The hard part is done so once
I mix up the salsa and put the pie in the oven, we’ll be all set.” She had added the corn to the remaining ingredients and began to season the salsa.
“So, do you think you’d be willing to share some of your cheese puffs with me?” He batted his eyes at her.
“That’s really frightening. Please stop,” she laughed. “And I figured you’d mooch off me at some point so I bought extra at the store the other day.” She winked.
“You are a good woman, Raine Thompson,” he stated.
“Yeah, yeah,” she mumbled, covering the large bowl of corn salsa and placing it in the refrigerator before turning back to make her pie.
Mac wanted to correct her dismissal because she was a good woman. No, scratch that. He wanted to correct his own statement.
He wanted to tell her that she was more than a good woman. She was the best woman.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t the best man for her.
RIIIINNNNGGGG!
RIIIINNNNGGGG!
Raine rolled out of bed and promptly fell to the floor, her legs tangled in one of her throw blankets. Shaking off her sleepy stupor, she realized she was on the floor of her living room and vaguely recalled falling asleep on the couch while she and Mac had been watching the game.
RIIIINNNNGGGG!
“Damn it! I’m coming!” she yelled at the alarm on her phone. Speaking of which, why was her alarm ringing at -she looked over at the time on the stove- ten-thirty?
Shit! It was ten-thirty?!
Raine quickly found her phone sitting on the kitchen counter and shut off her alarm. Finding that the ringer itself was on silent, she noticed there were a handful of text messages waiting for her. She groaned out loud as she read them.
Laney: Please tell me you’re not chickening out tonight!!!!! Put that dress on, you hooker, and get your ass over here!!!
Laney: Sorry. Mac just said you were passed out. But, seriously, you’d better show up wearing that dress. Otherwise, your hymen will be fully regenerated.
Tate: Ignore Laney. But hurry over here. And your hymen will NOT regenerate.
Mac: I turned your ringer off and set your alarm because I could tell you were dead tired. I put the pie on the counter with foil over it and took the salsa with me so you wouldn’t have to carry all of it at once. Now, get your ass dressed and over here already, woman.
Mac: And your hymen regenerating? Is that even a thing? Sounds painful.
Lawson: Yo! Get yo fine self and yo regenerated hymen over here!
Lawson: Btw, that hymen stuff is GROSS.
Laughing to herself, Raine sent a quick text to all of them that she was getting ready and would be there shortly.
After she had showered and dried off, she decided to slip on the panties from a set she had gotten at an Agent Provocateur sale. The black and silver lace thong was just too pretty to pass up on an occasion such as this.
Raine combed her hair free of tangles and put it up in a large clip so she could begin on her makeup. She decided to go with smoky eyes and used her darker gray shadow with flecks of glitter in it. It was New Year’s Eve after all. If you couldn’t wear glitter on that night, when could you?
She lined her lips in a deep burgundy and applied some light blush. Then, using both mousse and gel, she took sections of her hair and twisted them into tight spirals before securing them with a bobby pin.
Walking into her bedroom, Raine carefully unzipped the side closure of her dress and removed it from the hanger. Stepping into it and bringing it up to ensure the bodice placement and the straps were not twisted, she pulled up the zipper and smoothed the dress over her hips.
Returning to the bathroom, she turned the hair dryer on low and began drying her hair until it had only the tiniest bit of dampness left. As she removed the bobby pins from her hair, Raine watched as what had been tightly twisted pieces of her dark black hair become softer, more relaxed twists. Using her fingers to loosen them a bit more, she finished with a spritz of leave-in conditioner. Looking back at her reflection in the mirror, Raine could hardly believe it was her.
“Wow,” she breathed. “So this is the magic of makeup.” But as her eyes took in her entire reflection, she began to panic slightly. She stood in her bathroom, staring at herself and the way the dress’ bodice fell in a sharp V contrast in the front and back.
Just as she was considering whether she could indeed pull it off or change into one of the other dresses, she heard her phone vibrate to indicate incoming text messages. Walking over to grab her phone from her side table beside the bed, she nearly laughed as she saw the messages.
Tate: Just do it! You’re going to be the hottest girl here!!!
Laney: You’d better be beautifying right now and ready to wear that dress. Do this for the cobwebs that are gathering in your vagina!
