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This was it. The true beginning of her transformation.
Over the next few days, Jazzy would help her choose her wardrobe, they’d experiment with hair and makeup, she’d meet with Goro to designher tattoo. Then she would work with Stanton to prepare her booth for the Cape Cod Collective. She’d have to decide what pieces to show, how she wanted to market herself, what path she wanted to follow for her career. And it all started here. Stepping through those doors would be like passing through a portal to somewhere new.
A few weeks ago, that idea would have been terrifying. Everly was too attached to being fine. To feeling safe. She was no less terrified now—but she was ready to shed this version of herself. To become someone unafraid to embrace the messy, the uncertain, the possibly amazing.
“After you,” Logan said softly.
Though she nodded, her feet didn’t move, and he didn’t push her.
If she’d needed to wait ten more years, right in this spot, he’d let her, without pressure or impatience. It was like the way he kissed—following her lead, never taking more than she gave.
She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about their kiss in the Matten-Waverly office since it happened two days ago. Almost immediately after they’d pulled away, his phone had rung, Sady requesting that he return to Boston, where he’d been ever since. They’d texted a little, but Logan was, no surprise, the king of one-word responses.
Everly glanced back at him. Her whole body tingled with the urge to rush forward. To wrap her limbs around his. Kiss him until their lips went numb from the pressure.
Taking one more breath, she smiled and reached for the door.
If she was going on this journey to a new Everly, at least she got to take Logan with her.
Inside, she spotted Sady and Jazzy speaking to a short, curvy woman around Everly’s age with shoulder-length brown curls. She was wearing an incredible romper in a light seafoam green with a pattern of maroon and mauve flowers. Everly made a mental note to ask if it was from their collection.
Jazzy called her name and hurried down the center aisle to greet her. Another cameraman followed. He was older, taller, smiling, and clean-shaven. Basically the anti-Logan.
Her gaze jumped between them. “What’s going on? You’re not replacing Logan?” Everly would riot. Loudly. She’d show them what too much actually looked like.
“Of course not. Fans are going wild for him.” Sady clasped her hands in front of her. She must love the color olive, because today she was wearing a body-hugging sheath dress in that shade of green. A black woven belt cinched her waist, and her giant black sunglasses were shoved into her loose blond hair. “We brought on a second camera so we can grab more footage.”
Everly’s shoulders tensed.More footage of what?she wondered.Logan?He’d already featured heavily in the second and third episodes, at the Ren faire and during Everly’s graphic design tutorial with Alex and James. Was Sady going to try to construct a love triangle now? From what Becca said, that’s what the internet was clamoring for. There were apparently whole forums on Read-It dedicated to #TeamLoverly and #TeamJeverly.
God help her.
Everly watched the showrunner gesture energetically to the two cameramen. Sady and Logan were close. Had he told her about their kiss? Was that the driving force behind this need for “more footage”? Everly refused to have whatever this was between them unfold on camera. It was too much pressure on something that had barely started.
Sady clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “We only have the store to ourselves for a few hours, so let’s meet Sophie and get shopping.”
Sophie, it turned out, was the woman in the killer romper. She had friendly coffee-colored eyes and tan skin, and she waved Everly toward the back of the store with a big smile. A sketch pad was tucked under her arm.
Everly nodded to it. “Are you an artist?”
“A designer,” Jazzy said.
“Not quite yet,” Sophie clarified. “Just an assistant right now, but someday.” She said it with such confidence. Like she knew it would happen. Everly wanted that for herself and her art.
“You know this brand, right?” Jazzy flourished an arm to indicate the store.
Everly nodded. Kisses and Hugs was sustainable, high-end fashion and far (far) outside her budget. She used to own one or two pieces she and Grandma Helen had found thrifting, but she’d donated them along with the rest of her flashier wardrobe years ago.
“Then you know they do custom work as well.” Jazzy grinned. “We’re going to collaborate with Sophie to build you the perfect, just-for-Everly wardrobe with a mix of off-the-rack and custom pieces.”
Everly grew warm with excitement. She was going to have a signature style. The thought of that had her eyes already stinging with tears. She was going to be a puddle by the time she started trying items on.
“You’ve seen the show a million times, so you know the drill,” Jazzy said. “We’re going to split up for now. You grab everything and anything you like. Don’t second-guess yourself. Then we’ll work through our piles together, trying everything on, building outfits, figuring out what makes you happy. What definesyou.” Jazzy beamed at her. “Where do you want to start?”
Everly glanced around, searching for the corner of the store with the most floral prints and flowing fabrics. Boho vibes, her favorite. “Over there.”
Jazzy and Sophie headed in the opposite direction, the new cameraman trailing in their wake.
Resuming his usual role as her shadow, Logan followed Everly’s chaotic zigzags through the aisles to a rack of loose peasant tops.
