“I might expect this from them, but you? What in the last few weeks with me gave you the impression that this would in any way be acceptable? Go put something on before you freeze to death.” I took the bag from Lance and didn’t even bother looking through it because I know we’re on the same wavelength. I hope it’s a fucking gunnysack.
I’m not sure why the twins thought they’d get past either of us in this getup. Then again, Lance is being way cooler than I would’ve expected, but maybe he’s in shock himself. No wonder, of all the stunts they’ve pulled this, is by far the most unexpected. We’ve never had to police what they wear because they know better.
“Here, try again.” I passed her the bag, which she took grudgingly. “And FYI, if this dance you’re about to do involves shaking your ass, you can scratch that shit before you start.” The others started to argue, but I kept my attention on her. I was hoping that she understood I wasn’t trying to embarrass her, that my knee-jerk reaction legit stemmed from the shock of seeing her with her stomach bare and her skirt way above her knees, barely covering her ass.
It was so far out of the realm of reason that I was still having a hard time believing my eyes. When she didn’t move, I just raised my brow at her, at which time she turned on her heels and scurried back into the room. Lance was having a hard time with the twins, but all it took was one look from me to get them moving as well. “You better be glad we got to you before Pop got the chance to see that catastrophe. He’d have shut the party down. Now go and stop being difficult.”
They griped some more but had the good sense to retreat. Now that I think about it, if Gianna is embarrassed, she should be. She should also learn that she doesn’t need to follow anyone else to do something she’s not comfortable with, not even my sisters. There’s no way I’ll believe the shy girl of just a few short weeks ago was happy to parade herself in front of a room full of people for their entertainment dressed like that.
My body’s response is enough to tell me that the last half of this party would be worse than the first. I’ve been keeping the wolves at bay, but if she went down there like that, I’d have to unalive someone. “You believe this shit? What the hell got into them?” Lancelot stood next to me as we both stared at the door they’d disappeared behind.
“Now I’m worried about the dance. What should we do?”
“What can we do? It’s my fault. I’ve been so preoccupied with everything else that I forgot to keep an eye on them.” Then again, I never expected them to pull a stunt like this.
My sisters know damn good and well that there’re some lines they should not cross when it comes to the way they dress. In other words, Pop would bust a gasket if he saw them like that.
At sixteen, they don’t need to be exposing anything. As for Gianna, I’m good with her exposing her damn ankles and nothing else. “Did she fall and hit her head? You think I was too harsh?” Now I feel guilty. I can blame the fact that this is all new to me and the shock of seeing her like that made me react before thinking. “I’ll make it up to her.” Shit!
Lance started laughing, which made no damn sense given the situation. I’d think he’d be ranting and raving the way he always does when it comes to the twins misbehaving. “What’s so funny?”
“And you’re not in love with her.” He shook his head and walked away, leaving me to wonder if everyone in my house had gone insane. “Where’re you going?”
“I gotta make sure dad and unc don’t eat all the damn h’orderves.”
Maybe he fell and hit his damn head, too, because the Lancelot I know would’ve stayed on the door until he was sure the twins had obeyed his orders. His overprotective ass can be worse than me sometimes.
GIANNA
No sooner had the door closed behind us than the girls started howling with laughter. “You gonna tell me what that was about now? And why was Lance carrying our outfits?”
“It was a test. Sorry, we would’ve told you, but then you wouldn’t have played your part so well.” Anna and Rosa doubled over with laughter, and I looked at the others who were already getting out of the scandalous outfits that I dreaded wearing.
“What part? What are you talking about?”
“We wanted to see how Gabe would react, and he did not disappoint.” They seemed rather pleased with themselves, but I was still at a loss.
“You mean this was all an act? You never intended for me to wear this?”
“Of course not; it wouldn’t fit with the dance we’re doing, and besides, when have you ever seen us dress like this?” Anna wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Oh, thank heavens. To tell you the truth, I was very relieved. I still don’t get the whole test thing, but whatever. Let’s hurry; we’ve wasted enough time.”
“Not to worry, we worked that little skit into the time we needed.”
Color me confused. I still didn’t know what was going on, but I was happy to put on the dress that we’d chosen for the dance. When they asked me at the last minute to put on the skin-baring outfit, I kept my mouth shut because it’s their day after all, and they’d already let me change their dance routine once they insisted I join them.
I could’ve done without that little blip, though; I’m already nervous at the prospect of dancing in front of a roomful of people. Now that the time was here, I wasn’t feeling so confident. I had no doubt the girls would dance beautifully, even though I’d only had a few short weeks to teach them the steps. But whereas before, I was excited and couldn’t wait for Gabriel to see what I’d done, I’m now terrified of that very thing.
That’s not the only thing making me nervous, though. I know that after tonight, I’m going to have to deal with my life. I’d asked for the reprieve not only because it’s what’s fair to the twins but because I needed time to think about what my next steps should be. We still have the trip coming up, but that too is just a selfish escape for me, because inwardly I’m terrified of what my life is going to be like once the truth comes to light.
The only thing I know for sure is that I want my dad to know. On the one hand, I want him to suffer the way I have been ever since Greta told me the truth, and on the other, I kind of feel sad for him. The fact that he’d kept mom’s things for me has gone a long way to easing some of the anger I once held for him. But in the last few days, I’ve had some time to think, time to look at things a little bit clearer.
He hadn’t forgotten my mother, hadn’t just moved on with his life, erasing her very existence from the fabric of our lives. I’m still not sure what he was after, his reasoning behind marrying the woman mom had called friend not even a year after her death. But I’m convinced that the news of what Becky had done will crush him.
Just thinking about the fallout makes me weak in the knees and sick to my stomach, but there’s no way I can keep something like this from him. I’m also worried that he won’t believe me. That he’d once again side with Becky for whatever twisted reason, and I’ll be once again left out in the cold.
“Hey, you, okay?”