by Hazel Kelly
“Cute kid,” Quinn said after she left.
“Wait till she gets her braces off.”
He recoiled.
“What?” I asked. “Aren’t other people’s little sisters your type?”
His blue eyes shrank. “Pathetic.”
“You would know,” I said, matching his glare.
Our staring contest ended when the girl appeared with our Arnold Palmers, and we both sipped in silence until the tension dissipated from the air. It was odd, this new dynamic in our relationship. Our friendly competitiveness had always been in jest, but that was before he had something on me. A happy relationship. And with my little sister no less.
But she was happy. Any idiot could see that. So I kept telling myself this would get easier. After all, it had to. I wasn’t about to throw this friendship away right when it was looking like the guy was going to be a permanent fixture in my life whether I was prepared to handle it with grace or not.
“What I meant to say…” Quinn crossed an ankle over his knee. “Is that if you get lonely out here, there’s no shame in coming home. A few more months of three-wheeling isn’t going to break me and Maddy any more than it would break you.”
“First of all, you don’t mean that. I bet your beamer Maddy asked you to say that.”
He raised his palms. “A bet I can’t take, I’m afraid.”
“I figured,” I said, scooting my chair an inch to the left when the sun peeked around the umbrella overhead. “Second of all, it turns out I’m not the only one taking advantage of my dad’s absence.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean my stepsister broke into the house last night.”
Quinn’s brow furrowed.
“I nearly had a heart attack at the ruckus, and then the cops showed up.”
“The cops?”
“Well, one cop, but it was a whole thing.”
“I’m confused. Why was she breaking in in the first place?”
“Technically, that’s my fault for pocketing the spare key, but long story short, she’s living there while she finishes her MFA program at Northwestern.”
“Her MFA?”
“It’s a creative writing degree. Apparently, it’s the highest qualification an aspiring writer can get. According to my new housemate, anyway.”
“No shit.”
I shrugged.
“What’s she like?”
The memory of the way she looked that morning sprang to mind, and I fought the urge to smile when I thought about the pillow crease on the side of her face that lasted through her first piece of toast. “She’s alright. Reads a lot. Rides her bike everywhere. Still uses cash. I suppose she sort of marches to her own beat.”
“She and Maddy used to be close, right?”
I nodded. “Inseparable.”
“Until your dad ran off with her mom?”
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. "In a nutshell. The whole situation was really sad, actually.” I shouldn’t have been surprised Quinn was suddenly hanging on my every word. Maddy was his favorite topic of conversation. “Obviously, between the shamelessly public adultery and my dad’s gambling debt, my mom got the bleakest deal in the divorce, but it sucks that Maddy felt like she had to choose between her mom and her best friend at fourteen.”
“Wasn’t that awkward at school?”
“No,” I said. “Brie went to Regina, so it was a surprisingly clean break.”
“Apart from all the nights Maddy cried herself to sleep?”
“She told you that?”
“Not exactly,” he said. “Just guessing based on how sad and weird she gets if anything from Brie cheese to step-siblings in general comes up in conversation.”
“Yeah, it was bad.”
“Regina, huh? Isn’t that an all-girls school?”
“Yep.”
“She got a cute uniform?”
My head fell to one side. “Seriously? One sister isn’t enough for you?”
“Oh, one’s plenty. I was just thinking if she had one, maybe Maddy could borrow it sometime.”
“Are you trying to spoil my appetite?”
He smiled. “If I were trying to do that, I would’ve told you the real reason I was late.”
S I X
- Brie -
“Hey,” I said, announcing my arrival as I pushed the screen door of the skinny old house open.
Crystal was sitting on a kitchen chair in the family room while her cousin Mercedes stood to her right, braiding her hair and no doubt tempting early onset arthritis. They greeted me in unison, but only Crystal let her eyes wander in my direction.
“Oh good,” I joked. “You’re almost done.”
Crystal smiled out the side of her mouth, but Mercedes shot me a look like it was way too soon to make jokes like that. It probably was, too, since more than half of Crystal’s hair was still fro-ed out like she’d just auditioned for The Supremes.
“Your keys are in my purse,” Crystal said, flicking a finger towards the couch without turning her head.
“Nice.” I walked across the creaky wooden floor and slumped on the worn leather couch beside her purse. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“Danny really wanted to give them to you,” she said. “I practically had to threaten his life to get him to hand them over.”
“Thanks.” I dragged her drawstring bag into my lap and rooted through her things until I found my keys. “I owe you one.”
“Better me than him,” she mumbled.
“Too true,” I said. “Though I think he’s pretty harmless.”
“There’s nothing harmless about being annoying.”
“He’s really not that bad,” I said, thinking his kissing was the exception. “You should meet some of the other people in my program.”
Crystal scoffed. “I’d rather not.”
“At least he doesn’t strut around like his shit don’t stink.”
Mercedes glanced at me, reading between the lines before Crystal picked up on what I was putting out. “Speaking of pieces of shit,” Mercedes said casually. “How is Darnell?”
“Fuck off,” Crystal said.
“Great question,” I piled on. “Last time I saw him he was sniffing around the skirt of that dirty-looking cheerleader with the raccoon eyes.”
“He’s not messing with her,” Crystal said, her jaw hardening.
“As long as he’s not messing with you.” Mercedes yanked at the braid she was working on just hard enough to make Crystal flinch. “That guy is bad news.”
