「 thirty-one ✧ i know you 」
"What dress are you going to wear?"
I shrugged at Lacey, who wasn't even looking at me. She seemed to be scrutinizing my closet, then turned back around with a sigh, as if nothing was suitable.
"I only brought a black dress," I said. "I have a few others, but..."
"Not red-carpet worthy," Aurora said from the bed behind us. "Me neither, though."
"You know what this means?" Lacey winked.
"Mall, here we come!" Aurora exclaimed.
We ended up going with the boys as well, since they hadn't brought "nice enough" clothes either, per Lacey's definition. Thirty minutes later, we were all gathered at the entrance of the mall, awaiting Lacey's instructions.
"First," she said, "we'll buy the suits. They'll take quicker."
"Quicker?" Rohan rose a brow.
"You have, like, two colors maximum to choose from. You can't get them tailored, which means you're essentially choosing a shirt, a blazer, and some pants. And possibly some dress shoes. That should be quick."
"I guess you're right," Rohan mumbled.
"Exactly." She led us to the shop she had researched on the bus ride here.
"What about the ties?" Callum asked.
"Well, I was thinking that if you're feeling extra, you can try to match your tie with... one of us."
"So, we'd be going as... couples?" Callum scrunched his nose in disgust.
"Don't act so repulsed," Lacey grumbled. "It was just a thought."
"It would be cute," Aurora chimed in. I stayed quiet, August by my side.
"They'd probably expect it," Lacey added.
"Expect it?"
She groaned. "Fine. Don't match your tie with me, Callum, if you hate the idea that much. God." Lacey started walking at a brisker pace, muttering profanities regarding Callum under her breath. I coughed in an attempt to hide my chuckle.
We arrived at the suit shop, Lacey holding the door politely for everyone except Callum.
The saleslady at the front perked up. "Hello. Can I help you?"
"Yes," Lacey said. "I called you earlier? Do you have the suits ready?"
Callum turned toward the rest of us, mouthing, "No way she called ahead."
I shrugged. "I wouldn't put anything past Lace."
Callum still had an incredulous look on his face when he turned back around, following the saleslady (whose nametag read "Saesha"), who was taking us to the back.
Saesha unlocked a door with her keycard, revealing a large, extra room that had three racks with multiple suits on each.
"This rack," Saesha said, rolling the first rack closer to us, "is for Callum. I hand-picked multiple different suit jackets for you already, in your respective sizes. Those," she continued, motioning toward the other racks, "are Rohan's and Augustus'. Please let me know if you need anything else."
"Thank you, Sash," Lacey said, pulling the girl into a hug. "You're the best."
"And of course Lacey knows her, too," Callum mumbled.
Saesha left us, closing the door, and we all dispersed. I followed August to his rack, pulling out the options.
"So, this is why you thought it wouldn't take long, Lace? Because you already had someone pick out options for us?" Callum asked.
"I was being proactive." She shrugged.
I laughed lightly, checking out the first suit option that August was holding in his hand. The suit jacket was a dark navy blue, and it was paired with a light, baby blue inside shirt. I touched the jacket, noting that it was clearly made of wool. The pants matched the color of the blazer.
"This one is nice," I said, grabbing it from August and letting the fabric trail through my fingers.
"It's nice if I want to impersonate an ocean," he muttered.
I faked an offended gasp. "Take that back."
His lips lifted in a little smirk, but he didn't respond.
"Well," I said, putting the outfit against his front, seeing how it would look, "it brings out your eyes."
At that, August stared at me, not saying anything. Then his eyes moved down my face, to my nose, my cheeks, then to my lips. I swore I saw him lean closer... closer...
"Have you picked a suit?" Rohan said, bounding over to us like a happy puppy. "Take a look at mine." He held up a dark gray suit, practically black, then held it up to himself. "Doesn't it look nice?"
"It looks amazing," I said, trying to smile without it coming off weird. As I fumbled to put August's dark blue outfit back on the rack, my hands brushed his, and I took them away quickly. I didn't want them to see. I didn't want them to know, not when this won't last.
"I think I'll pick this black one," August said. I swallowed as he grabbed the black one off the cart and held it to himself. "Yeah?"
