The Best Man {h.s.}

27

"I knew it," Jeremy says, flipping through racks and racks of dresses at some designer store he's been raving about for months. I keep my eyes on the clothes, searching for the perfect dress to wear to the bachelor/bachelorette party tonight.

"What do you mean you knew it?" I ask, feeling the fabric of a purple, knee length dress before shoving it back into the rack with the rest of them.

"Girl, I knew you loved that smokin' hot piece of ass the second I saw you with him at the bar," he says, getting an eye roll from me. I find a red, strapless dress I like and hang it over Jeremy's arm.

"How the hell did you know before I did?" I pause, crossing my arms. He lifts and eyebrow and puts his hand on his hip.

"Quit lying to yourself, you knew it too. Now stop staring at me and keep looking for the dress that'll make him stare at you." Jeremy winks and turns his back to continue scanning the store and I do the same, going in the opposite direction from him.

I guess I never really thought about the fact that I might have been in love with him way before our night at the park last night. It was just so perfect, every minute of it. We didn't stay long, maybe an hour or so, but the night was ours. We walked for a bit, watching the hanging lights change colors and feeling the breeze from the water next to us, then decided to lay on a hammock and talk for a while. I swear I could've stayed there forever, and now, feeling serious anxiety about what my sister is going to think about tonight, I wish would have.

"Do you know what your sister's wearing tonight?" Jeremy asks while I put an incredibly short black dress back on the rack.

"Yeah, something from some designer friend she has in New York. Probably a one of a kind that's perfect and a thousand times better than anything I'm going to find in here." I roll my eyes, aware of the fact that she's the bride so she's supposed to look better than everyone, but still frustrated that I can't find the perfect dress to wear to keep Harry's eyes on me and only me.

"Bitch, you underestimate this place. Keep looking," he huffs, probably annoyed that I said something even slightly negative about his favorite store. About 20 seconds later, he lets out a gasp that was louder than anything I've ever heard before. Turning around as quickly as I can, I stare at Jeremy, who is staring back at me with wide eyes.

"I found it."

Before I have a chance to say anything, he's pushing me into the dressing room with a navy dress that I haven't even got to look at yet.

"Don't think about it, don't even look at it. Just put it on and get back out here."

I do what he says and slip the dress on, immediately feeling how snug it is the second it hits my thighs.

"Uh, Jeremy..."

"Don't make me come in there," he quickly scolds. I huff and shimmy my way into my dress as best as I can. It's probably the tightest dress I've ever tried on, but once I slide my arms into the sleeves and take a step back to really look at myself, I understand why Jeremy picked it for me. It's a simple dress, pretty short with long sleeves and a thick band of silver beading along the neckline, but the back is completely open, giving it the perfect amount of class and sex appeal all in one. I smile, turning around and letting my hair down and imagining the look on Harry's face when he sees me in it. Usually, the pressure to look good for a guy is the last thing on my list of priorities, but having the revelation that I had last night, I can't help it.

I slip on the heels that I was thankfully already wearing and step out of the dressing room, feeling more confident than I think I've ever felt. Jeremy continues to look through the racks of clothes, but once I clear my throat to get his attention, he stops dead in his tracks and drops his jaw practically down to the floor. I open my mouth to ask him what he thinks, but I don't manage to get a word in before he squeals and starts jumping up and down, bringing everyone's attention to our area of the store. I smile, feeling good about tonight and feeling the anxiety I felt about Chloe start to disappear.