“We?” Both Dylan and Jason ask in unison and we all turn to face Jason.
Our gazes bounce from one person to the other.
Olivia is the first to speak, and she leans on the wall, exuding confidence. “Yes,we. I think it’s time you gentlemen allow us to have some fun. Besides, it gives us the opportunity to show you how a job isreallymeant to be done.”
I like her already.
“Absolutely not,” Jason announces through a clenched jaw.
Olivia approaches him and moves to touch his face. He reaches for her hand and brings her knuckles to his lips. “I’m going to be just fine,Professor. And if anything happens to me, you can take it out with Dylan here.”
She winks at Dylan, who puts his hands up as if surrendering. “I have nothing to do with this.”
“If anything happens to her, I swear I will—”
“Yeah, yeah. You’ll skin me alive and detach muscle from bone, all while keeping me alert to feel every second of it.”
I blanch. Looks like this isn’t their first time exchanging such threats.
“What aboutme?” Sara walks in and we all turn to her.
Her emerald-colored eyes appear pained as she stares at Jasmin, who takes a sip from her beer and then crosses her arms. “You and I have a conversation pending. But for now, this takes precedence.”
Sara swallows and stuffs her hands deep into her pockets. “I can stay with Jason and monitor the situation from here. I brought some tech that you all can wear; it’s undetectable. They won’t find it on their scanners. I’ll make sure you have the best fucking connection for us to be able to communicate. You can also add another person, someone not here…nor there.”
She looks at Olivia and then to Dylan.How the fuck does she know about Piper?
“Olivia communicated some privy information,” Dylan explains, and he glares at his cousin.
“Hey, I’ve known Sara for years and I vouch for her. I don’t agree with some of her… methods. But she’s good people.”
“It’s up to Niki and Jasmin,” Dylan crosses his arms. “I’ll back up what they decide.”
It’s like a standoff between the two family members. They stare at one another, neither one backing down.
Jasmin clears her throat. “It’s alright, she can stay.”
“Great.” Olivia’s hands clasp together near her chest. “I have outfits for us.” She weaves her arms through mine and Jasmin’s and leads us out.
I turn, and Dylan offers me an encouraging smile, then waves at me. Behind us, I hear Jason grilling Dylan about Olivia accompanying us, but we reach a turn and their voices become too muffled for me to eavesdrop.
“I went a little crazy and bought us a variety of outfits for the night.” Olivia takes us into a master suite and then we walk into the biggest closet that I’m sure absolutely no one needs.
The room is the size of an entire apartment, with bright lights and a lush, ivory-colored carpet. Three walls hold hundreds of color coded outfits, and directly to my right is an open room and I get a glimpse of shoes lining the walls from floor to ceiling. She directs us to a spot with an ornate screen cornered against a wall. To my right, a rolling cart, like one you would see behind the scenes at a modeling show, holds at least twenty outfits.
“The blue hangers hold your outfits, Justice. And the yellow ones are for Jasmin.”
I freeze, temporarily blinded by the bright lights, and I lean against a cushioned bench and sit.
“You got these forus?” Jasmin manages.
Although my little family owns a ranch with all the elements of a cozy living, we’ve never truly taken advantage of it all. We embody the living standards of the trailer park, and we always felt it kept our situation more believable. I couldn’t walk around withthe latest and most fashionable boots, Jule couldn’t own the best gadgets, and Jasmin could never have a single item from this expensive array of dresses I’m sure she’d love to own. We had to fit it, regardless of what we owned miles from our trailer shit box, and we grew to appreciate and value what we earned. It made everything we had at the ranch extra special.
Olivia smiles at us. “Let’s get ready.”
I stare in the mirror. “I can’t walk out with this.”
“You can and you will,” Jas says while she practically flirts with her reflection.