I unzip my green leather crossbody and reach into the interior pocket, retrieving my tube of Maple Sun. I jerk the top off and drag it over my lips, glaring at Hannah’s reflection. She looks up and opens her mouth to fire off another asinine comment, but stops short, her eyes trained on my lipstick. I turn to her with a venomous smirk, rubbing my copper lips together.
Hannah plants one hand on the vanity and the other on her hip, “I know you were in my apartment,” she seethes.
“Yeah,” I brush her off, snapping the top back on the lipstick tube, “I was there with Hildy when she checked on your cat.”
I don’t know whether she realizes I came back later, but there’s no way I’ll ever admit that unless she saw me with her own eyes.
“Are you mad I stole my own lipstick back?” I continue. “Speaking of which, why are you coming in my house and leaving shit in my closet?”
Bowen gets creepy pictures, I get creepy drawings, we’re a match made in heaven.
“It’s Bo’s house,” Hannah replies, adjusting the waist of her pants.
I cock my head, disregarding her dig, “Does Bowen know you like sneaking into our house and stealing my stuff? Do you like to play dress-up and pretend you’re me or do you do black magic rituals with them? Or,” my voice gets louder as I continue, “do you like sneaking over in the middle of the night to play with rocks in the driveway?”
She jerks her head up, “Does Bo know you like hanging on other guys when he’s not around?” she snaps.
I’m not in the mood for this. Wells the creep almost assaults me in a dark hall, some phantom flies out of nowhere and throws him into a closet, and now Hannah’s accusing me of sleazing around the bar with strange men. And yeah, maybe that’s how it looks, but it’s not like she cares enough to find out the truth.
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” I zip my purse and swing it over my hip, “Run and tell Bowen I’m with other guys just to be a salty bitch because he won’t fuck you.”
Hannah gazes at me, her scornful smile unchanged. But the muscles in her neck twitch as soon as I utter those words, just like the moment Hildy introduced me to her at the wedding. But she holds onto her composure, running her tongue over her teeth and slowly turning to the mirror.
“Anymore.” She drags her middle finger across the edge of her lower lip, sharpening the line of glistening apricot gloss.
Before I can say anything else, the door to the other stall swings open and bangs against the wall, giving me a start. Barrett saunters past the door, seemingly oblivious to the both of us. I’m so irritated, I forgot she was even in the restroom with me.
“Excuse me.” Barrett brushes against Hannah’s chest as she steps in front of the sink, nudging her aside.
Hannah flinches and takes a step back, caught off-guard by the sudden intrusion. Barrett glances over her shoulder at me.
“Are you talking about Bowen Garrison?” She waves her hand under the faucet to trigger the motion sensor and starts washing her hands, deadpan as she waits for an answer.
“Yeah?” I drag out the word, watching her with curiosity.
“Who are you?” Hannah barks, clearly annoyed by the interruption.
Barrett shakes her hands into the sink and reaches past me for a paper towel. She takes her time blotting her hands and then turns to Hannah, eyeing her with condescension.
“I’m Barrett Halsey,” she looks Hannah up and down, “who the fuck are you?”
Before Hannah can answer, Barrett turns back to me, narrowing her eyes, “You look familiar,” she studies me for a moment, tilting her head in scrutiny, “you’re Bowen’s girl, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” I crack a smile, “have we met?”
Barrett waves her hand with a smile, “I’ve seen pictures of you on Facebook, that’s why. Y’all are engaged, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” I nod, “so, how do you know Bowen?”
Barrett opens her mouth to speak, but hesitates. She looks back and forth between Hannah and me and then averts her eyes, “We were kind of on and off for a while last year,” she replies, flashing me an apologetic grin.
I arch my eyebrows, “Really?”
“We kept it under wraps because I was fresh out of a bad relationship. But I travel a lot for work, so it just didn’t work out.” Barrett lowers her voice, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous of you. That man has skills that should be illegal.”
I press my lips together and look away, trying not to laugh.
“Oh my god,” Barrett grabs my arm, “I’m sorry, that was so inappropriate! This was before y’all were together, I swear.”
I shake my head and wave her off, “It’s fine, seriously.”
“Are you sure you’re talking about the right guy?” Hannah breaks in, her sour face drawing up into a scowl.
Barrett looks at Hannah with annoyance, as if she just realized Hannah’s still in the room.
“Well,” she tosses her shiny mocha hair over her shoulder with a smirk, “if it’s the same Bowen Garrison from Canaan with eyes to die for and that sexy-ass tattoo of some demons right above his dick, then yeah, I’d say I’m talking about the right guy.”
My jaw tenses and the muscles in my neck ache from trying to maintain a straight face. Meanwhile, Hannah looks like she’s about to throw hands.
Barrett turns away from her with a scowl, her face melting into a charming smile a second later, “If I didn’t say it already, congratulations. He’s a really good guy. Granted, he’s so sweet that you might have to shoo away the fruit flies that are constantly buzzing around him trying to get a piece of that. In fact, when we were dating, he kept talking about this one girl that’s been obsessed with him for years and just won’t leave him alone.” Barrett snaps her fingers as though she’s trying to remember a name.
“Oh, no,” I mutter, feigning concern.
“Yeah, maybe a friend of his sister’s?”
I clench my jaw, seconds from collapsing in laughter.
“Anyway, he said she’s annoying as fuck, always hanging on him and showing up wherever he is. Kind of creepy. So, hopefully that’s run its course by now.”
