FAITH
There’s no one in the store when I walk in. The only other time I’ve wandered into one is when one of my sorority sisters was getting married and they put me in charge of buying the most embarrassing toys.
I don’t consider myself a prude, but all of the giant plastic penises in every color are arresting.
“Can I help you?” a slender white man asks. He’s in a colorful tank top and he has the kind of facial expression that says he finds everything amusing.
“I’m going on a date and I want to make sure it’s a night he’ll never forget.”
He tents his fingers and grins. “Direct. I like this. Backstory. First date? Third date?”
“Sort of third and maybe the last.”
“A little mean, I like it. Are they adventurous? Reserved? Wildly explo—”
I cut him off. “I’d stay in the adventurous ballpark, but we haven’t had sex yet. He’s a bit more experienced than me.”
“Well, you’re lucky straight men are really easy to please.”
I laugh. “I’m Faith.”
Then he gasps.
Oh no.
“Faith Charles?” He takes my hand in his. “Don’t worry. I won’t sell your bedroom secrets to that terrible LePaige. Especially after she called my store lacking in vibrancy. Listen, bitch, the only thing that isn’t vibrating is—”
“What was your name again?”
“Nando. How playful do you want to get? Because if left to my own devices, I’ll change your life.”
I adjust the thin purse strap around my shoulder. “Well, I don’t really know what he likes.”
Nando holds my arms out. “You’re a vision. I’m not trying to shoot myself in the foot, but look at you. I’d start with some basics. Have you ever used edible underwear?”
“Once. It was messy. And those candy thongs are scary. What if he bites in the wrong place?”
Nando looks at me like I’ve grown a third eye. “They’re for sucking.”
Finally, I blush. “Oh.”
I follow him down an aisle. It’s like having a personal shopper for sex toys. There’s an underutilized job position.
“This little gadget will have you seeing stars.” He throws a vibrator ring into a basket. “Now for condoms, I’d go with these. They’re better for your hoo-ha and seriously unbreakable. Like, I can fit my entire arm up to my elbow.” He puts in a box. I add another. “Massage oil. This one isn’t sticky and the smell isn’t cloying enough to make you want to gag.” He blinks. “Unless you’re into that.”
I burst out laughing. “I think this is a good start. I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Nando rings me up and sighs. “I say that pretty much every Friday night.”
I take my select trinkets in a discreet black paper bag that might be used at a boutique.
“Oh, shit,” I say when I see my phone. “I’m late.”
AIDEN
The sting of Angelique’s hand is hard. Damn, she’s strong.
“I know I probably deserve that,” I say. I take a step back to give her room to seethe. “But can I know what it is I did?”
Angelique can’t even form words. “I trusted you. I vouched for you. And you’re with her?”
I suck in a breath. I glance over my shoulder to where Ginny is sipping her martini and looking out at the city. “It’s not what you think.”
“Then tell me, Aiden Buenos Aires. That’s right. I looked up your name.” She pulls out her phone. “I’m going to call Faith right now.”
“Please,” I beg her. “Please, just listen to me.”
“Why?” Angie narrows her eyes at me. “Is that why you sat in front of me that night? Did the campaign pay you to fuck with Faith? Because that’s beyond low, even for them.”
“What? Why would her mom’s campaign pay me?”
Angelique’s brow is furrowed, but for the first time since she started yelling, she takes a breath. “Do you know who that woman is?”
“Ginny Thomas.”
Angelique shakes her head. “You know what? I’m not going to be fooled by you again. You’re probably a really good actor.”
I reach out to touch her shoulder, but she slaps my hand. “Don’t touch me.”
I raise my hands and give her space. “Clearly we have a misunderstanding.”
“This is what I know. I encouraged my best friend to have a one-night stand with you and it’s backfiring on me because she’s catching feelings for you and you’re just using her.”
I only hear one thing out of everything Angelique has said. “She has feelings for me, really?”
“Don’t play stupid. You’ve been working with the enemy this whole time.”
“Angie,” I start.
“It’s Angelique to you.”
“Angelique. What enemy?”
“The Moreaux campaign hired you to seduce Faith and ruin her mother’s reputation.”
That name lights up something inside me. Mayor Moreaux. Faith giving that name to the reporter the night of the blackout. I stumble back and hit the wall.
I shake my head. “That’s not what happened.”
“Then tell me, Aiden. If that’s your real name.”
Ginny’s husband’s work. The things she said about him. They were always about business but she never specified. I try to find holes in her words. Something that should have alerted me sooner.
Faith is waiting for me downstairs.
My hair flops over again.
“Who are you?” Angelique asks.
“My name is Aiden Rios,” I say and tug on the tie Fallon knotted for me until it comes undone. “I wasn’t hired by the campaign. Ginny hired me. Just Ginny.”
Angelique stares, confused. “What do you mean ‘just Ginny’? Why would Virginia hire you if—oh.”
Virginia. Not Ginger. My mind is spinning, each time trying to figure out some sort of clue I missed.
“I didn’t know,” I tell Angelique. “I swear. I know you don’t have any reason to believe me. That night you met me it was a real low point for me. I thought I lost all my friends, my brothers because of a mistake I made. And Ginny hired me to keep her company for a week. Just company. We never—I never—She got called away that same day, though, and that’s why I was alone. I didn’t expect to meet Faith. I didn’t expect to love her.”
Angelique’s eyes flash at me once again. “What did you say?”
The word hangs heavy in my throat. It strangles me. Because it has to be love, doesn’t it? Even if I haven’t felt it before? I know all the symptoms.
“I love her,” I say. “I was going to end it tonight. I keep trying to tell her but I can’t.”
“You’re a coward.”
I nod. “I know.”
“She said she’s taking you to the ball.”
I shake my head. “Undo my tie. I shouldn’t go.”
Angelique runs her tongue against her cheek and swears. “Look, don’t tell her about Ginny. It’ll wreck her so close to the election.”
I make a strangled sound in the back of my throat. “I don’t want to keep lying to her.”
“Sometimes a lie is better than the truth. Leave town. Leave her alone.”
And because it’s the only thing I can think of, I nod in agreement.
“She’s waiting for me.”
“Then don’t be late,” Angelique says.