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My back went ramrod straight, and I was moving before my brain even consciously processed what I was seeing.
Oh, fuck no.
My heels click-clacked against the concrete as I all but stomped toward them.
When I got close enough for them to hear me, they all turned and watched me come one by one but didn’t slow their pace.
My father caught my sister’s hand and tugged her closer, as if I was going to walk up and punch her in the face or something.
Like I would ever do that to my sister.
Now his wife…
“I seriously will punch you in the throat,” I said to my stepmother. “You are not going in here wearing that dress.”
She was wearing a white floor-length dress that was embroidered at the top with clear crystals. It had a plunging neckline that showed off her ten-thousand-dollar boob job, and white high heels to finish off the ensemble.
To make matters worse, she had her makeup done professionally, and her hair up in a complicated updo with a fuckin’ tiara wound into her hair.
My stepmother’s outraged gasp filled the air. “I will, too!”
I was already shaking my head. “I’m not sure on what fucked-up planet you wearing a white dress, that looks remarkably like Belinda’s, to Belinda and Danny’s wedding would be okay. But on this planet, you know, planet Earth? That’s not going to fucking fly. You’re not getting in there, and I will seriously get violent if you try.”
My father shifted on his feet, and I could tell right then and there that he’d said something to her about her dress but hadn’t thought the fight was worth it so he’d given up.
Well, it was worth it to me, and I would not, under any circumstances, be okay with it.
“Crock…” Rockett started, but I turned on her with a glare. “How about you head inside.”
Rockett took one look at me, her parents, and then she hurried inside.
At least she had the wherewithal to wear something that wasn’t going to cause offense.
The smart girl.
I turned back to my stepmother to see her shaking her fist at me.
“I will go in there, and you won’t stop me,” she said.
That’s when I balled up my fist.
I was seconds away from letting it fly when a large hand wrapped around my fist.
“You!” my stepmother hissed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I didn’t need to guess who Laric’s replacement was anymore.
Mostly because Zach’s mirth-filled laughter filled the air around me.
“I’m her date and she may not stop you but I will,” Zach said. “And, just sayin’, but if she doesn’t want you in there wearing that, you’re not getting in.”
The way Zach said it let her know that he would be stopping her if he had to.
I had a feeling he might very well have to.
“You can try,” my father said, sounding like he was a lot more confident than he actually appeared.
“I don’t even have to try,” Zach said. “They’re locking the doors as we speak. We’ll just enjoy the wedding from out here if we have to.”
Sure enough, when I looked up, it was to find my sister locking the damn door.
I gave her a thumb’s up, and she winked before walking away.
I would be sad that I missed my brother’s wedding, but if it kept my stepmother out, then so be it.
At least he would have a perfect day.
“The nerve!” Melody gasped. “I can’t…”
“You can,” Dad said as he wrapped his hand around hers. “Darling, I told you this might happen. Crockett was always really good about putting on a show.”
I was good at putting on a show? Really?
“You think so?” I asked casually. “You ain’t seen nothing yet then.”
CHAPTER 10
Alexa, take out the trash. Oh, and tell Juniper to go fuck herself.
-Zach’s secret thoughts
ZACH
After visiting Laric earlier this afternoon, it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest.
After the night that Crockett went on her date with him, my mind had been so preoccupied with everything Crockett that I hadn’t been able to even visit her for fear that I’d crack.
So I’d done what I thought was right, stayed away, and ultimately kept myself out of sight just in case things didn’t go as planned.
Then, I’d seen her in her dress, modeling it in front of her bedroom window.
Everything, every single bit of doubt, from the smallest to the biggest, went right out the fuckin’ window upon seeing her in that dress.
In jeans and a t-shirt Crockett was a knockout.
In shorts and a racerback tank, Crockett was to die for.
But in a dress that hugged her upper body like a glove, but flared out around her beautiful, shapely hips and juicy ass? Yeah, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The moment that I’d seen her through her window, I’d known there was no way in hell that I could allow Laric to take her.
