Scorching Secrets

by Kaitlyn Hoyt

I look around the room and notice that Larkin isn’t sitting with us. “Where’s Larkin?”

  “He’s picking up something for you,” Tom answers from the kitchen.

  “Something for me?” He has my attention now.

  “I wouldn’t get too excited, dear.” He laughs. “I got a call from Jane earlier saying that she shipped the dress she wants you to wear to the wedding on Saturday. Larkin’s going to get it since I gave her a fake address.”

  “Oh.” I turn back around. “I’m scared now.” They laugh at my reaction. “It’s not funny. She’s like Emma. She’s going to get back at me for all those times I refused to wear ‘decent’ clothing.”

  Larkin blinks into the room, holding a medium sized box. “I don’t want to open that.” I turn back around and face the TV. I know Jane’s style, so I’m not sure I want to see what is in that box.

  Emma jumps out of the chair, takes the box from Larkin, walks into the kitchen, and places in on the table. “I’ll open it for you.” She grabs a knife and cuts the tape on the outside of the box. I groan and walk into the kitchen as she starts pulling the dress out of the box.

  “Oh dear Lord. She’s getting back at me for prom.”

  “Oh my gosh. This is so pretty. I’ll go for you!” Emma squeals in delight while holding the dress up to her.

  “Please do.”

  Colton walks into the room and places his right hand on my shoulder. I look up right when he asks, “What happened at prom?”

  “I didn’t go. She didn’t like that. She was all like, ‘it’s your senior prom, you have to go,’ blah blah blah. But one, I don’t dance and two, I hate shopping.”

  The dress is midnight blue, floor length, and strapless with a sweetheart neckline and pleated surplice bodice. A matching belt with a fabric flower adorns the natural waist. It flows down with a full pleated skirt. The dress is pretty but not something I would pick out for myself...since I wouldn’t have picked out anything. I lean over the box and see another small rectangular box that most likely holds the shoes Jane wants me to wear. I reach in and take out the shoes. I’m sure my mouth drops to the floor. There’s no way. The metallic glitter peep toe pumps match the dress perfectly. However, they are four inches in height.

  “I’ll never be able to walk in these. Is she trying to kill me?” I hold the shoes up and away from me as if they were some sort of infectious disease. Emma squeals again and grabs the shoes.

  “What size are those? I want to borrow them.” She looks at the shoes, “Shoot, they’re a 7.5. That’s too small.”

  There’s a note at the bottom of the box:

  Ryanne,

  When you get this dress, make sure to hang it up. It’ll get rid of any wrinkles it got from sitting in a box. Also, you HAVE to wear this dress and those shoes. Don’t try to get out of this. You only have to wear it for a couple of hours. You’ll survive. Please wear that gorgeous hair of yours down, possibly curled. You can wear any jewelry you want. See? I can compromise. Don’t forget your date! Try to arrive a little early, so I can run through everything with you. Excited to see you!

  ~ Jane

  P.S. I only plan on getting married once, so please don’t be stubborn and wear the dress. You’ll look great.

  “Dang it, she knows me too well.” Emma grabs the note from my hand and reads it.

  “I’m totally doing your hair and make-up. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.” Emma runs out of the room smiling with the dress and shoes.

  I turn toward Liam, “Do you think Jane will notice if Emma goes in my place?”

  Liam wraps an arm around my shoulder and pulls me toward him. “Probably,” he laughs. “You’ll only have to wear it for a couple of hours. Then you can come back here and change into an over-sized t-shirt and athletic shorts. I’m sure you can manage.”

  “You’ve obviously never walked in heels before.”

  Chapter Ten

  I wake up early Saturday morning and take a shower. Dressing in my usual jeans and a t-shirt, I walk downstairs and see Colton and Liam sitting at the table, talking quietly.

  “Hey guys,” I say when I enter the kitchen.

  “Good morning. You ready for today?” Liam asks. I scowl at him and walk to the fridge to get a cold bottle of water.

  “What are you going to wear?” I ask Liam as I shut the fridge. Liam isn’t one to worry about appearances either. I’d never seen him in anything but black or a slight variation of gray. I’m curious to see what he’ll look like dressed up.

  “I guess you’ll find out in four hours time.”