Raine shook her head. Her friends knew her too well. Checking the time and realizing that she was running slightly behind schedule, she knew there wasn’t time to change and still make it over to Mac’s before midnight. Taking a deep breath, Raine tried to give herself a pep talk.
She could do this. She could be sexy-ish for one night.
Pffft. She’d settle for semi-hot. Was that considered lukewarm?
Checking the back windows, she saw there was a low tide and the spanse of sand was packed tight. An unimaginably bright, low-hanging full moon encased the beach in a bright, beautiful glow, making it possible for Raine to make the walk over to Mac’s.
Grabbing her black wedge heels and sliding them on, she picked up her wrist purse with her gum, lip gloss, and phone in it. She carefully grabbed the pie and her keys to lock up. Stepping onto the back deck, locking her door behind her, Raine held onto the railing as she made her way down the stairs and onto the sand. Luckily, it wasn’t very windy so the walk to Mac’s house didn’t pose much of a threat to her hair or the pie, itself.
Once Raine came into view of Mac’s home and heard the music pouring out from the back decks, all strewn with small, twinkling lights, she paused to take in the beautiful sight.
“Yo, hotness! Get yo’ ass up here and hug me already!” Lawson’s voice called out to her. With a smile, Raine started up the stairs and made her way to her friend. As she neared where he stood on the lower section of the deck, she realized he had on a nice pair of black, pinstriped dress pants, black leather shoes and had topped it off with a black, short-sleeved shirt that had ‘Nobody’s Perfect! I’m Nobody’ printed on it. Typical Lawson.
“Nice shirt, Nobody,” Raine laughed.
Lawson shrugged with a smirk. “Hey, I just tell it like it is.”
She laid the pie on a table and hugged her friend. While they embraced, Lawson whispered, “You look beautiful, Raine,” and kissed her cheek.
Stepping away, he slid his hands into his pockets with a resigned expression on his face. “However, if you think you’re going win ‘Best Dressed,’ you’re going to be very disappointed.” He held a hand to the side of his mouth as if to tell her a secret. “I’ve got this one in the bag. Sorry.”
Shaking her head at him with a laugh, she said, “I’ll try and get over it.”
She noticed a tall, auburn-haired woman standing a few feet away, watching them curiously with a smile. She stepped toward them, reaching out her hand. “Hi, I’m Kristin. It’s great to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Raine gave her a warm smile and shook her hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you, as well, Kristin.” She tossed a look in Lawson’s direction. “Although, I have to say, I’m afraid to even ask what he’s told you about me,” she winced.
Kristin laughed. “Nothing but good things, I promise.”
Raine picked up her pie. “Well, I’d better bring this up to the house. I’ll talk to you two in a bit,” she gave them a little wave.
“Later, Raine,” Lawson called after her as she walked up to open the sliding glass door to enter the house.
Stepping over the threshold, she heard Laney yell excitedly, “RAINE!” which was followed
by the sound of glass shattering on the hardwood floor.
HOLY SHIT. WAS that Raine?
That was Raine.
Ho-ly. Shit.
These thoughts were on a fast-moving loop in his brain the moment he turned from his kitchen island with the intent of tossing the beer into the recycle bin and spotted Raine. When she had stepped into his living room in that black dress that brought out the golden bronze of her skin and the deep, deep v-neckline of the dress showing her breastbone, he felt his body halt. When he noticed the hem of her dress hit just above her knees and her heels making her toned legs seem impossibly long, his mind joined his body in coming to a standstill.
But it was her hair that really made him pause. Good God, her hair looked like someone had run their fingers through it and twisted it playfully. His fingers twitched with the strong desire to sink his own fingers into her hair.
Mac didn’t even register the fact that he had dropped the empty bottle of beer on the floor, not noticing it shatter. At least not until Laney had come rushing over to him.
“Mac! Are you okay?” she called out, running over to him.
He squatted down to start picking up the larger pieces of glass to throw away. This also served in giving him time to get his breathing under control. Before he knew it, Laney was down beside him, squatting to assist in the pickup.
“You act like you’ve never seen her before, for God’s sake,” she hissed at him, low enough that only he could hear.
“Well, I haven’t ever seen her look like that before,” came his weak answer.
Laney looked at him curiously. “Like what, exactly?”
Gorgeous. Stunning. Breathtaking.
So beautiful it nearly hurt to look at her.
But Mac didn’t voice any of this.
“Mac? Laney? Are you both alright?” Raine spoke in a worried tone.
