It was only as I was helping her out of the car that I realized I had no idea what she was wearing under her fir. I already knew I was going to have to stick close to her because of all the shit she had on her face. She looked too fucking grown.
I walked her upstairs and left her alone to do her thing as she went over last minute prep and went back downstairs to take care of my own shit.
Tony alerted me when it was almost time for the guests to start showing up and I went to join her. “What the fuck!” I pulled off my tuxedo jacket as I walked towards her. “No fucking way.”
“What, what are you doing?” I put the jacket around her shoulders and pulled her arms through the sleeves. Her dress didn’t have a back, that’s all I saw. The shit was white, clingy, long and way too revealing.
“Chill bro!” Sherrie got between us and tried taking that shit off again. My head was actually spinning because I knew I was about to make a fool of myself.
“She’s not wearing that. Is this your doing?” I looked at my watch to see how much time we had to run back home and throw her ass in some jeans or some shit.
“Tony come and get your boy.” Sherrie had worked the jacket off and passed it back to me. I moved to stand in front of Anna, blocking her from view just as guests started to arrive.
“What’s going on?” Tony asked but I ignored him. My face was tight as fuck. I stayed at her side when she walked off to go greet the newcomers and left Sherrie to explain.
“I’m burning that dress as soon as we get home.” I whispered that threat just before we reached the guests and she had the nerve to look at me like I was nuts.
I kept my arm around her all night as she moved around the room not giving a fuck what anyone thought. Sherrie was shooting daggers at me with her eyes and Tony was in a corner somewhere laughing his ass off.
Her brother and my mom showed up not long after and the party was in full swing. You’d think she was the famous one and I was jealous as hell. Not because of the attention she was getting for her school, but because of the admiring looks from the men in the room.
“Dude chill!” Tony came up to me after one of the women dragged her away. “Don’t spoil her night and change that look on your face.” I was trying dammit, but there was too much happening too fast.
In a matter of a few days she’d gone from my sweet shy babygirl, to this sexy vixen that shone in the room full of beautiful women. It wasn’t just her beauty, but the way people seemed to hang onto her every word as if drawn to her.
I felt like an ass because all I wanted to do was drag her out of there and take her home. “Look at this asshole. His wife is standing right there and he’s eyeing my woman.”
I evaded Tony’s hand and made my way across the room where she was having a conversation with two couples. She reached for my hand as soon as I reached her side and that went a long way to calming the beast that had awakened in me.
I glared at the dick who was trying to see through her dress until he got the damn message and averted his eyes. I wonder what he’d do if I called him out on his shit in front of his wife with his old ass.
She seemed to guess my mood because she squeezed my hand and tried to involve me in the conversation. I’d been worried about overshadowing her tonight, something I didn’t want to do. But nothing could be farther from the truth. She was the obvious star of the show.
Listening to her talk dance, seeing the light in her eyes, it was enough for me to consider forgiving her for the dress. She didn’t even seem to notice the appreciative looks she was getting. Her only interest was in her school.
I still didn’t leave her side for the rest of the night though, and by the time the last guest left I’d forgotten what I was mad about in the first place. The only ones left were family, mom, Travis, Sherrie, Trevor and Tony.
Aunt Jess was home with the baby but she’d called my girl early in the evening to congratulate her. “You two need to head back to the island before it gets too late. Travis you have school tomorrow.”
“You’re right son. Annabelle the evening was a beautiful success. I heard people talking and you’re gonna have a lot of new signees come tomorrow.”