  “Four hours? That’s plenty of time to get ready.”

  “Ryanne!” Emma yells my name from upstairs. I cringe at the sound.

  I jump up and walk behind the guys’ chairs. “Hide me.” At that moment, Emma runs into the room. “Get over here. We are on limited time!”

  “We have plenty of time.”

  “Have you seen your hair, girl? We don’t have enough time!” She walks around the chair and grabs my wrist. I turn around to the guys and mouth ‘help me’ before Emma pulls me out of the room. I can hear their laughter as we ascend the stairs. Emma drags me into our bathroom. In the middle of the floor is a small chair. Stopping in the doorway, she points to it. “Sit down.” I groan, but listen. There’s no point arguing with her today—especially not when she’s in one of these moods. Emma can be just as stubborn as me. “I’m going to straighten your hair and then re-curl it.”

  “Is that really necessary? Can’t we leave my hair the way it is.” You’d think I just told her that I ran over a kitten based on her expression. I decide from then on to keep my mouth closed and let her ‘fix me up’ as she would say.

  Two hours later, my hair is done and covered with plenty of hairspray. Apparently my hair is difficult to straighten. Who would have guessed? With the amount of hairspray in my hair, I’m surprised that my hair isn’t stiff; though, I do make a mental note to stay away from open flames. Emma starts to work on my makeup. I close my eyes as she applies eyeliner and eye shadow to my eyelids. I’m not allowed to look at myself until she is completely finished and has given me her stamp of approval.

  When I feel the brush leave my eye, I open my eyes and look up at her. With a satisfied grin, she walks to our small closet to grab the dress. “Don’t turn around!”

  I don’t want to endure the wrath of Emma, so I stay seated. She comes back into the room, carrying the dress, pumps, and a strapless bra. “Get changed, but don’t you dare turn around. I want to see your reaction when you see yourself for the first time. I’ll be right here if you need any help.”

  The dress fits perfectly. I’ve slimmed down a little this summer from all the training I’ve done, so I’m not sure how Jane knew what size to get. I call Emma back into the room to help me zip the back. I step into the shoes and gain a whole four inches in height. So, this is what taller people see. I’m still shorter than her but closer than I usually am. She steps back and smiles, “You look great. One sec, let me go get you some earrings.”

  I wait in the bathroom, just staring at the shower. I can hear Emma shuffling through her jewelry box. She walks back into the room and hands me a pair of small dangly diamond earrings. I take out the silver studs I usually wear and put in her earrings. I am expecting them to be heavy, but they are surprisingly light.

  “Can I turn around now?” She nods, and I slowly turn around. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but what I see is not it.

  My hair is curled in large barrel waves, hanging down to the middle of my back. Emma has only curled the ends of my hair, so it gets more voluminous as it goes down. She added some glitter spray to the ends of the waves, which makes my hair sparkle whenever I move.

  The dress fits my body perfectly, highlighting my curves and small waistline. Its low back and sweetheart neckline show more skin than I’m used to, but it still remains tasteful. My eyes are outlined with black eyeliner, and the mascara adds twice as much length to my dark lashes. The dark make-up
brings out the green in my eyes, making them look brighter. My lips glisten from the light pink gloss Emma applied. Liam’s necklace hangs low, hitting against my stomach when I move. Jane will hate it. I smile thinking about how she will react. She did tell me that I could wear whatever jewelry I wanted. After learning about what it would do to Liam, there is no way I will take it off.

  I actually feel somewhat pretty and satisfied with my reflection. “Thank you, Emma.”

  “You like it?” Her eyes widen as she waits for my response. I know that she worked really hard to make me look more suitable for the wedding.

  “You did a great job.”

  “Yay, time to go downstairs. Liam is already waiting.”

  Colton

  “How hard do you think Emma’s fighting her up there?” I turn and ask Liam. Liam is dressed in black dress pants and a white button down shirt. He keeps buttoning and unbuttoning the cuffed sleeves. “Relax, man.”

  “I don’t know why I’m so nervous.” He laughs and looks around the room for anything to distract himself with. I smile at his reaction. I’d be doing the same thing if I was going in his place. I wish I was the one taking her, but out of all the guys here, I trust Liam the most—especially when it comes to Ryanne’s safety. I know he’ll protect her with his life.

