"This is stupid," I say, shaking my head. "We're going to die."

Charlie took hold of both sides of my face, halting my movements before she gave my reflection in the mirror she had sat me down in front of a glare. "Stop moving. You're going to ruin my masterpiece," she says, pushing another pin into the intricate, messy bun she had gathered my dark hair in.

I winced as I felt some strands pull at my scalp. "Could you be more gentle?"

"Only if you stop," she held down my shoulders, effectively putting a stop to my plan of shifting a bit, "squirming!"

I huffed, twisting my face into a pout at our reflection. "My ass is going numb!"

"Deal with it," Charlie growled, eyes back to my hair. "Beauty is pain. And with how good-looking I've turned you into for tonight, I'll be mega disappointed if there's no pain."

"Hey!" I scoffed. "Just so you know, this," I waved a hand at my face, only to have it slapped down, "was already beautiful before you added all the make-up on it."

Charlie scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll actually start believing it."

At that moment, our eyes met in the mirror once again, then we cracked and ended up chuckling at our absurdity.

"Just a few more pins, Jus," Charlie says, going back to her work, "and...done! There! Take a look."

Turning my head from side to side, I inspected Charlie's handiwork. I nodded in approval. "Looks good to me."

Charlie nodded, then waved for me to stand up. I did as was told, running my hands down the front of my dress. It was high-waisted, the skirt A-line, stopping just above my knees, and was sleeveless with a jewel neckline. The deep purple of the fabric was what made me choose to buy it when Charlie and I went out shopping just a few hours earlier. That it was on sale was only a bonus.

We both gave my figure a once over in the mirror, before nodding to ourselves.

"Not bad," I commented.

Charlie gave an approving pout. "Not bad at all." Then she clapped her hands. "Okay! Let's get you downstairs to your awaiting boyfriend. Here's hoping he survived Cherry's makeover."

After telling us of her plan, Charlie ushered Leo and I to her house where Cherry and Ashton were waiting for us. Apparently, Cherry specialized in dressing men. And by men, she meant Ashton. It explained the guy's uncharacteristically good sense of fashion. So, we left Leo in Cherry's capable hands, while Charlie worked on making me presentable for the evening's dinner with the Grant and Bracci family.

Nodding, I slipped on the black pair of pumps that Charlie let me use for the night. Heavens know I don't own anything with heels on them. They're death traps as far as I'm concerned, but because the occasion calls for it, I agreed to wear them. Thankfully, I have a fairly good sense of balance, and I only wobbled once on the way down the stairs.

When I finally descended the last step, I looked up from my feet with a triumphant smile and found myself subjected to three pairs of familiar eyes belonging to Leo, Cherry, and Ahston.

"Wow!" Leo exclaimed, a dimpled smile splitting his face.

I smiled back timidly, wanting to say the same about him, but finding it a bit hard to with how intense his gaze was. Cherry had put him in a pair of cream white dress pants, held at his hips with a black belt where a white button-down was tucked into layered by a navy blue suit jacket. The top three buttons of his shirt have been undone, giving off a casual feel that was complimented with a pair of matte black dress ankle boots.

His hair has been combed back in a neat quiff, and his face was free from any awkward stubble that I know Leo was a bit self-conscious about already having.

All in all, my boyfriend looked damn fine. Like...damn fine.

Ashton suddenly let out a low whistle. "Well, well, well! Lookie you, Miss Grant! Leo is one lucky guy."

"Girl, Leo will have to fend the guys off of you tonight," Cherry piped in with a teasing grin.

"Oh, god," I groaned, but couldn't help the flattered smile that curved on my lips as I brought a hand up to gently cover my eyes. No need to ruin the eyeshadow Charlie had worked so hard on.

I could practically hear the cheeky grin in Leo's voice as he said, "It'll be a job I will thoroughly enjoy."

Then his warm hand was wrapping around my wrist to pull my own hand away from shielding my eyes. Yep. A cheeky grin is there.

"You ready?" he asked, hand slipping down from my wrist to lace our fingers together.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready."

"So am I," Cherry joined with an exaggerated smile, before rolling her eyes. "I'm ready to see you two love birds leave. Seriously. Your little heart eyes and blushing routine is making my teeth rot."

"They kinda' remind me of Ryder and Maya," Ashton said as he dropped an arm across Cherry's shoulders.

Cherry nodded. "They really do. Gag."

Shaking her head with an amused grin, Charlie started waving us away. "Alright, you two, out. Get going or you'll be late. Keep me updated, Justine."

I threw a thumbs up at my friend as Leo led me out of Charlie's house and to his awaiting car. Just as I got buckled in, my phone chimed from my (borrowed) clutch with a text from Charlie.

I tapped on her message and the next thing I know, I was reading an ebook with a questionable title.

❤

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