TWENTY-THREE
NAOMI
Bigger, Badder, Better -Forever
"You really look lovely tonight," Carolina said as I stepped out of my room and twirled.
"You think so?"
"Well, I always think so, because my best friend is a bad bitch, but now it's especially so."
"You don't look half bad yourself," I said, eyeing the sharp suit she was wearing.
Normally, Carolina was into more feminine clothing, but she'd paired the tailored jacket and pants with a sheer, iridescent top that clung to her slim frame and highlighted the bejeweled lingerie she was wearing underneath.
She looked like she'd strutted out of a fashion magazine with her polished chignon atop her head.
"Thank you, thank you. It feels like I've been trapped in pajamas and period panties forever, so I wanted to mix it up."
"Ugh, periods suck," I agreed, walking past her into the bathroom to check that makeup hadn't gotten mussed. "I have to say, as a latent shifter, having a menstrual cycle instead of full heats and all that is a raw deal."
"We should fire whoever made ovaries. Lame."
"Hella lame," I agreed.
We giggled, and honestly it was so nice to get all dolled up with Carolina. While we still hung out every month in person, those were definitely more dress down events rather than dressing up. So, this yearly tradition of going fully glam was lovely.
"Can you believe this is our third year?" I asked as I zhuzhed my hair and touched up my lipstick.
"I can't. And a year and a half since we launched Mis-Matched. Crazy how time has flown."
"It has," I agreed.
Did my knees and back hurt more? Yes. Did I sometimes wake up injured from sleeping and I had to wait an hour or two for my mildly accelerated healing to deal with it? Also yes. But that was just a part of aging.
And maybe, one day, I wouldn't want to age anymore, and I would ask Rowan to bite me.
But I wasn't there yet. I was still enjoying being mortal, with all the foibles that came along with it, and Rowan had informed me multiple times that the choice would always be mine.
Even if I chose not to do it in the end.
That only made me love him even more. Somehow, he'd made my life so easy it was like someone had plugged a cheat code into it.
While I'd eventually phased out my earliest morning clients except for my once-a-month club, that was by and large the biggest accommodation I had to do.
Even though we were completely different species on completely different sleep schedules, we jelled together like we were always meant to be. And I was beginning to believe we were.
When I was younger, I'd have mourned the idea of never having a fated mate, of knowing that, as a latent shifter, no alpha out there would be my perfect match, that for whatever reason, those three Norn sisters who guarded the golden strings had spurned me. But now?
Now I knew that was a whole crock of shit.
I didn't need some alpha to scent me once and realize we were meant to be together forever, because in truth, I was never meant for my pack.
I was meant for so much more. All of us were.
And every time I looked at Rowan, at his strong features and kind eyes, I knew I had found the better path for me.
"What's wrong? Do you see a pimple or something?"
"What? Oh, no." I had been staring at my reflection, lipstick in hand, the cap in my other. "Just got a bit lost in thought about it all."
"It's okay, I understand," Carolina assured me.
Although I still called her Tweety when we played online together, for privacy's sake, I only used her given name in the real world.
"When I think of how it used to be for me, how I was so petrified I couldn't even open the door of my apartment, it seems impossible that I've gotten this far.
Unless I'm having a bad panic day, I can generally go out.
And even if it starts to get bad when I'm already outside, I have ways of mitigating it.
I have my noise-canceling headphones. I have my weighted coat. And I know I can always call you."
I turned to her, completely serious. "Yes, you can. Always."
Her arms opened, and then we were hugging, not caring about mussing the fabrics of our outfits. Some things in life are just more important.
Like, for example, being on time to my own event.
"Ready to head out?" I asked. Strangely enough, she pulled out her phone.
"Let me just check something real quick."
"What, got a hot date or something?" I asked, not minding, but a little curious.
"No, nothing like that. Just... Checking my stocks."
I blinked at her, wondering if a shape shifter had taken her spot, but I was pretty sure those were not native to this hemisphere. Granted, we were renting our mixer space from one, so I supposed it wasn't impossible. "Since when do you play the stock market?"
