Page 50 of Sing For Me

“Oh, shit,” River mutters as the rest of the girls tumble in after her. Just like that our apartment is a flurry of feminine squeals and laughter and an absolutely absurd amount of luggage and gear for one night.

“Did we invite you to move in without me realizing it?” I ask, walking towards the entryway to greet them. I’m immediately inundated with hugs. “How much shit do you need?” I ask, tugging on Violet’s braid.

“We’re having agirl’s night,” Vega informs me, like that explains everything.

CeCe starts jumping around my feet. “We’re going to do face masks and have pedicures and watch YouTube videos to learn new hair styles. It’s going to be thebestnight, Will.”

Presley stands behind the younger girls, dressed in ripped up jeans and an old Star Wars t-shirt that I’m pretty sure once belonged to my brother. Her arms are crossed and she doesn’t look the slightest bit excited about the girly night planned.

“You gonna do face masks and get a pedicure, Pres?” I tease and she gives me a death glare.

“I was supposed to be hanging out with Si and Nix tonight,” she grumbles. “And instead I was guilt-tripped into coming here.”

“Of course you had to come here!” her older sister Everly cries, wrapping her arms around the younger girl’s stiff shoulders. “It’s a girl’s night, Pres. We can’t have girl’s night without you.”

I pat the top of her head. “You can escape to my room any time it gets too pink and sparkly out here.”

She looks up at me with a woeful expression. “You’re not staying?”

“Will!” Vega whines. “I thought we could go over the script for my next video. You promised you’d help.”

I open my mouth to head her off but my little sister interrupts us. “Hang on,” CeCe says, narrowing her eyes. “Why do you look so nice?”

I look down at my grey slacks and white button down. I’m not wearing a tie or anything, but I definitely look a lot more cleaned up than usual and it was stupid not to realize they’d notice.

“Your brother has a date,” River stage whispers.

I glare at him as the girl squad in our entryway turns on me. There’s a beat of silence—the calm before the hurricane—and then they all explode.

“Youdo?” Violet squeals, grabbing my arm. “With who?”

“Oh my God!” Santana is already jumping up and down. “You’re going out withher, aren’t you?”

“And that’s my cue to leave.” I grab my keys from the bowl by the door. “Have fun, girls.”

“No fair,” CeCe yells after me. “I want to hear about your date!”

“Don’t worry,” Everly says in an undertone just before the door closes behind me. “I’ll tell you all about it.”

I groan. This night is off to a fucking great start.