Page 129 of Last Letters to Ara
She succeeded.
Lou started by straightening my hair, then curling it into perfectly spaced ringlets. I couldn’t refrain from remarking on why someone would straighten their hair just to curl it, but she swore that it’s a thing, and I can’t argue after seeing the results.
My hair is delicately braided around my crown, with strands coming loose to fall perfectly in place with the rest of my hair. Throughout the braid, Lou has somehow fastened silver crystals in the shape of celestial stars from the night sky all throughout. She wanted it to look like I was hit by a ball of starlight, having it trickle from my hair down to my dress.
The rest of my hair is left mostly down, letting the curled lengths fall over my shoulders and back like a dark waterfall. Lou, whether a psychic or just a genius, left a few perfectly curled strands out to frame my face in just the right way, that will have Theo wanting to tuck them behind my ear.
I grab my phone to check the time as I walk out to the living room. I’ve still got time before Theo is supposed to pick me up. I open our text chain and shoot him a message to say that I’m ready whenever he is.
“I can see that,” Theo says aloud, voice a notch lower than usual.
The air whooshes out of me as I look up to find Theo, standing behind my couch, arm propped against the back as if he needed the support. He is absolutely devastating in his suit. I can’t withhold the smile crossing my lips the moment I realize he’s dressed to match me.
Theo’s jacket is the blackest of blacks, providing a stark contrast to his vest and tie, both of a silver silk that appear to have been spun from the stars themselves. Even his pocket square is made from that beautiful material I would likely give a vital organ to get my hands on.
Theo doesn’t say anything as he gazes at me, eyes dark, mouth open in a silent gasp, throat working. I feel his gaze like a warm buzz over my skin, drifting over my face to my chest, pausing a little too long before moving down the rest of me ever so slowly.
Theo finally lifts his eyes back to mine and shakes his head, still holding the back of the couch in a death grip. His body is taut, like a wound coil. I can’t help but wonder at his restraint.
Lou doesn’t miss a thing. “I’m putting twenty bucks down on you guys not even getting out this door tonight.”
Theo, still dark and dazed, can only smirk.
I can’t control my laugh as Lou mouths from behind Theo, “His dick” and proceeds to undulate her entire body in chaotic rotations to mimic Theo’s dick going crazy.
“Have fun!!” Lou says in a sing-songy voice as she makes to slip out the door.
“Wait!” I yell after her. “I need your help to tie my shoes!”
Lou grins conspiratorially at me. “I don’t think Theo would mind an excuse to get under those skirts. Love ya!” She doesn’t wait a second more before disappearing out my front door.
I look back over to Theo, still feeling the weight of his gaze. I softy run my fingers over the shimmery tulle of my skirt and ask, “Are you sure this is okay for tonight? It’s not too much?”
Theo shakes his head and finally releases his death grip on my couch, taking slow, torturous steps until he is only a breath away. “Okayisn’t even remotely close to a word I would use to describe you.”
“That bad, huh?”
Theo puts his fingers under my chin, gently tipping my face back up to his. I can feel his eyes absorbing every detail of my face. “Saying that you’re beautiful doesn’t do an ounce of justice.”
My heart takes off, pounding at his words.
Theo keeps my face tilted as he brings his other hand up, tracing my freckles with a featherlight touch. “Saying that you look perfect would be an insult because it’s too generic.”
I swallow.
He traces my nose. “Saying that you’re gorgeous would be unfair, because then nobody could ever be considered gorgeous again.”
He traces my lips. “Saying that you’re stunning, would be the biggest understatement of the century, and quite possibly the millennium.”
I’m not sure I’m still breathing.
He traces my jaw. “There are no words, because you’re something of another world.”
Theo finally releases me, taking a step back, as if he needs to the distance to clear his head. “Now, what is this nonsense about tying your shoes?”
I can’t speak, my body and entire being are so thoroughly hung up on his words and gentle touches. So, I just point toward my feet and lift my skirts.
Theo doesn’t hesitate and drops to his knees before me, suit and all. I close my eyes and try my best to think of the least sexy things in the world to counteract what seeing him on his knees and dipping under my skirts does to me.
