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Paige says, “The younger girls went into overdrive.”
“They just love you.” Sasha squeezes my arm against hers.
“They’re obsessed with you.”
“They say they’ve never met anyone so sweet.”
Paige gives a laugh. “And the younger brothers, you should hear them.”
“They gossip worse than us,” Sasha adds.
A ball of nervous fire burns bright in my belly. All those handsome young men are talking about me? They avert their eyes when I walk by. I didn’t think they thought much about me.
I ask, “What do they say?”
Paige raises two perfectly manicured dark brows. “That they’ve never loved working with Damian as much as they have since he found you.”
“Or, you found him,” Sasha teases, referring to my little sneaking onto his jet stunt.
“He used to be so wound up,” Paige says.
Sasha’s voice lowers. “Angry after his mom’s death.”
“But you healed him.” Paige gives a soft, romantic sigh. “And now he’s totally loosened up. His trainees even used the ‘f’ word to describe him.”
That doesn’t sound good. “The ‘f’ word?” I ask.
Paige says, “Fun! Damian’s even introduced breakdancing into his classes to get the guys more limber.”
“They love it.” Sasha nods.
“They love him,” Paige says.
Sasha smiles at me. “And all because he loves you.”
I feel like I’m shining like a star by the time we reach the elevator of the brick building. My cheeks hurt, I’m smiling so hard. Did I really do that for him?
I know he’s healed me in ways I can only hope to tell him over time.
A bell chimes, a pretty sound. The silver elevator doors slide open. Paige pulls me inside, mashing the button marked “3” with a purple polish-tipped finger.
Her eyes sparkle with delight. “Here we go!”
The mirrored doors close, showing our reflections as we ascend.
Sasha to my left, wearing a midnight-green minidress with one sleeve, Paige on my right in a sequined, eggplant-purple, ballet-style dress with a tulle skirt. Me in the center, wearing a short, strapless ruby-red dress that screams sex kitten. I chose it myself along with the spiked gold lace-up sandals.
The glittering gold tiara perched atop my curly updo was all Paige.
I’m finally a real beauty queen.
Sasha’s eyes glitter as she speaks to my reflection in the mirror. “We have so many surprises in store for you tonight.”
The word “surprise” makes a little ice drip down my spine.
Not all surprises are good.
Sometimes they let your family members come to these parties at the Village. There’s one surprise I’m just not ready for. I’ll cross that bridge one day, but— “I don’t mean to be rude, but…” I can barely say the words, I know how cold they sound. And I’m not a cold person. I cringe as I ask, “You didn’t invite my mom to surprise me, did you?”
