55 Chapter 55 RETAIL THERAPY
55 Chapter 55 RETAIL THERAPY
When we finally pulled back, Maya sniffed and looked down, noting the Uber app open on my phone.
Velvet & Vice for your darkest delights.
“Tough,” she said, looping her arm through mine and leading me towards the car park.
“We need some kind of therapy after tonight, and what’s the best form?” She smirked. “Retail therapy.”
It was like one of those makeover montages in old teen movies. We wandered into an
overpriced boutique where Maya tried on an absurd wide-brimmed hat, and I vetoed a
cardigan that made me look like a substitute teacher.
With every burst of laughter at the ridiculous outfits Maya tried on and gasp of horror at
the resulting price tags, I felt the tension of the day fade away.
I blinked at the packaging. “Why do I need it to be waterproof-actually, never mind.”
Kieran.
The night was already going splendidly-and then we passed it.
I groaned, smiling. “One would think your favorite hobby was knife throwing or like rock
climbing without a harness, not something as mundane as shopping.”
“Every woman needs options,” she interrupted breezily. “Men have proven time and time
again that they are unreliable. Your own hands?” She wiggled her brows like she had ample experience. “They’ll never let you down.”
My spine snapped straight.
I blinked. “You are?”
***
Forgiveness wasn’t a straight line. It curved, twisted, doubled back on itself until you
barely knew which way was forward.
16:47
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55 Chapter 55 RETAIL THERAPY
“It is,” she insisted, stepping closer. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I can be brusque, intimidating, and generally antagonistic.” She shrugged. “Those are not particular attributes that attract friends.”
“I may be able to live without a man, but not without stimulation,” she said with a wink “Also, I’m not a coward.”
I looked at her-really looked-and saw the ache in her eyes, the one I’d carried in mine for so long. Regret. Shame. Something deeper, unspoken.
We paid quickly, both of us giggling like teenagers, and stepped out onto the street. I was just about to suggest getting iced coffee or pizza-seeing as we never actually got through dinner-when I heard the worst sound imaginable.
“You could have warned me,” I said tightly. “I could have told you that that’s the kind of shit that happens when you put Ethan and me in the same room.”
“Seraphina?”
“I’ll drop him,” Maya said instantly, fire flashing in her eyes. “I swear to you, Seraphina. I don’t care if he’s my mate or my soulmate or whatever new moniker the Moon Goddess comes up with. I will never abandon a friend for a man. I could live without him.” She stepped closer. “I refuse to live without you.”
Things couldn’t really be that bad in my life as long as I had Maya in my corner and she’d promised that she wasn’t going anywhere soon.
The interior was low-lit, sleek, and intimidating as hell. Shelves lined with objects that made my brain short-circuit. Some things I couldn’t even name.
“No,” she declared, taking the device from my hand and pocketing it. “We need catharsis to properly process all the trauma we just went through.”
The sun was lower in the sky now, casting long gold shadows on the pavement. I’d barely spent an hour in there, and yet it had felt like an eternity.
Remorse flashed across her face as she stepped in front of me. “I’m not here to do that, Sera. I’m here to apologize to you.”
“You didn’t betray me,” I said, pulling back slightly, “but Ethan did. And if he uses you like
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that again-”
Maya smirked, already tugging me toward the door. “Absolutely.”
I shook my head. “Save it, Maya. I don’t want to hear you justify his actions or plead his
case.”
Her laugh was like a sigh. “Oh, no, am I rubbing off on you?”
She examined the toys with a critical eye, turning vibrators like she was reading wine labels. “This one’s too weak. This one’s shaped weird. Ooh, dual stimulation-very
important.”
We hugged again, clinging to each other on the street corner like two war-weary soldiers clinging to the same lifeline.
She took her hands in mine. “Of course I am. Gods, Sera, I’m so sorry, I had no idea it would blow up like that.”
“I didn’t,” she said quickly, breath hitching. “But I still hurt you. And I’m so fucking sorry.”
I exhaled slowly, something loosening in my chest that I hadn’t realized was coiled tight.
I frowned, glancing back at the building. “Did something happen?”
There he was-just when I thought I could end the bad day on a high note.
I snorted. “Trauma? That’s cute.”
Maya’s eyes flared. “Sera! How can you say that?”
SERAPHINA’S POV
My vision blurred as I stood on the sidewalk in front of Maya’s apartment building, my fingers trembling on my phone as I tried to order an Uber to take me home.
My eyes widened. “Wait, no, Maya-”
I bit my lip. “Listen, Maya, I understand that Ethan is your mate, and I know that bond is stronger than anything else. I don’t want our friendship to affect that, so maybe you and I should maintain some distance-”
55 Chapter 55 RETAIL THERAPY
I pulled her into a hug, tightening my arms around her.
“Never say that to me again,” I said flatly, but I didn’t put the box back.
“Sera!”
My lips twitched. “You are pretty intimidating.”-I squeezed her hand-“but I’ve been told lately that I’m becoming more and more antagonistic.”
Her grip tightened on mine. “Don’t even dare joke about that, Sera.”
Well, it seemed like Maya’s knowledge extended far beyond training techniques, because she was right: Retail therapy was a tried and true art.
A storefront, glossy black with neon signs in curly pink script.
“Come on, Sera.” She continued pulling with her superior strength. “One toy won’t kill
you.”
I sighed. “I get it. You didn’t mean harm.”
The hurt in her eyes took me off guard. “I—”
I stiffened at the sound of Maya’s voice and didn’t turn, locking my spine.
“Great,” she said, plopping a bright pink box into my hands. “Then you won’t chicken out. This one’s waterproof.”
“Why do you know so much?” I hissed, trying to look casual while also hiding behind a display shaped like a swan.
“And I’ve never had a friend like you!”
“I’m not a coward,” I said, crossing my arms.
“Even more reason why we should keep our distance.”
I flushed. “I don’t need-”
But Maya was in her element.
That undid me.
<
55 Chapter 55 RETAIL THERAPY
Her entire body heaved with her sigh of relief. “I’m so sorry I betrayed you; it’ll never
happen again.”
“Sera, wait-”
I couldn’t help it this time; I laughed.
It was like I took a step forward only to stumble three steps backwards.
“I don’t want to lose you, too,” I murmured.
She shook her head. “Forget that.” She squeezed my hand tighter. “Do you forgive me?”
“Does our relationship mean that little to you that you’d just give it up?”
Maya selected one for herself, too. “Synchronized girl-gasm night?”
I wasn’t ready to forgive Ethan. Maybe I never would be.
She ignored my sarcasm and beamed. “Let’s go shopping!”
But Maya… Maya was different.
“I feel so awful, Sera.”
I blinked. “That… can’t be right.”
My mouth gaped. “No, that’s not what I-” I exhaled. “I’ve never had a friend like you, Maya-”
I raised an eyebrow and snorted in derision. “Seriously?”
Then, a skincare store where she lectured me on the moral necessity of double cleansing, and I, in turn, mocked the price of a single jar of moisturizer with gold flecks in it.
I cursed myself when my fingers slipped for the umpteenth time, wondering when exactly
I would stop letting Celeste and Kieran and Ethan and every other ugly part of my past affect me so acutely.
