Nothing Good Gets Away

Chapter 14

HARRY STYLES 

"Okay, this is the last one, I promise," Rowan scurries into the dressing room before I can tell her that I'm not in any rush.

I sit back on the cream velvet waiting couch and glance to my right at another guy. Through side eyes, I see that he's scrolling on a girl's Instagram page. A lot of her pictures seem to be either of herself in lingerie, or in a bathing suit.

When a door opens in front of us, I look up to see not Rowan, but a blonde. She calls to the guy beside me until he looks up from his phone, and she asks him what he thinks. He sighs like he's either tired or annoyed and tells her it looks just as nice as all the others she tried on before. She rolls her eyes and shuts herself back in the room, and he goes back to looking at the girl on his screen, double-tapping the picture of her biting on her thumbnail in a lacy bra.

"Okay, what do you think?" Rowan's voice immediately earns my attention. "Do you think it's boring?"

In the least sexual manner possible, I take her in from head to toe. I smile as a result of seeing her small feet in white ankle socks as she rises up on her toes as if she's pretending she has high heels on.

The dress is modest, first and foremost. It's a dark espresso color with a conservative square neckline and long loose sleeves, and the material cinches in at her tiny waist before it flows out a little longer past her mid-thighs. It's nothing like the dress she wore to her double date with Sienna.

"I don't think it's boring," I answer honestly. "I think it looks nice on you."

She scrunches her face up. "You think? You're sure?"

I nod, though I wonder how much my opinion actually matters to her. "I'm sure, yeah. I like it better than the black dress, anyway."

"Okay," she pivots to see herself in the mirror. "Me too. Okay. I'm done, promise."

"It's fine," I laugh as she closes herself in, and the blonde girl comes right back out of her own room with all the dresses she tried on in her arms.

"Hello?" She snaps her fingers to get the guy's attention.

"What?" He seamlessly swipes out of his app as he stands up.

"You know, some boyfriends actually enjoy going shopping with their girlfriends," she flicks his arm as they walk away together. And to think, I was giving him the benefit of the doubt that he might not be in a relationship with the girl in the dressing room while he was looking at other girls on his phone.

Huffing to herself, Rowan comes out of her room with her black trousers and matching strapless top back on. Only now, her hair is in a bun and the deep brown dress is slung over her arm on its hanger.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," I stand to follow her over to the checkout counter, once again waiting patiently while she pays for it.

Not that the activity was the most stimulating there ever was, but I'm disappointed that it went by so fast. I haven't asked her if she has plans for the rest of the day yet, though I won't be upset if she asks me if I still want to hang out with her. It's only 3:00, anyway.

"Thank you for coming with me for this," she says to me as we leave the store together. "That's one less thing I have to worry about now."

"Yeah, well I'll do just about anything for a complimentary croissant by the famous Rowan Bass."

"Stop," she laughs and adjusts her purse over her shoulder after fishing her keys out of it. We settle into her car, and she sighs at the warm temperature before she cranks the air conditioning for us.