Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,66

dress into the bathroom and stripped down to get ready. I had to be careful with my hair. I should have gotten in the dress before Deb did my hair.

Oh well.

I got situated in the purple dress and caught myself smiling.

I liked the dress.

I felt good in the dress.

I actually felt pretty.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Deb was waiting for me.

She let out a gasp and covered her mouth.

“Wow,” she said. “You are stunning, Winter.”

“Thanks,” I said.

I turned and Deb touched the zipper.

“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.

“Sure.”

“Why does Xavier have that shop?” I asked. “I mean, everyone is rich and can do whatever they want…”

Deb laughed. “Well, Forest hates it. He always hated it. Xavier was a wild kid. Always getting into trouble. So I made him focus on things. He took to cars for whatever reason. He put his energy into taking them apart. Building them. That kind of thing. He actually wanted to go to school for it but Forest refused. Even Rich told me it was a bad look for our kind. So I said fuck you to both and helped him open a shop. Then I had people from across the country fly in and teach him. To me, it was simple… keep him busy and out of trouble, you know?”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said. I turned around to face Deb again. “You’re a good mother. Like, a really good mother.”

Deb smiled. “That means a lot to hear.”

“Thank you for your help here,” I said.

“Anytime. You’re the prettiest one here, Winter.”

Deb touched my shoulders again and that was it for her.

She exited the room and I moved to the window.

It was starting to get a little busy down near the tent.

My heart started to race again.

It was time to go to this dumb ball thing.

And it was time to show off my dress.

I walked down the stairs and knew they were waiting for me.

My foot touched the last step and I took a deep breath.

I engaged my resting bitch face - thank you to my mother for that - and turned the corner from the stairs.

Noah, Easton, and Xavier all stood there, wearing tuxedos.

I froze and lost my breath at how good they all looked.

They were all different yet wearing the same tuxedo.

My jaw almost dropped.

Noah was tall with his perfect hair. Easton kept his hair a little messy and just had that rough and tough bad boy look to himself. And then there was Xavier. His muscles looked ready to burst through the tuxedo.

I was drooling over all three of them so much I forgot about myself.

“What dress is that?” Noah asked.

I gasped.

I looked down at myself.

Shit.

I swallowed hard. “This is the one I picked out.”

“You did what?” Easton asked.

“I didn’t like any of the dresses you gave me.”

“You’re fucking with us,” Xavier said.

“Nope,” I said. “I know what I like.”

I stepped forward and waited for them to make a move.

When they did, they all turned.

Easton walked forward and walked between Xavier and Noah.

“Bold move, Winter,” Noah said.

“What?” I asked.

“The dress,” Noah said. “You were supposed to choose.”

“I did,” I said. “I chose myself.”

Easton looked back. His lip curled but he also had a little bit of a smile too.

I was defiant and he liked it.

Noah didn’t.

Neither did Xavier.

Easton got to the main doors to the walkway to the tent and opened them.

“Here we go, Winter,” he said.

“Is anyone going to get into a fight tonight?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Noah said.

He went first.

He grabbed a drink off a tray and I cringed.

Easton went second.

Xavier put his hand to my back and nudged me forward next.

We walked in a straight line down the stone pathway to the now open tent.

Everyone was dressed up elegantly.

It was a far cry from the masked party last night.

With everything open and everyone looking nice, I actually felt myself relaxing a tiny bit thinking that I could survive this.

We entered the tent and walked around to one side.

They all stopped so I stopped with them.

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“We look normal and blend in with these assholes,” Easton said.

I slowly started to smile.

I wasn’t fully sure of Easton at the moment, but I was okay with that.

He looked over at me and winked.

Before I could say a word, someone bumped into my shoulder.

“Oh, well, well, well,” a man’s voice said.

I looked at the man and stepped back because he was right up against me.

Easton stepped mostly in front of me and Noah touched the man’s