Free True North by Allie Juliette Mousseau Page B

house in this get-up if I wasn’t slightly tipsy.”
    “ You look amazing, Livie, and you know it,” she assured me.
    “ You too.” We stood together in front of the mirror. “We can pull this off.”
    “ Of course we can,” she agreed.
    “ Assuming they let us leave the house.”
    We had done the unthinkable and gone out of our safe-style zones. She and I were jeans-and-t-shirt girls usually; sometimes we’d branch out and wear a nice blouse. I had a sort of hippie poet style, and she was happy in anything that covered the knees ... this was a big deal. I wore a little black silk dress that had three-quarter length sleeves and fell off one shoulder. It was short too—hiked to the thigh. Jules’ dress was baby pink with long roomy sleeves and a neckline that plunged between her breasts. The hemline was above her knees but just a little lower than her thigh level. We even picked up gorgeous strappy high heels to match our dresses. Yeah, actually, we were glamorous.
    “ If I don’t fall and break my neck it’ll be a miracle,” I joked.
    “ Tell me you don’t feel like Cinderella,” she challenged.
    “ That will depend on if I can get noticed by Prince Charming.”
    I loved Jules. She was a shy little Cancer who, like her Zodiac sign dictated, usually stayed close to home. This was a huge way to come out of her shell, and I was proud of her. With her parents sheltering her as their baby girl and with five overprotective brothers, she’d never had much of a chance to spread her wings and push limits.
    I really hoped Nate wasn’t a dick tonight.
    “ ARE YOU TWO READY YET?” Sam’s voiced hollered through the hallway. “WE’VE GOT TO BE THERE EARLY FOR SET UP AND MIC CHECK!”
    “ Should we wear our jackets downstairs and save a little of the surprise for when we peeeeel them off at the club?” I acted all seductive.
    “ That’s a perfect idea, and I can do one step better. I’ll be right back!” Jules went into her mom’s room. When she returned she had two full-length coats over her arms. “Mom’s got real good taste, as you know, and these are brand new from Nordstrom!” she sang.
    “ You’ve got it so rough,” I teased.
    “ Try on the black one.” She stood behind me and helped me shimmy into the coat. “HA!” she burst out. “And if we’re already there they won’t be able to play the smothering brothers and insist we change.”
    Now I was laughing. I buttoned it all the way down to my knees.
    “ Hot damn! This is going to be fun!” I exclaimed.
    After we got her in the navy zip-up that fell to her calves we were ready for our head and feet debut. We went downstairs to meet the boys.
    “ Well, thank God!” Sam said, not bothering to look at either of us twice. “Let’s go.” He ran out to start the car.
    “ Hey.” Jake came up and took my hand. “You look beautiful and your hair looks great.” Then he leaned in to my ear and whispered, “You smell amazing and those shoes are sexy as hell.”
    I bit my lip as my felt my face flush. His breath tickled my ear, and I remembered his lips there earlier today.
    Jake was wearing a pair of black jeans and a tight fitting burgundy button up. He had his sleeves folded up to his forearms and his tattoos were visible.
    “ You look … great.” The word yummy passed through my mind and made me blush worse. Oh, for fuck’s sake, I wished I’d stop doing that!
    He bent his arm at the elbow and invited me to take it. Giddy doesn’t even come close to describing my euphoric insanity. It was like there was a hamster doped up on crack and running like a maniac in an exercise wheel with flashing lights and whistles behind my ribcage.
    Even in my stupor I made sure to check Nate’s reaction to Jules. He looked like he was on freaking Mars and never even noticed her. I really wanted to smack him, but Jules had made me promise I wouldn’t say anything. That promise was getting harder to keep. But she’d kept my crush from Jake for