  “Ryanne, you will get your skinny butt downstairs right now!” Emma yells from upstairs. I glance over at Liam and see him laughing. I knew Ryanne wouldn’t come without a fight.

  “Is everyone downstairs waiting?” she asks.

  “Yes.” Emma is starting to get frustrated, and it doesn’t usually turn out well for her when she goes against Ryanne.

  “Then, I’m more comfortable in here where no one can see me.”

  Emma and Ryanne are moving around upstairs. Liam breaks a smile at the amount of shuffling sounds that comes from the girls’ room. Emma storms out of the room and down the stairs, mumbling. “She has to be the most stubborn girl...” She stops in front of Liam and me. “She used a shield against me. Can you believe that?” She looks between Liam and Larkin. “Well, don’t you two look spiffy. I approve.” Turning back toward Larkin she asks, “Can you go get her, and force her to come down here.”

  “She won’t like that,” he says and starts smiling. “Sure.” He transports out of the room.

  “You guys are in for a treat.” Emma turns toward Liam and me with a huge grin on her face. “If only she would let me help her every day.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Ryanne says loudly from upstairs. Suddenly, Larkin appears again, holding a very shocked Ryanne against him. She sways a little against his chest when he lands. “I really hate when you do that. I would have gotten away if I wasn’t wearing these death traps on my feet.” Normally, I would have laughed at how angry she is, but I can’t pick my mouth up fast enough. Thankfully, she is staring at the ground and avoiding eye-contact with anyone.

  I let myself fully soak in her appearance. The dress hugs her body like a second skin until it hits her waist and flows outward. Her arms are crossed across her chest, which isn’t helping my staring any. The dark blue color of the dress contrasts with her pale skin tone. A small slit begins right above the knee and travels down to the floor. A small toned leg peaks out the side. It isn’t meant to be sexy, but on her it is. Because she is looking down, her hair is covering her face. The long dark hair falls against her skin in large waves. It looks like Emma has added some glitter to the ends, which gleams whenever she moves her head.

  Emma walks over and elbows me in the stomach. I stop gaping at Ryanne and forcefully pull my eyes away from her. She is glaring at me with wide eyes, silently demanding me to say something. I rack my brain for something to say, but all I get are incoherent, stuttering thoughts.

  “Wow,” is all Liam can say. It appears that he is having as much trouble with words as I am.

  “You look beautiful, Ryanne.” Her name comes out really breathy. Crap, could I be any more obvious? She glances up at our comments, and I have to fight really hard to keep my mouth shut this time. Emma has lined her large eyes with dark eye-liner making them appear even larger and more luminous. Her normally hazel eyes have large specks of green in them, similar to mine. Her gaze meets mine, and her blush deepens, but she doesn’t look away this time.

  The moment is short lived when we hear the sound of a camera click. Emma is standing there with her cell phone pointed toward us and a large smile splayed across her face. “I couldn’t help it. You two looked too cute.” I roll my eyes and look back toward Ryanne, but she is looking at Liam.

  With a huge grin, she looks him up and down and says, “You clean up nice.”

  “Th-thank you.” I laugh at his stutter, which results in a glare from him.

  “Let me get one picture of the two of you together,” Emma says, pointing between Liam and Ryanne. When Ryanne groans, she continues, “It’s only one picture. It won’t kill you.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” she mumbles as she steps closer to Liam.

  He wraps an arm around her small waist while she places a hand on his chest. It takes every bit of strength I have to not growl at how close they’re standing. Where did this possessiveness come from? Posing for the picture, her leg peeks out of the slit. I have trouble dragging my eyes away from the exposed skin. I see her in shorts every day, but there is just something about that dress…

  I clear my throat and walk over to the couch. David is shaking his head at my reaction, but I can see the amusement in his eyes. For the first time, Ryanne notices that Larkin is also dressed up. “You’re coming too?”

  “Yep, I’m crashing the wedding. Someone has to keep an eye on the both of you, while Liam is just focusing on you.”

  “Oh.”

  “Ok, come here.” She looks up at him, confused. With an exaggerated sigh, he explains, “I’m going to take you to the church and make sure you find Jane and then I’m coming back here for Liam.” She walks over to him, and he wraps his arms around her waist and disappears.

