When the Darth Vader theme went off, I stopped, my body drenched in sweat. I realized it was dim in the living room, the sunlight a weak orange. Shit. I picked up the phone.
“Yeah?”
“Hey, you coming or not? It’s seven,” Mir said, her voice hushed. From the way she sounded, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was cupping her mouth like she was telling me a secret.
“Already?” I lifted my gaze to the clock on the wall—7:03.
“I texted you half an hour ago so you could come wait, but you didn’t answer.”
I hadn’t heard my phone ping. I was still high off the new music. “Why would you want me to wait half an hour?”
“That way you look like a gentleman. Gentlemen always come early and wait.”
I rolled my eyes. Mir had the weirdest ideas sometimes. Emily was too practical to want somebody hanging around for half an hour for no reason. “Okay, sorry. Look, I need to grab a quick shower here.”
“Fine. Make it fast. Emily’s almost ready. I’ll leave the door open so you can slip in quietly and pretend like you’ve been waiting like a good man.”
I hung up. So technically I wasn’t late, because Emily wasn’t ready yet either. But from the way Mir had spoken, I might as well have missed the last flight to heaven.
I bounded up the stairs to take the fastest shower in history. Emily might still have some prep to do, but it would be embarrassing to have her wait because of me.
Excitement ran through me as I got ready. Although my sister was tagging along, this felt like a real date, with me and Emily going out.
I finger-combed my still-damp hair and put on a dark blue V-neck shirt with black jeans. Then, on a whim, I put on a necklace with the band’s logo: a stylized A done in sterling silver. I no longer felt like an imposter whose music had gone dry, so I felt worthy to wear it again.
Then I went over to Emily’s, and sure enough, the door had been left ajar.
“Come on in,” my sister said. She was in a tight black dress with a low neckline and a super-short skirt. A dark plum color coated her lips, and her lashes were heavy with mascara.
“Should you be wearing that?” I asked, not liking her outfit. Although she was a big girl now, I remembered some of the assholes in town who’d had crushes on her. Men were all fucking dogs, and my sister should be more covered up.
“Why? It barely shows anything. Besides, God gave me these legs. They’re t
oo pretty to remain hidden.”
She did indeed have a pair of nice, long legs. I could admit that—grudgingly—but that didn’t mean I wanted every guy in town staring at them. “Still. That dress is way short.”
“It’s only three inches above the knees. Nobody can see my underwear when I bend down. Now stop being medieval. Your groupies wear a lot less than this. And for God’s sake, don’t criticize Emily’s outfit.”
I gave her a sidelong glance, wondering if Emily was going to wear something similar to what Mir had on. I wanted to see Emily’s body, but at the same time I didn’t want her parading around in so little material, for all the assholes in the town to drool over. “Did you pick it out for her?”
“Of course. That’s why we went shopping.” Mir beamed, looking proud.
I tried not to cringe. Mir was a firm believer in showing off one’s assets. Sometimes it seemed like she was applying for Dev-groupie status. And I didn’t want Emily to dress like a groupie. I wanted Emily to dress like how she’d normally dress when she went out to a bar.
“Hey,” came Emily’s voice from the staircase.
I turned my head. Air caught in my lungs as I took her in. Her hair was down, flowing over her shoulders in gentle golden waves. Pink lipstick and blush added a lovely flush to her face, and the scarlet dress she had on covered everything it needed to, but also fitted over the soft curves of her breasts, the sexy double dip of her waist and flare of her hips. Her feet were in a pair of pale silver sandals with thin heels. The entire ensemble was hot as hell, and made me want to unwrap her like a Christmas present.
My heart pumped faster, my blood heating up.
She stepped down the stairs, running her fingers along her hair, and gave me a small smile. “Do I look all right?”
Finally, air came back into my lungs. “Wow,” I said. “Yes. Better than all right.”
Her smile widened. “You look pretty neat yourself.”
“I didn’t realize we had to be this fancy.”