“It’s a normal outfit,” I defend, tugging it back. “They’re newleatherjeans.”
“They’re bad new jeans,” she counters, waving her hand as if fanning away the mediocrity. “You are the leader of the Raiders.”
“Yeah,” I shrug, adjusting my shirt. “And so was Xavier, and all he wore was tank tops and jeans.”
“Because his muscles are fashionable in itself,” she hums to herself, before shaking her head. “But don’t tell him I said that. I will deny.”
I snort, tying a knot in my T-shirt and reaching to tuck it into my bra.
“Okay, now you’re just making it worse,” she says, looping her arm through mine with a firm tug. “Follow me.”
I stumble as she drags me into the hall. “Jackie—wait—what are you?—”
The last couple of days have turned Jackie into the default person Asher and Zay trust to watch my back when they’re not around. She’s the kindest, most terrifying girl I’ve ever met, loyal to a fault, and right now, I need someone exactly like that.
She pushes her door open. Baby toys scatter across the floor, but the rest of the room is untouched, neat in a way that doesn’t match her energy at all.
“Excuse the mess,” she sighs, slipping her arm free and sweeping her kinky hair into a ponytail. “Being a new mom is amazing, messy, and exhausting.”
“Where is my baby girl?” I ask, looking around the room.
“On a run with her daddy,” Jackie says, smiling as she shuts the door behind us. “Which means we’ve got about an hour to make you look good.”
“Jackie, I am telling you, I look fine.”
She twists her lips to the side and clicks her tongue twice. “Nah. Absolutely not. Get out of those clothes. We’re starting from scratch.”
I open my mouth to argue, but she’s already pacing, talking with her hands like she’s delivering a sermon.
“Because if my body still looked like that,” she gestures to my curves. “Then I would not be hiding it.”
“Jackie, what are you talking about?” I scoff, looking at her. Jackie has the smallest waist to mankind, wide hips, a perfect ass and the perkiest tits I have ever seen in my life. She looks like a video vixen. “Your body is amazing.”
“Yeah, I know, but I can’t fit in all my slutty shit anymore without a tit escaping, or a cheek falling out,” she murmurs.
I giggle as I take off my shoes. She walks to the other side of the room and opens her closet.
“I used to be fun,” she says, tapping her chest. “Crazy fun. Before the baby, before Henderson... I was the girl who could walk into a room and make a man forget his own last name.”
“Sounds powerful,” I say.
“It was,” she sighs. Then she points at me. “And you, Valentina—you have that same thing. The three of them completely lost their shit over you. I have never seen anything like it.”
“The three of who?” I question, sliding off my jeans.
She gives me a look like I’ve personally offended her intelligence. “Asher. Xavier. Isaiah. You really don’t see it?”
Heat crawls up my neck. “I… no. That’s not?—”
“Oh, please,” she interrupts, swinging her closet open with theatrical flair. “Asher looks at you like he wants to drag you into a dark hallway and reorganize your internal organs with hiscock. Isaiah practically vibrates when you walk into a room. And Xavier?—”
She pauses, glancing over her shoulder.
“Xavier claimed you in front of the whole damn club and didn’t even pretend to be subtle about it. That man would burn a city down for you, and he barely knows how to say hello without it sounding like a threat.”
A strange mixture of warmth and guilt curls tight in my chest. “Jackie, it’s not?—”
“Nope,” she cuts in, holding up a finger. “We are not doing modest. It is objectively true, and it is extremely useful tonight.”