Ten’s fingers appear to dig even harder into the gray fabric. “Nev…”
“What? You don’t,” she says in a chirruping voice that clashes completely with the deep, raspy sound of her singing voice.
Why did Ten lie to me?
He lowers his gaze to the bill of his sister’s cap. “We should go. We still have to pick up Dad’s shirts.”
Mel trots up to us. “Why were you groping a dummy, Angie?”
Wow.I shoot her the stink eye, while Rae grins.
“Sorry”—Rae tries to iron out her smile—“but it was sort of funny.”
“Hi, Ten.” Mel’s eyes stray to Nev. “This must be your little sister. You guys lookexactlyalike. Like, exactly.”
I can’t imagine that being compared to your brother—however handsome he may be—is all that flattering.
“You’re not in Jenny’s class, are you?” Mel asks. Jenny is Mel’s little sister, even though there’s nothing little about the twelve-year-old.
Their father, Mr. Barnett, a former Memphis Grizzly, is one heck of a tall man. I met him at the school fair last year, and no joke, he’s twice my height.
“I am,” Nev says almost hesitantly. I take it Jenny isn’t her friend. If Jenny’s anything like her sister, I understand why.
Rae elbows me. “You should go change.”
I’d forgotten all about the dress. “It was nice to meet you, Nev. Sorry if I freaked you out. I was just… well”—I raise a smile—“starstruck.”
Her eyes go wide again, and then she whirls, pushes up on her tiptoes, and whispers something into Ten’s ear. I’m guessing that whatever she’s saying is about me from the way Ten’s gaze strays to me.
“I don’t know,” he says in a low voice.
“See you around,” I mumble, adding a “maybe” when I behold Ten’s suspicious gaze. My smile, which had already started to fall, flattens. I’m not sure what in my character merits such suspicion.
Without so much as a goodbye, Ten drapes an arm over Nev’s shoulders and tows her away. Soon they vanish in the steady stream of mall shoppers.
“How protective is he of his little sister?” Rae lets out a little sigh. “I think my ovaries just melted a little.”
Heisprotective, but it felt as though he was protecting Nev from me.
Laney hoists a shopping bag onto her shoulder. “Are you all right, Angie?”
“I’m probably riddled in bruises.” Especially on the inside. “But yeah, I’m all right.”
Laney shoots me this strange look, which I don’t even try to decipher. I finally turn back toward the changing rooms, enter mine, and yank off the accessories and then the dress. I thought that once I removed the belt, I would breathe a little easier, but my torso still feels compacted. I try to hang up the dress, but it keeps slipping off the hanger.
Grumbling, I wrench my clothes back on, pick up the pile of leopard spots and the rib-crushing strip of leather, and shove them on the stool wedged in the corner.
Rae pokes her head through the curtain. “Jasper’s asking if we want to go get pizza with him and Harrison.”
“Harrison?”
“The new quarterback. Mel just saw them come out of the Apple Store and waved them over.”
“Is our entire school at the mall today?”
Rae’s lips quirk up.
“What?” I snap.
