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“I don’t know. Hey, where did you buy that belt? It’s cool.”
“One of my favorite online shops. I’ll show it to you.” After a moment, she added, “Do you like closet parties?”
April piped up. “I don’t know what it is, but it has two of my favorite words in it, so I’m game.”
“We take a look at your clothes and how we can mix and match them to get different outfits than what you usually wear.”
April looked excited for the first time in twelve hours. Peyton was hanging around my neck like a little monkey, looking excitedly from her sister to Val.
“That sounds awesome.”
“And very scary to me,” I added, just to play devil’s advocate.
Val moved closer to April, whispering loud enough for me to hear, “Should we punish him for that by insisting he join us?”
“Nah, he’ll just ruin our buzz. Besides, I’m dying for some girl time
.”
My heart gave a little squeeze at their playful banter. And then I decided to surprise them.
“You know what? I’ll join you.”
Val winked. April grimaced.
“Fine, but you must promise not to give your opinion... unless it’s a positive one,” April said.
“I love your idea of democracy. I’ll take my laptop with me. Need to finalize a few things.”
April led the way to her room. Peyton, never one to miss any excitement, ran along next to her. Val walked a few feet behind them. I had a perfect view of that gorgeous ass of hers. Damn, the way she moved, that sensual sway of her hips, was making my mouth water. Was she doing it on purpose, to set me on edge?
When she cast a saucy smile over her shoulder, I had my answer. As payback, I slid closer to her and pinched her ass.
Val didn’t quite manage to muffle her sound of surprise, which caught April’s attention. When she turned around, I immediately schooled my expression. I felt as if our roles were reversed and I was the teenager trying to get away with fondling the girl he liked.
As April and Val took out most of the clothes in the dresser, spreading them on the bed, I sat at April’s desk, trying to get some more work done, but I couldn’t concentrate. The girls were taking this seriously. Even Peyton was hanging on to every word Val said.
“How do you even get these ideas? I wouldn’t have paired those, but they look fabulous,” April exclaimed.
“I took a personal course with a fashion consultant once.”
“You’re officially the coolest person I know.”
Val laughed. “I don’t know about that. But I’d just started my business, and since I wasn’t tied to a dress code like in my old job, I knew I was liable to go crazy. My sense of fashion has always been a little weird, but there is a fine line between different and ridiculous.”
“Well, I think you’re a knockout.”
Sometime during this exchange, my heartbeat had become erratic. They were having fun, I realized. Val wasn’t patronizing the girls or finding them an inconvenience. This was so far off my past experiences that I hadn’t even come to expect it any longer. It was partly why I liked to separate these sides of my personal life.
When April pulled her hair in a ponytail, trying out an outfit Val had come up with, I had déjà vu.
“You look just like Hannah,” I told her. I missed my sister so much that some days it felt like a physical ache.
“I do, don’t I?” April grinned before explaining to Val, “In all her pics, Mom looks like a runway model. She was definitely a fashionista.”
“Am I a fashionista?” Peyton asked, frowning at the mirror as if searching for signs.
I laughed, but Val replied smoothly, “You’re on your way to becoming one.”
