Mounds of clothing filled the family room. Shoes, purses, and jewelry were tucked into every available corner. Alice had begun to gather her things in preparation for the yard sale.
Emmett let out a low whistle of appreciation as he picked a path through the piles. "I've got to hand it to you, Jasper," he said. "I thought I was good at putting up with Rosalie's shopping, but this? This is phenomenal. Alice must be better in the sack than I thought," he chuckled.
Jasper shot Emmett a miserable look – he'd been absorbing Alice's grief over parting with her trophy purchases all week, and it was grating on his nerves. He was in no mood for Emmett's jokes.
Rosalie popped up from behind a pile. "What are you doing, thinking about how good Alice is at all?" she hissed.
Emmett laughed. "Don't worry, Rose. Idle chatter to get at Jasper. You know I only have eyes for you."
Rosalie rolled her eyes and went down behind a pile again.
"Hey!" she yelled. "What's this doing in here?" Her creamy arm shot up, holding a wad of fabric.
Jasper snatched it out of her hand. "Oh, looky here, my brother," he sang as he unfurled the fabric. "Looks like you've got some explaining to do."
Emmett looked uncomfortable. I peered over my pile to get a better look.
"What's that?" I asked, taking in the shiny black leather. It didn't look like anything Alice would have bought. It didn't even look like her size.
"That," whispered Edward in my ear, "is Rosalie's dominatrix outfit."
I felt my eyes grow wide as Edward began to chuckle. "I guess Emmett decided to clean out his closets, too."
Emmett's chest puffed up defensively. "You said that garage sales were good for getting rid of things people are tired of. I just thought…"
"You thought what?" shrieked Rosalie as she jumped over the pile. "What else did you throw into the piles behind my back?"
Alice, who'd been mysteriously quiet through this whole thing, suddenly chimed in, in a sing-songy voice. "Your French maid outfit. And Wonder Woman."
"Argh! Emmett, I'm going to kill you!" Rosalie snarled. Emmett took off in a flash. Rosalie was right behind him, not even pausing when she yelled over her shoulder, "And don't you expect me to move my car out of the garage to make room for your stupid sale, Alice."
Edward winked at me. "Just an excuse for them to make up," he said, grinning at me as he took in my red cheeks.
"I… umm. Yes. Well, I'm not sure that fantasy wear is really the best thing for a garage sale, but, umm…. Anyway, back to sorting," I mumbled, trying not to think about whatever it was that Emmett had not yet grown bored with.
