So really it was nothing like Christmas morning. But the excitement was real.
I had hoped to fall asleep right after devouring the entire plate of pork - which, by the way, was even better than I had imagined - but sleep evaded me. Instead I just nestled snug in my bed, while visions of sugarcocks danced in my head.Ew, not sugarcocks.That reminded me too much of Joe and his sugarcakes. Which then reminded me of the video I had of him cheating on Sierra. I still hadn’t decided exactly what to do with that. Sure, I could just show it to Sierra. The look on her face when she watched it would be priceless. And then the look on Joe’s face when she dumped his cheating ass.
But I could also just hold onto the tape. Let Sierra marry him. And then show it to her a few years later and blow the whole thing up.
Hmmm…decisions, decisions.
There was no time to decide though, because MY ALARM JUST WENT OFF!It’s freaking midnight!
Well, it was almost midnight. I’d set my alarm for 11:45 so that I’d have time to fix my hair and makeup before the safe opened. To have my makeup be anything less than impeccable would have been a horrible disservice to my extremely sexy panda pajamas.
I kept glancing over at the safe in the tub. Yes, the tub. I’d moved it there before bed in case it was a bomb. Or a squirrel. Either would be best contained by the bathtub. It was like they always said on the news: during a missile crisis or rodent uprising, the safest place to be was the bathtub. This was kind of the opposite scenario, but it still felt like sage advice.
As my phone ticked down to midnight, I hid behind the door and watched the safe.
Three, two, one…
Midnight was punctuated by a smallclick.
Well that was anticlimactic.I’d expected the safe to blow open and spew confetti all over the room. Maybe play some music. Or at least light up. But nope. All I got was a littleclick.
I crept over, still nottotallyconvinced that it wasn’t going to blow up, and gently opened the safe. Inside was a white leather box with ODEGAARD scrawled in blue letters. But it wasn’t a shoebox like the ones Tanner had sent to my apartment. Instead, it was a thin rectangular clothing box.
I tore the lid off to see what kind of kinky lingerie he wanted me to wear for our first time. Shockingly, it wasn’t lingerie at all. Instead, it just looked like a little pile of shiny black sequins.Like…so shiny. The shiniest. I didn’t even understand how something so black could be so shiny. But it was.
I begrudgingly stripped off my panda pajamas and tried on the dress. As with every Odegaard design I’d tried on, it fit like a glove. Actually, it fit like a really short, sexy, strapless cocktail dress. And the matching gloves that came with it fit like gloves.
I looked in the mirror and checked out my ass. If I did say so myself, I looked classy AF.
The only thing I was missing was some shoes. But thanks to Tanner’s ridiculous suitcase full of camp-inappropriate clothes, I had plenty of options. I was in the midst of trying on some sky-high black pumps when the doorbell buzzed.
“I’m coming!” I yelled, even though I doubted he could hear me at the bottom of the tower.
This is it.I smoothed my dress and took one last look in the mirror before boarding the elevator.Don’t tell him you love him. Don’t tell him you love him.
The doors slid open and Tanner…
Nope.
Not Tanner.
For some reason, Cole was standing there.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Picking you up for our date,” he said with his cockiest smile. “And let me just say…” His eyes scanned up and down my body. “You look absolutely stunning.”
“Uh, no. I don’t think so.” Sorry bud, I have a date with Tanner.
"No? Then why did you do your makeup all sexy and put on the dress I got you?”
I looked down and pulled at the expensive fabric. “This? You didn’t get me this.”
“Yes I did.”
“But it’s an Odegaard.”
“It is. That’s what you always wear, right?”
