Page 71 of The Snowball Effect

Grandly, she gestured to the clothing closest to the head of the bed. “We have option number one: the dark blue sundress with the flowers on it.”

“It doesn’t really feel likeyou,” Emma commented, staring down at the dress with a skeptical look.

Regan studied Emma’s profile, surprise sliding through her. “That’s because it’s not; this is Sutton’s dress. I think it reads:yes, I’m dating your daughter, but I’m a very sweet girl. Don’t worry, I don’t do unspeakable things to her at night.”

The color rose high on Emma’s cheeks at that before she vehemently shook her head. “Not that dress.”

Regan pulled her lips to the side, nodding in agreement. “All right; so we aren’t going for a politician’s daughter.”

“No, and we aren’t going for option number three, either,” Emma vetoed as she eyed the mint green cocktail dress. “It looks like we’re going to a five-star restaurant instead of my mom’s house in the New Jersey suburbs. Unless that’s what you want to wear, of course.”

Regan shook her head. “No, I just wanted to have every option available. Granted, the one meeting I had with your mom didn’t really make it seem like she’d be super… fancy.”

She thought about the woman who had shown up on her doorstep with the short skirt and animal print blouse. Yeah, okay, that dress would definitely be overkill.

“The one in the middle is good; it looks like you,” Emma commented, looking at the winning pick.

It was one of Regan’s summer usuals – denim shorts and a band tee – and she found a sweet warmth moving through her at Emma’s comment. Emma’s comment clearly hadn’t even been intended to be a compliment, but Regan felt like it was one.

Moving quickly – theywereon a deadline – she tugged on the outfit. “Thanks.”

Finally, Emma looked at her. “For helping you pick out clothing?”

Breathing out a slightly embarrassed laugh, Regan shook her head. “For wanting me to be… me.”

The blush on Emma’s cheeks deepened as she cleared her throat. “It’s not a big deal. In terms of what you’re doing for me, it’s miniscule.”

It wasn’t to Regan, but she wouldn’t push it.

“Uh, anyway. The car is outside.” Emma held up her phone, where the app informed them that their driver was waiting.

“In that case, you might want to button up your own shirt,” Regan commented, letting her eyes drift down to her cleavage once more. “Unless you planned on wearing it that way to your mom’s house.”

Emma’s gaze darted down to her top before she cursed under her breath. She shot Regan a dark look as she quickly brought her hands up to do up enough buttons to cover up her bra. “I got distracted from dressing myself to helpsomeone else.”

Regan merely shot her an unbothered grin. “I wasn’t complaining.”

Emma had already turned on her heel. “Let’s go before the driver leaves.”

Audrey L. Gallagher – 5:20 PM

You KNOW I hate when you do that thumbs-up response. Can you acknowledge my message like an adult? Are you coming to brunch?

Regan stared dismally down at her phone in her lap as their Uber set off through their neighborhood toward Englewood.

Regan – 5:21 PM

Yep.

And because Regan hated when her sister talked to her like she was a misbehaving pet instead of a person, she reacted to Audrey’s text with another thumbs up before turning off text notifications and sliding her phone under her thigh as she stared out the car window.

It felt… weird texting with Audrey this much. Twice in the last month – even if the messages were Audrey not beingparticularly nice to her – was discomforting. It went against the distance they’d both put between them, and she didn’t like it.

“Are you still okay about doing this?” Emma asked, her voice quiet and intent.

Regan turned to look at Emma in confusion. “Yeah? Why? Because I’m being quiet for once?”

She’d intended for the words to be joking, but she winced as soon as she said them aloud.

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