It had been about two weeks since our escapades in Dallas.
I was working my ass off to try and make as much money as possible so, in a couple months, I could possibly have enough to get my own apartment and have Emerald come and live with me. Unfortunately, there was only so much I could do. While Op had been happy to let me take a few hours out every day to work at Sugar’s store, there was no way he was going to allow me to pick up another job on top of that, along with trying to get as many papers done at the college as I can before I walk away from the club and they stop paying for it.
Things were tight, and they were only going to get tighter because I didn’t see my sheltered sister coming out of her shell anytime soon to get a job. And while the idea of an education excited her, there was little chance of her being able to do that until she found a way to pay for it.
Even the boys in the club had left me alone as I rushed between work, school and visiting with Emerald. I wasn’t exactly sure why. Maybe because I was really only at the club when I needed to sleep. Or maybe since all the drama and stress I had going on, Op had told them to give me some space? All except one that was, and I was starting to find that I didn’t mind Eagle’s company one bit. He’d spent more than a handful of nights with me, and every time we fell asleep. But he was always gone in the morning. I tried not to feel disappointed, I didn’t have a right to feel disappointed. I also didn’t feel like I had the right to know where he was disappearing to, given that when I got out of bed, he wasn’t at the club.
All of a sudden, he wasn’t this scary standoffish guy. He was a guy who I could talk to about my day, who actually listened to what I had to say. He poked fun at me, and I threw it right back, enjoying the way it had become like a game. One which often ended in us being naked.
I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. With all the other boys keeping clear, I was confused, but also a little thankful that I hadn’t yet had to experience having another man touch me when all I’d felt for almost two weeks was him.
“How’s it going in there, Emerald?” Sugar asked, while madly finding more clothes for Emerald to try on.
“I do not know, Sugar,” Emerald called, her voice a little shaky.
“I’ll be there in a sec to help,” Sugar yelled from our position across the room.
It was only a couple of weeks since Emerald showed up on the doorstep. There were some days where I found myself at my wit’s end, wondering if I’d been this difficult to deal with when I walked away. But I was trying to spend as much time as possible with her because it was actually so amazing to see her eyes light up every time she experienced something new that she loved.
Like right now.
I was sitting on the store counter while Sugar had Emerald down the back in the dressing rooms, using my sister as her own personal Barbie doll. Emerald was slowly becoming more open to normal clothing that wasn’t ankle length or long sleeved, and she’d finally caved this morning and told me she was thinking about trying on a pair of jeans.
When I told Sugar, she was so excited that she shut the store an hour early and had Deacon drop Emerald off so we could play dress up. She’d proceeded to pull every pair of pants she had in store off the shelves—even the ones that I would never dare try to pull off, and every modest, but fancy shirt she owned too.
I spotted a few dresses on the rack and shook my head while Sugar grinned from ear to ear.
“How are you going in there, Em?” Sugar called as we moved over to the dressing room door, tapping her foot impatiently. I giggled, and she hit me with a scowl. “Quiet over there in the cheap seats.”
“I am suddenly not so sure about this,” Emerald’s voice called back with a slight shake.
Sugar rolled her eyes but slapped on her picture-perfect smile. “Babe, it’s only me and your sister here, no one else is going to see you or judge you.”
“God sees everything,” Emerald threw back harshly, before opening the door and peeking through the gap.
“You’re right, he does, therefore he has already seen what you’re wearing and has yet to smite you, so it’s not going to make things any worse if you just open the door,” Sugar replied in a sing-song tone that had me scoffing.
“Okay fairy godmother,” I snorted. “Come on Em, I bet you look amazing,” I coaxed, jumping down from the counter and walking toward them.
She chewed on her lip for a second, her eyes drifting between Sugar and me at least five times before she finally inhaled deeply and pushed the door to the side. My mouth dropped open and Sugar actually bounced on her toes and clapped her hands. Sugar had given her a pair of acid wash, bootcut jeans with a cute white, fluffy sweater that just brushed the waistband. Emerald was tugging gently on it, trying to pull it down further, a slight blush on her cheeks.
She was looking at the floor, one foot crossed over the other in a nervous gesture, but she failed to hide the smile on her face that told me she freaking loved it.
“You’re allowed to like it, Em!” I encouraged, rushing forward and taking her hands in mine. She finally looked up, her eyes sparkling. “Tell me that you like it.”
“I look pretty,” she whispered, and in that moment my heart sank. I’d told her ever since we were little that she was so beautiful, so incredibly unique with her long, ink-black hair and piercing green eyes, but Emerald never heard those words from anyone else. Not her mother, not our father.
Blonde hair and blue eyes were always preferred in the Colony. They say those with these features were the purest, the most innocent, and less able to be corrupted by the devil. I guess I lucked out with my genes in some ways, not so much in others.
“You look stunning,” Sugar gushed, stepping forward and untwisting Emerald’s hands from the furry cotton sweater and guiding her toward the large mirror. Emerald was entranced with the image staring back at her, twisting her body to see herself from all different angles.
I grinned. “Who knew, my sister has a better butt than I do,” I jested, causing her to spin around, her mouth blubbering as she fought to find the words to argue. I held up my hand. “Stop, I’m just playing with you. Your butt is great, but mine is still better.”
Her body slumped, looking half relieved, half disappointed that she didn’t have a nicer ass.
Clearing her throat, she turned to Sugar. “May I try on more?”
Sugar looked like heaven itself had opened up, and Jesus was coming down from the sky. “Yes! So much yes!” She directed Emerald back to the dressing room, tossing several garments inside with her and promptly shutting the door. “I’m going to pick some more things out, I hope you’re feeling ambitious now that we all know you have that smoking body underneath those clothes!”