“Who are you? Where’s my sister?”
Violet hurried back into the room with pants on. Demon struggled in my arms until I put him down so he could run to her. She picked him up without batting an eye. “Rose! What are you doing here?”
“We need to fit you for the dress since you couldn’t come last night.” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Jayden. “Jayden? What are you doing here?”
I saw Violet’s ears turning darker and cleared my throat. “I’m Vi’s boyfriend, and these are our buddies, Adam and Jayden. Seems you know Jay, though.”
Adam grunted and mumbled under his breath. “Buddies…”
Rose moved closer to her sister and looked me over. “Is this why you missed the fitting last night, Vi? I hate to be pushy, but we have to get this stuff done. You’ve been so busy this month that you’ve barely helped.”
Jayden looked like he was going to tell Rose off and, while I would’ve agreed with whatever he said, I could see the panic in Violet’s eyes. Patting his chest, I put my other arm around his neck and tugged him towards the kitchen. “We’ll keep an eye on the cookies, Vi.”
“I’m not sure about this. Seeing her in person, I think the dress is going to be awkward on her body. I’m not sure it’ll even fit.”
I grabbed Adam with my free arm and all but dragged them both to the kitchen, dumping them at the kitchen table before sticking my head back into the living room and cutting a hard stare at the woman who’d made the comment about Violet’s body.
“If you can’t make a dress look good with what Violet has going on, you shouldn’t have a job. Be careful how you say things.” I winked at Violet. “You’re beautiful, baby.”
Grabbing a handful of the already baked cookies, I shoved one at both Adam and Jayden. We were going to need them if we had to sit around and listen to assholes try to imply that there was something wrong with our woman, instead of their stupid dress.
Shoving an entire cookie in my mouth, I talked around it. “That’s bullshit. This cookie is fucking good, though. Wow. What did she put in these?”
Jayden, looking thoroughly disgruntled, took a bite. After a moment, he sighed and nodded. After another moment, he smiled. “Damn, these are good.”
Adam bit into his and groaned. “Let me finish this, and then I want to talk to you about training John to eat people that are rude to our little rabbit.”
Jayden caught a bite that fell out of his mouth and shoved it back in. “Already ahead of you. John, attack!”
John sighed and sank to the floor, staring up at us with boredom clear on his face.
I swallowed and looked at Jayden. “Maybe try telling him to lie down?”
32.
***Violet***
Rosestaredatmefrom her seat on my bed with her face in her hands. “I’m sorry. I’m just… confused.”
I was standing on a stool with my arms in the air as three women poked and prodded at me, so I wasn’t doing much better. I gritted my teeth as the woman who’d commented about my body made another disgusted sound. “About?”
“I’ve never seen you with one man, Vi. Not a single one. And now I walk in on you hanging out with three! It’s crazy.” Straightening, Rose brushed her blonde hair back from her shoulders and seemed to reorganize her thoughts. “What I mean is, this feels like someone else. I’ve never known you to hang out with men.”
“Honestly, this dress just wasn’t meant for her body shape, Rose. I’m doing everything I can, but there’s not enough material across the bust and hips.” The woman stepped away from me and crossed her arms over her chest. “The only thing I can suggest is that we take her measurements and buy a larger dress.”
I closed my eyes and blew out a slow breath. Having my body dissected and discussed in that way wasn’t new, especially not while shopping with Mom or Rose. I felt anger in place of what was normally depressed acceptance. Opening my eyes, I focused on the woman still scowling at my hips. “You’ve got two minutes to get whatever measurements you need. After that, you’ll have to figure it out because I want you out of here.”
Rose stood up and cleared her throat. “Violet, she’s just trying to do her job. I should’ve ordered a larger dress for you to begin with. I just wasn’t thinking. All the stress from the wedding is getting to me. This is why I could use some help.”
I looked at the other two women standing around me. “Please, take this off me.”
“Rose, I can’t get everything I need in two minutes. Talk some sense into her, please.” The woman cut her eyes at me again. “I thought you said she was a pushover and that this would be a breeze.”
The women helping me out of the dress must’ve sensed my rage. They yanked me free of the dress and started shoving their things in their bags.
“Violet, don’t look at me like that. I didn’t mean it in a bad way. You know how you are. You’re always so easy. You’re the best sister because of it.” Rose smiled gently and waved me off. “I love you, silly. Even if you’ve been acting strange and not helping.”
“Enough!” I felt guilty for shouting as soon as I’d done it and watched Rose flinch, but I didn’t want to hear another word. I held my hands out and took a deep breath. “Enough, Rose. I’m sorry for shouting, but listen to yourself. I don’t want to be yourpushoversister. I don’t want to beeasyfor you, Mom, or wh0ever else. I just want to be myself. I love you, too. I do. I love you even though you called me a pushover to this not-very nice woman. I love you even though you think it’s my job to do all the menial tasks for your wedding that you and Mom consider yourselves too busy to do. I just don’t want to smile when you hurt me anymore.”