“You got that right,” I said, giving her a fist bump.
“Fuck, okay. I’ll take you.” Ryder caved only seconds later. I knew he would. He liked her too much.
“No way. You had your shot. That offer has closed. You’re done.” But I knew she would change her mind. She liked him too much.
After some more back and forth, Sloane agreed to go with Ryder, but it was like pulling teeth.
“So when is this thing?” Ryder asked.
“Uh, in a few weeks. So there’s enough time to make dresses,” I said to Sloane and she had that maniacal gleam in her eye that she got when she got to design something new. I knew she wanted to leave ASAP so she could go back to her place and start sketching out ideas.
“Plenty of time.”
“You’re really excited about this,” Ryder said, staring at Sloane. He’d obviously never seen her in designing mode. It was something to watch.
“There’s nothing that excites Sloane more than the opportunity to design something new. Especially a dress. Have you seen the ones she made for the Company Ball?” I got out my phone and pulled up some pictures.
“You made that?” Ryder said to Sloane as I showed him my dress. I still got shivers every time I saw it. Part of me wanted to just wear that one again, but then another part wanted to see Lucah’s face when I put on a different dress. It would be well worth it, and Sloane would never let me wear the same dress twice. That was a cardinal sin.
“I did. I could make you some jeans, you know. I don’t just do dresses and lingerie.” She winked and he didn’t say anything for a moment. “I could probably whip you up some tomorrow. Stand up.”
I was actually surprised that Ryder hadn’t been subjected to having his measurements taken yet. What had she been waiting for? When she pulled a tape measure out of her bra, Ryder’s eyes popped just a tiny bit.
“What else do you have in there?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She took his measurements quickly and efficiently.
“Don’t, you, uh, need to do the inseam?” he said with a gleam in his eye.
“No. And get your mind out of the gutter.” She stood up and patted the top of his head. “Good boy. Now if we could just get you to shut up, then you would make a good mannequin.”
Ryder pretended to be offended, but he definitely wasn’t.
“Have you been through this?” Ryder asked Lucah.
“As soon as Rory and I became official. It’s a right of passage.” Joking aside, it really was.
Sloane rolled her tape measure back up and put it back in her bra, which Ryder watched her do intently.
“Come help me with the dishes?” she said, grabbing a few plates and heading for the door. She looked over her shoulder at him and he grabbed some more plates and followed her without saying a word.
“He likes her. A lot,” I said once the door shut behind them.
“Yes he does. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so willing to do chores before. Ever. Do you think they’re sleeping together?”
I shook my head.
“No. If they were, Sloane would have told me.”
“Are you sure? She knows that you don’t really approve.”
“It wouldn’t matter. She’d never keep something like that from me. She wouldn’t be able to. Trust me.”
That was one thing Sloane would not be able to hide or lie about.
“Well, I hope they hold off. I don’t think it would be the best thing for Ryder to get involved with someone right now. And what if it goes south? That could set his treatment way back and I don’t think any number of sessions with the farting therapist would be able to fix that. At least not for a long while.” I agreed, but what would happen was going to happen. Whether we wanted it to or not. I told Lucah as much.
“You’re right. You’re right.” We got the rest of the dishes together and took them over to Sloane’s. She and Ryder were chattering away and he was asking her questions about her designs and how she got into fashion and she was babbling like crazy, but he was interested. He was listening to her. Ryder listened to Sloane as if she was talking about the most fascinating thing he’d ever heard. His eyes watched her lips, and she kept using her hands and laughing, and he laughed with her. She touched his shoulder, he pulled some lint from her shirt.
I had to stop watching because I felt like a voyeur. That must be why people looked away when Lucah and I were together. We probably did the same thing.
When the dishes were done, Lucah, Ryder and I sat on the couch and watched a movie while Sloane worked on my dress design. She wanted to do mine first and then model hers off mine. A better friend you couldn’t find. Not even if you went all around the world.
“So this is what I’m thinking,” she said a few minutes later, holding it up for everyone to see. Sloane’s drawings were always like those of the classic designers, making me look tall and glamorous.
The dress was strapless, full length and form-fitting until it got to the skirt.
“So it’s like the back is pulled around to drape, and then it’s gathered at your hip, and there’s the ruffled edge all along this side. I’ll fold the fabric to make it look even better. I’m thinking red, for the color.” Of course red.
“It’s f**king fabulous,” I said, giving her two thumbs up. I couldn’t wait to see a mock up of it.
“I can’t wait to see it crumpled on my floor,” Lucah said, studying the dress.
“I swear, if I ever hear you say that again, I will take drastic measures,” Sloane said with a death glare.
“You could make that?” Ryder said. He still didn’t seem to get how talented Sloane was. Or maybe he just needed to see it in action.
“Yeah. I can make anything.” She put emphasis on the last word.
“I like red,” Lucah said, rubbing my arm.
“I know you do,” I said.
“Okay, so if you’re going with red, then I think I might go with gold. Or purple. Definitely not green or blue. And I don’t think silver would look good.” She continued to mutter to herself about colors and so forth. I was used to her doing that, but Lucah and Ryder looked at her as if she was talking crazy.
“This is what she does,” I said to them as Sloane got up and floated back to the spare bedroom she’d converted into her design room, complete with a dress model, sewing machine and light table for her to sketch on.