Tryst Six Venom by Penelope Douglas

happy when she’s out to hurt my feelings like this?
But I know why. In a few months, I’ll be off to college. Away from
everything. Graduating. Gone.
Everyone will be leaving. Everyone…
Standing straight and tall, I face the mirrors again, but then a door slams
shut somewhere in the shop, and I freeze.
It wasn’t the front door. That door has a bell over it. This was the rear one
—heavy and thick—the click of the latch so loud I can hear it from here.
My heart beats faster, and in a moment, her eyes on my back warm my
skin.
Everyone…
I look up, meeting Olivia Jaeger’s eyes as she leans against the archway
leading into the dressing room, staring at me.
And all of a sudden, my skin is too hot.
She holds canvas bags stuffed with tulle and ribbon, her aviators sitting
on top of her head as she clearly struggles to hold back her amusement.
Her shift ended over an hour ago. I thought she was gone for the night.
“Come here,” I tell her.
She loses the bags and comes around my front, facing me. I gaze down at
my classmate, my teammate, and the only thing I ever look forward to
anymore.
“Pin the hem,” I order her. “It’s still dragging, so bring it up another
quarter of an inch.”
Hands on her hips, she hesitates like it’s a choice, and then drops to her
knees, pulling a pin off the cushion secured to her wrist.
But before she grabs the dress, I pull it away from her. “Wash your hands
first.”
I shake my head as she shoots me a look. I mean, really. If she’s learned
anything crossing the tracks into St. Carmen every day to attend one of the
most prestigious schools in the state the past three-and-a-half years, it should
be some common sense. They certainly teach that at Marymount.
Rising, she walks over to the round table and pulls a wipe out of the
package, cleaning her fingers. The Jaegers were born with grease under their
nails, so better to be safe than sorry.
In addition to mowing the lawns and trimming the hedges of St. Carmen,
her brothers also partially own a dump of a restaurant in their neck of the
woods, sell drugs, fix cars and motorcycles, and dabble in loan-sharking.