"Looks great," Aurora said, smiling from next to Rohan. Then we all, collectively, glanced over at the... scene occurring between Lacey and Callum.
"You're stupid," Lacey sputtered. "Pick the dark blue one."
"I hate that one!" Callum pouted. "Please, let me have the white one. Please, Lace."
She glared at him, but before something else could ensue, I interrupted them. "Lace, don't you think white will match better with the dress you're getting? If he picks blue, then aren't you limited to certain colors? Assuming you still want to match, that is." I rose a pointed brow in Callum's direction.
Lacey crossed her arms, sudden victory filling her expression. "You're right, Emilia. I guess Callum was just thinking of which suit would match my dress the best. Was that what you were thinking, Callum?"
"Um... yes, of course. I'll agree with whatever gets me to wear that white suit."
Lacey narrowed her eyes at him, but eventually let up and let him take the white suit to Saesha, who was at the register.
The boys bought their suits while Aurora and I waited outside. Lacey insisted that she needed to "oversee" the process, so she stayed inside.
Once they were done, we followed Lacey to the next stop: the dresses.
The shop she took us to was stunning. Inside lay all sorts of dresses: gowns, floor-length, thigh-length, strapless, halter... I didn't even know where to start.
Lacey didn't give Aurora and I instructions. She didn't need to. We automatically gravitated toward the sides of the store that had the dresses we eyed and that fit our style.
I made my way over to the stunning, floor-length dresses. A deep, blood red one caught my eye.
"It will look gorgeous on you," said a voice behind me.
I turned to meet August's eyes. I hadn't even known he was standing behind me. "You think?"
"I know." He smiled, and it warmed something in my chest.
I grabbed a few other dresses – one thigh-length blue one and a flowy green one – and headed to the changing room. August followed along the whole time, telling me how amazing I'd look in each one.
Once we were in the dressing room, he sat outside mine on a small lounge chair. "I can wait here." Then he smirked. "Unless you need help...?"
"You wish." I rolled my eyes, fighting a smile as I closed the curtain to the changing room and hooked it shut.
I slid out of my clothes, trying on the green one first. For some reason, I wanted to save the red one for last.
The dark, sage green dress was strapless and hugged my upper body, then flowed out after my waist. The material was satin and there were numerous gem details within the fabric.
"Show me when you're done," I heard August call from outside.
Sighing, I unhooked the curtain and revealed myself in the dress. He glanced up from... was he reading a book?... and scanned me up and down with a grin.
"It's beautiful. You're beautiful. It brings out your eyes, truly."
I blushed. "Thank you. I'm not sure how I feel about it being strapless, though. Let me try the next one."
The same thing happened with the blue one. It was nice, but it was too short for my liking. August, of course, continued to say how stunning I looked.
God, and it was only day one of our trial. How would I last a week like this?
Then, I tried on the third dress – the red one.
It was perfect. I'd never been a huge fan of the color red, but somehow, this dress made me love the hue.
The straps were thin and the neckline wasn't too low. It hugged my chest just right, and the slit starting at my upper thigh allowed me enough room to walk.
"Well? I want to see it, Lia."
Holding my breath, I opened the curtain again.
August's jaw dropped as he studied me, his gaze looking me up and down. He stood, making a lap around me and studying every single inch.
"You're perfect," he breathed.
"The dress is," I corrected.
"No. You are."
I smiled. "So, this is the one?"
"It's your choice." He couldn't keep his eyes off of me.
"Alright." I smirked and re-entered the dressing room, closing the curtain again and changing back into my regular clothes. I held all three dresses in my hand, stepped out of the room, and motioned for August to walk with me to the register.
"Here," he said. "Hand me the green and blue one."
"Why?"
"You're choosing the red one, aren't you?"
I narrowed my eyes. "Why would you think that?"
"Because I know you, Lia. Now, hand me the other two."
Slowly, I gave him the other two dresses, and I watched as he put them back on their respective racks and then came back.
"I was right, wasn't I?" he said once he joined me in line to the cash register.
"Yes," I mumbled, holding the red dress in a way that didn't wrinkle it.
