Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“What do you think of this?” Stormy comes out, dressed similarly to the way I dress. I like what she’s wearing, but not sure her father would approve, but then again, he loves me so he might not care.
“I like it, but do you? It’s one thing to dress like that every day, but to change back and forth might give you whiplash.”
She shrugs while looking in the mirror. Her head is slanted with her toes turned inward. She looks every bit a rocker chick with the combat boots she’s wearing that are similar to mine, a short skirt, and a shirt that has already been cut. I think she looks cute. Adorable even.
“Let me take your picture.”
Stormy turns around and poses while I snap the photo and send it off to her dad. She disappears into the dressing room, telling me she has another outfit to try on.
As soon as I see that Levi has read the message, I text him: Do you like it?
I don’t mean to hound him, but if Stormy asks if she can get it, I need to be able to tell her yes or no. Almost instantly, Levi’s face appears on my screen.
“Hello.”
“Hey, babe,” he says, breathlessly. The way he sounds, his voice, it makes me melt. “Stormy looks cute in that outfit.”
“I thought so, too.”
“She can get it if she wants. I think it’d be pretty messed up for me to tell her that she can’t dress like my girlfriend.”
Once again, I’m smiling like a fool. I love the label, even more, when I see it plastered all over the web. Those are some of my favorite headlines. The ones I don’t appreciate are the ones that talk about Van, me cheating, Levi and I being engaged, or when they circle my belly and announce that I’m pregnant and don’t know who the baby daddy is. It’s that shit that really sets me off and makes me despise the media.
“I’ll be sure to tell her if she asks.”
“I trust your judgment, Zara.”
“I’m just afraid the girls might take advantage.”
“They won’t,” he tells me. “They love you.”
And I love you, but neither of us has had the courage to say those words to each other.
“I love them, too.”
“What time will you be home?”
Home. Aside from Levi saying love, home is my next favorite word. There is another four-letter word that I like, but I like saving that for special occasions.
“I think in an hour or so. The girls are trying on clothes, and we talked about getting a treat someplace.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
We hang up in time for Willow to come out of the dressing room dressed in an extravagant ball gown.
“Wow, Willow. Are you going to some ball that your father isn’t aware of?”
She giggles and twirls in front of the mirror. “Nope. I thought I could wear this to your wedding.”
“My wedding?” I try to laugh off what she says.
“Yeah, I saw that you and Daddy are getting married.”
“Oh. . . you don’t think I’d pick out a dress for you if that was the case?”
Willow spins again, this time knocking into her sister. Stormy glares at her and Willow sticks her tongue out in retaliation.
“I told you that Daddy and Zara aren’t getting married, Willow. You can’t believe everything you read on the web.”
Willow is far too young to be reading anything about her father on the web, and honestly, Stormy shouldn’t be either. As much as I want to say something about their reading habits, I don’t. I know for a fact that Levi has talked to them in the past about how the media will misrepresent things so they can make money.
“Well she’s having a baby, and that means they’re getting married,” Willow says with her hands on her hips.
My mouth drops at her statement, and I slowly look around to see if anyone could hear her. Sure enough, there’s a group of women, some young, typing away on their phones. As soon as I stand, Big Joe is right behind me.
“Girls, I think it’s time to go.” I usher them back into the dressing room and ask them to change quickly. I turn to find Big Joe blocking the doorway so no one can get in right now.
“I really wanted to buy some clothes,” Stormy says from behind her door.
“I know. We’ll come back. Right now I just really want to get out of here, okay?”
“Okay,” Stormy says. I hate feeling like I’m disappointing her and Willow, but right now I’m just not comfortable being out in the open.
As soon as they’re changed, Big Joe clears the doorway so we can leave. He follows closely behind and isn’t afraid to push people who are trying to get our picture out of the way. The girls walk with their heads down, clearly used to being in the limelight. I feel bad for them, sorry even. They didn’t ask to be born into this life, but it’s the one they lead with their father, and now me. Maybe bringing them to the mall wasn’t such a great idea.