I hate shopping.
Okay, that’s not right. I don’t mind shopping. I hate shopping with Kailey.
Yeah, that sounds more accurate.
We’re at the fourth store of the day, and so far we’ve bought nothing. I’m getting sick of clothing racks and dressing rooms. It’s not a crazy formal party. Can we just find something and be done please? We still have to get ready, and the party starts in a few hours.
“This would look amazing on you babe,” Jonathan says for the fifty-third time. Yes, I’ve been keeping count. He’s really mostly to blame for the long day I guess. Every time he sees something he thinks Kailey would look good in, he points it out to her. To be fair to him she would look good in most of it. But she always takes one look at the price-tag and backs away like the clothes are going to bite her.
“No,” she tells him this time without even turning to look at what he’s holding.
“Kailey,” I tell her. “Turn around, and look at that dress.”
She glares at me and mouths traitor, but does what I asked. Her mouth drops open when she sees the dress I’m talking about.
It’s short and black, with a corset top and sort of poofy skirt. The sides of the corset are cut out just under the bra cups, so that if she were wearing it her hockey tattoo would be on full display. It’s the perfect dress for her. It’s also not the dress Toews is holding up.
“I need that dress,” she whispers. “I must have that dress.”
Her boyfriend smiles proudly, thinking he’s finally won her over. But when she reaches behind him and pulls the dress off of the rack the smile is replaced by a dark scowl.
“No way in hell,” he growls. “You can’t wear something like that in front of the guys! They already ogle enough at you!”
“Excuse me,” she says to a passing sales person, completely ignoring her boyfriend. “I’d like to try this on.”
“Of course,” the woman smiles at her. “Right this way.”
The happy couple follows her into the dressing room nearby. Jonathan keeps sputtering out negatives on the dress and Kailey keeps ignoring him. I just laugh and go back to browsing for my own outfit.
I’m not much of a dress person. I’m not much of a dressy person either. Looking around at the clothes, I don’t think I’m going to find my outfit for the party here.
“Here,” Patrick says, stepping up next to me. “I think you’re going to look good in this.”
He’s not holding anything in his hands. I give him a look and try to fight off a blush. “I didn’t realize this party was clothing optional.”
He looks confused for a second before he gets it. He can’t hide his blush, it spreads across his face like wildfire. “I didn’t mean, what I was trying to do, I just,” he takes a deep breath. “I already had someone take it to the dressing room for you. I think you should try it on. I bet you look great in it.”
I smile, stamping down the part of me that wants to laugh. It’s not nice to laugh at your boyfriend. At least, not when he’s only been your boyfriend for a few hours.
I make my way into my fitting room. When I close the curtain behind me I can’t help but stare at the dress hanging on the wall.
I’m really not much for dresses, but this one is gorgeous. It’s bright blue and the skirt stops just above my knees. The straps are thicker and the neckline is lower, but round. The fit is perfect, tighter on top and flowing out softly into the skirt. I love it.
I step out of the dressing room to show the others. Kailey and Jonny are nowhere to be seen, but Patrick leans against the wall waiting for me.
“So?” I say, a bit nervous now. I love it, but I kind of want him to love it too.
He stares, slightly openmouthed. Then he blushes again, deeper than before. “You look amazing,” he whispers roughly. “That dress looks . . .” he shakes his head like he’s trying to shake away a thought. “You’re getting that dress.”
I smile, then go back in the room to change. The price tag snags on my bra when I pull at the straps. When I untangle it, I see how much the dress actually costs.
I finish getting dressed and when I leave the fitting room I don’t have the blue dress with me.
“Jen, you didn’t grab the dress,” Patrick says, running to grab it himself. “Didn’t you like it?”
“I loved it,” I answer him honestly. I stare him in the eyes, driving home the rest of my statement. “But I’m not letting you spend $350 on a dress for me.”
“Is that the only problem?” he asks, sounding dismissive. “I can afford it, believe me. Besides your whole thing was that you would let me pay if Kailey let Jonathan.”
That was before I knew he wanted to spend over three hundred dollars on me.
“Well she’s never going to agree to let him pay for anything so—“
“Think so?” He says with a mischievous smile on his face. “Turn around.”
I really don’t want to. What if what he’s implying is true? Oh I really don’t want to turn around please, please, please let him be—“
“Have a nice day,” a smiling cashier says to a happy couple as they take their bag. Unfortunately for me, that happy couple is my friends.
“Damn it,” I mutter.
Patrick sighs as he steers me towards the registers. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s go buy your dress.”
I punch him in the side for talking down to me. He dodges, laughing the whole time. I stand to the side and pout while he pays for the extremely overpriced dress, trying to come up with some way that I can get back at him for this.
“Will you please let it go?” he asks, taking the dress bag. “It’s just one outfit. It didn’t even put a dent in the dent in my bank account. And you look great in it.
“Just think of it as an early birthday present.”
“My birthday is in September,” I tell him.
“Ok a really early birthday present.”
I sigh at him. “It’s too much.”
“Get over it,” he kisses my forehead affectionately. “You’re my girlfriend and I’m going to spoil. You should just accept it now.”
I smile at the word girlfriend, but if he thinks I’m just going to let him do whatever he wants, He’s dead wrong.
“What are you thinking?” he asks me, looking wary of the answer.
I smirk. “I’m thinking that you don’t know what you’ve just gotten yourself into.”
A/N: hey! thanks so much for waiting for the update :) my schedule is about to go nuts again so be prepared updates are going to be less frequent because of school (damn you school!) lol so I am so curious about something. You guys all know that I'm a Hawks fan (obviously lol) but you probably didn't realize that I also like the Avs and the Stars. So I'm curious what your favorite teams are. Comment who your favorite team(s) are if you want! I'd love to hear from you guys. Or comment your favorite players if you want :) as always I hope you enjoyed this update and thanks so much for reading! love you :)