Once we were at the register and I handed the woman my dress, she winked at me. "Good choice."
"Thank you," I responded, smiling. Then I opened my purse to get out my wallet. God, where was it? After what felt like an eternity, I finally fished out my card and moved to hand it to her. But once I did, she was already printing a receipt and wrapping the dress in a sleeve.
At my confused expression, she motioned toward August. "Your boyfriend paid for it."
Spinning, I pointed a glare toward August. "I didn't need you to pay," I hissed. He just shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"My girlfriend is just stubborn," he explained as the lady handed me the dress form over the counter.
I nudged him in the ribs, smiling at her apologetically. "Sorry. Have a good day!"
Once we were outside the shop, I gave him another one of my sharp glares. "I'm not your girlfriend."
"Yet." He grinned, as if he knew he would win the "trials". It was always a damn competition between us.
Before I could open my mouth to spit back a retort, Lacey, Aurora, Callum, and Rohan came out of the shop as well. In my haste to yell at August, I had almost forgotten that the others were in the store as well.
"Are we ready to buy the ties, now? Then we can head back to the hotel room, change, get ready, and leave," Lacey said.
We followed her back to the suit shop, but I noticed that August didn't even go inside.
"Are you not going to buy a tie?" I asked. At the thought of him refusing to match with me, a sinking feeling tugged at my stomach.
"I already did."
"What?"
"I already bought a tie," he said.
"But you didn't know what color my dress was going to be."
At that, he pulled out a deep red tie from his bag. "I told you; I know you."
✦✧✦✧
We arrived at the event thirty minutes before it started, eager to see Alaska and Rowen walk the red carpet.
The security guards, after we begged them, led us to a spot that allowed us to see them enter. It was a secluded spot, where only security was allowed. They told us that they didn't want us to get "trampled" by the paparazzi.
"When are they going to arrive?" Lacey groaned quietly from behind us.
I glanced over at her, noting how her sparkly golden dress fell perfectly over her body. Aurora sat next to her, the deep green of her dress practically glowing in the dim light.
"Be patient," a guard muttered from behind her.
Lacey fixed her glare on him. "And who are you, exactly? Do you know the exact schedule of both Rowen and Alaska?"
"Actually, I do." The guard smirked down from where he towered over her.
"How? Are you a stalker?"
He chuckled darkly, pulling out something from his breast pocket. I only saw a flash of a gold symbol, but by the way Lacey's face dropped, I realized what it was.
"You're in the FBI?" she whisper-shouted.
"Congratulations, darling. You can read."
"Don't call me darling," she hissed.
I chuckled as they continued bickering. Then August leaned close to me, his breath next to my ear. "I can't stop staring at you," he whispered. "How do you look so gorgeous?"
I hoped he couldn't see my cheeks redden in the dim light. I opened my mouth to answer, trying to think of something, but Lacey interrupted.
"They're coming in three seconds?" she asked loudly.
"Go ahead, shout it to the world," the FBI agent grumbled.
"There they are!" Aurora interrupted, pointing toward the red carpet.
We all stood, faces practically pressed to the glass as Rowen and Alaska exited their limousine. Rowen got out first, then headed toward the other side to open the door for his wife.
She smiled up at him, her gaze filled with a type of love I dreamed of. Her dress was straight from heaven; the hue was equivalent to starlight, sparkling and almost blinding. Rowen's suit matched her dress, the same pale grey.
She slid her arm through Rowen's, the ring on her fourth finger catching the light. They waved at the cameras together looking absolutely perfect together.
"I can't believe they're right there," I whispered.
"Please tell me we can go meet them," Lacey said. She turned to the FBI agent. "Please?"
"And why would I do that?" His arms remained crossed over his chest.
"Because I said please?" she offered.
He glared at her under hooded eyes for a few moments, before grunting and leading us out the door. "Follow me."
hi everyone!!
this is my favorite chapter i've written in a while, especially because of the rowen/alaska cameo!! also, i hope you enjoyed the quick sneak peak into lacey's book (the next book in this series)... ;)
i'm currently on vacation and i'm excited to hopefully write a lot this week!
anyway, hope you enjoyed! i'll see you in chapter 32 <3