  “Holy crap, I’m so screwed,” Liam says while running his hand through his long hair.

  “I’m good. I know.” Emma is really proud of herself.

  “Did you have to be that good?” Liam asks. “I’m going to have to fight off every guy there.”

  “Especially the drunk ones,” adds Logan. “Hopefully there won’t be too many people there, and she can block their thoughts since she won’t be able focus on Colton.”

  Emma looks toward me. “You’re so lucky she’s oblivious to everything around her because you were staring at her like you wanted to rip her dress off and mmhmm mhmm mmhmm—” David covers Emma’s mouth so she can’t finish her sentence. I glare at Emma; I can tell that she is smiling under David’s large hand.

  “Thank you.” I say to my brother. He nods at me but continues laughing.

  Larkin transports back into the room, laughing. “Jane is just like you, Emma. The first thing she said when she saw Ryanne was ‘Of course, you wore that necklace.’ Then she complimented her on how she looked.” He walks over to the couch. “You’re in trouble, Liam. All of Ross’s groomsmen have already taken an interest in Ryanne.”

  Of course they have. I clench my fists. She’s only been there a couple minutes and already attracted the attention of all the males in the building. I really wish I was the one going. The image of her burying her face into my shirt when she read the mind of that man in the mall keeps running through my mind. The whole ordeal with Adam is so fresh in her mind that she gets scared whenever she hears something like that. Most men don’t censor their thoughts which freaks Ryanne out. Liam must have known what I was thinking. He pats me on the shoulder, “I’ll watch out for her.” I thank him and watch as Larkin transports him to the wedding. I run a hand through my hair and start pacing.

  “I don’t think we really thought this through all the way.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Pausing briefly in the doorway, I push back all the thoughts. The
re aren’t that many people back here, so it’s not too difficult. Larkin warned me to be extra careful with the thoughts tonight. If I concentrate too hard on pushing them back, I’ll wear out much quicker. Tonight is one night that I don’t want to pass out. I want to be here for Jane.

  “Where is your date?” she asks me as I enter the room she’s using to get ready before the ceremony. Before answering, I glance over my shoulder and see all the guys’ eyes on me as I pass. What are they staring at? I give my attention to Jane in front of me. My grin is instantaneous; she looks beautiful. She is wearing a large A-line gown with a halter neckline. The top portion is simple, but as the dress lengthens, the beaded lace becomes more prominent. Two-dimensional flowers on the lace are an exact replica of the three-dimensional flower on my dress. Her hair is done in an extravagant up-do with small spiral curls framing her face. A large chapel train follows her as she walks.

  “He’s here somewhere; I wanted to see you first. You look amazing!” She runs over to me and gives me a hug.

  “I’m so glad you could make it; it’s been too long, Ryanne. You look beautiful. Thank you for wearing the dress.” She bends down and lifts the dress a little to see if I was wearing the shoes she gave me. She smiles when she realizes that I listened to her.

  “You have very little faith in me,” I tell her.

  Rolling her eyes, she hands me a small bouquet of pale yellow flowers. “You’ll walk in after Mindy and before Amy.” I turn, and both Mindy and Amy wave at me. “After the ceremony, we’re going to take some pictures, so be ready for that. You won’t have to give a speech or anything at the reception; don’t worry about that. I know how you are with public speaking. I think that’s about it. Please try and enjoy yourself tonight.” I nod, give her another hug, and follow Mindy and Amy out of the room. The wedding is going to start in fifteen minutes, and we need to get into our positions for the ceremony.

  The doors of the church open, and Mindy walks out. I wait until Amy taps on my shoulder and then I follow her. Ross and his groomsmen are already waiting at the end of the aisle. Bouquet against my chest, I concentrate on not tripping as I walk. Ross smiles at me when I walk past him. I wink back at him and get in line behind Mindy. I turn around and see Amy halfway to us. I look around the seats looking for Liam but can’t find him. An organ sounds behind me, and everyone stands up and faces the back of the church. Jane is standing there, arm linked with her father, but her attention is on Ross. When she sees him, her smile widens. Jane looks beautiful, so it is no surprise that Ross has the same expression.