"Only recently. That's why I'm so nervous about it. I didn't put much in, 'cause you know, but hopefully, it's enough to grow."
I stared a moment longer, dubious, then shrugged to myself. My friend had the right to try new things, and it didn't sound like she was in over her head or using it as a gambling method, so what was the harm? "I hope it works out for you."
She typed something rapidly, before tucking her phone into a pocket in her jacket. Another point in the suit's direction. "Haven't crashed and burned yet, so that's all I can ask."
"Hey, not crashing and burning is sometimes half the battle. Ready now?" Although I really did love our girl time and getting dolled up together, I was anxious to get to the event and do a lot of the last-minute stuff that I always did.
Granted, instead of it just being me and Carolina, Daniella and Chuck would also be there, with Rowan and Iko coming in after sunset, but still, I hated being late.
"Almost! Let's take a couple of pics together and then we can go."
"Oh right! Pics!" Now that was a good idea. Sometimes it was so easy for me to get caught up in the rush of getting things done that I forgot to cherish the little moments. And I definitely wanted some selfies with my bestie before dancing and eating undid all the work I'd done.
"Here, let's do some selfies first."
We had our own little mini photoshoot. It couldn't have taken more than ten minutes, so I don't know what I was so worried about. Once we were done, Carolina excused herself to the bathroom for a quick pee, then we were on the road.
When we arrived, Daniella's truck was already there, and so was Chuck's bike, the man dressed entirely in leathers. However, judging by the stuffed backpack he had behind him, he had a change of clothes with him.
"Hey everyone! Ready to have one hell of a party?"
"Let's do this," came Chuck's monotone.
"We both are!" Daniella said, opening the door of her truck to allow her two dogs, Hertie and Gertie, to jump out.
I nearly lost my mind when I saw they were wearing doggie prom outfits coordinated to match Daniella's dress.
Her cat was no doubt safe at her place, as I knew that chalupa was more of a homebody than Carolina.
"That is too cute!" I said, chuckling as I did.
While some dogs clearly hated any form of clothing, and some dogs simply tolerated it because it was chill, Daniella's dogs belonged in the rare group of pups who enjoyed being little fashionistas.
I didn't know if it was because they liked the extra attention, friendly things that they were, or because they liked the extra warmth with their short coats, but they looked freaking adorable.
"Aren't they?" Daniella said. "My little fashionistas!"
"Your dogs are more stylish than I was in high school," Chuck murmured, leaning against the wall by the door. "Granted, that was probably 'cause they kept sticking me in dresses no matter how much I said I hated them."
I gave the man a bit of a scan, trying to envision that in my head, and I just couldn't. "The thought of you in a dress seems fundamentally against the universe."
"That's just about what I told them back then."
We shared a laugh as I unlocked the door and let ourselves into the community center.
Although it was our third year of throwing the event, it was only our second year of all of us doing it together, which meant nothing was really old hat by now.
However, we all had our own checklists we'd come up with during the month before the event.
Which probably seemed like a lot, but we were prepared for quite the crowd.
We'd put the mixer into the community events tab of Mis-Matched.
And as of the completion of our first year, we already had around five thousand users across the world, with most of them being in either the US or Canada.
Incredible.
It was more than we had ever hoped for. We were still only barely breaking even, and some months not, but the fact that we were nearly out of the red so soon was a blessing.
Rowan and Iko were both willing to bankroll whatever we needed, but it was nice not to have to rely on them as endless moneybags and more like emergency lifelines when things went wonky.
As usual, if it was possible to have a usual, the time between our arrival and Rowan's flew by in a flash.
Naturally, even with a few things left to do and some quick, last-minute conversations to be had with the caterers, we took the time to greet each other and share a kiss.
And, as usual, my heartbeat sped up whenever we touched, and I felt a contentment I never knew was possible.
However, unlike other times, Carolina was there the second our lip lock ended, holding up an actual camera. Did she smuggle that in with her suit?
"Pics?" she asked happily.