Crystal’s eyes rolled up to the ceiling like she didn’t appreciate our unsolicited opinions.
I looked gratefully at Mercedes, hoping she could sense how much I agreed with her. “So nothing happened after I left?” I thought of the goosebumps I got the night before when he put his arm around her in the crowded booth and leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Aren’t you nosy for a girl who slept rough last night?”
I scowled at her. “I didn’t sleep rough.”
Mercedes’s painted brows inched up her forehead.
“I broke into my house through the basement window. Like a mature adult.”
Crystal’s cheeks lifted. “What I would’ve given to see that.”
I shook my head. “Believe me, it wasn’t pretty.” I shuddered at the memory of how the damp air felt on my naked butt before the light flicked on and James nearly gave me a heart attack. And then there was the way his cheek felt smushed against my cheek. I cringed. At least I hadn’t peed myself. That was about the only silver lining I could think of.
“Maybe you should hide a spare somewhere outside,” Mercedes suggested. “I think they even make fake rocks for exactly that purpose.”
“Are they stepbrother proof?”
Both women on the other side of the low coffee table furrowed their brows.
“Because I’m afraid they wouldn’t do me much good otherwise.”
“What are you talking about?” Crystal asked.
“Your hot stepbrother?” Crystal shook her hand in the air to get Mercedes’s attention. “I need to turn.” Mercedes groaned and held tight to the braid she was working on while Crystal lifted the seat of her chair and scooted around to face me. “Your hot stepbrother?” she asked again, releasing her grip on the edge of the chair and folding her hands in the lap of her oversized sweatshirt. Well, I say her sweatshirt, but I’d bet my Hermione cut-out it was a trophy from an old conquest.
“My only stepbrother,” I said, unwilling to encourage her ridiculous line of questioning.
“James, right?”
I squinted at her. “I’m pretty freaked out that you remember that.”
“What kind of friend would I be if I forgot you had a hot brother?”
“We aren’t related,” I said, hoping to convince myself as much as her. “And he’s not hot.”
“You got a picture?” Mercedes asked, gathering a clump of hair for another braid. “I’m happy to settle this.”
“No, I don’t have a picture,” I said. “He’s my stepbrother, and I maybe see him once a year.”
“What was he doing at the house?” Crystal asked.
“I guess he’s going to be staying there for a while,” I said. “Apparently, he’s renovating a place in Boystown, and it’s uninhabitable at the minute.”
“Boystown, huh?” Mercedes asked, keeping her eyes on Crystal’s head. “What’s he do?”
“Something in finance.” I faintly remembered Bill talking about it when James was in London. “I think he might work at a hedge fund.”
“Hot and smart,” Mercedes said, her bottom lip protruding as she considered the killer combo. “Maybe you should introduce him to you-know-who so she stops fucking with that piece of you-know-what.”
Crystal huffed loudly to let her cousin know she’d cracked her cryptic code. “Give it a rest, would you? I told you I’m done with Darnell, and I meant it. Letting a guy buy you the occasional drink isn’t a crime.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, wishing I believed her, but I knew that asshole was under her skin. More specifically, sex with him was under her skin. And as much as I wished I could help her, I had no idea what it was like to be physically addicted to someone like that.
“What is criminal,” Crystal continued, her head pulling back as Mercedes tied off the end of another braid, “is how hot your stepbrother is and the fact that you haven’t introduced us yet.”
I forced a smile to hide how much I hated that idea and wondered what my problem was. After all, the stakes were low. They’d either hit it off or they wouldn’t, so there was no reason to be weird about introducing them.
Except maybe one reason.
Which was that, deep down, I liked pretending James’s type was short curvy girls with honey-colored hair who liked epic poetry and long bike rides by the lake. Not leggy black girls with enviable math skills, shiny braids, and booties that could crack walnuts.
But that wasn’t a good reason not to introduce them, and I knew it. So I reluctantly agreed to set something up.
Because, apparently, I’m a bigger masochist than I thought.
S E V E N
- James -
“Should I deal you in?” Tanner asked, glancing at Maddy on the couch.
She looked up from her computer, which was propped on a pillow atop her outstretched legs. “Naw,” she said. “I’m good.”
“What?” Tanner asked when he clocked my expression. “Why shouldn’t Maddy have a chance to take your money like the rest of us?”
Because she already helped herself to my apartment and my best friend? I didn’t say that, of course. Instead, I dropped my eyes to my cards and felt grateful that she’d declined. Not that she wasn’t a good sport, but there wasn’t much honor in taking my little sister’s hard-earned cash.
“I appreciate the invitation, Tanner,” Maddy said. “But you know I prefer strip poker.”
I lifted my eyes in time to catch Quinn and Tanner sharing a smirk. Pete, on the other hand, looked like he just got back from a bloodletting. “What did I miss?”
“Nothing,” Quinn said, dropping his attention to his cards. “Except an image of Pete and Tanner in their underwear that I’m still trying to forget.”
I clenched my jaw and took a deep breath, every cell in my body begging me not to press the issue further.
“What’s this I hear about you having another little sister?” Tanner asked, lifting his bottle of Honkers. “You holding out on me, Jimbo?”
“Not at all,” I said, pushing a few blue chips toward the modest pile in the center of the table. “Just think you and your right hand make a great couple.”
Tanner scowled, and Pete laughed so hard the color returned to his cheeks.
“You should’ve brought her,” Quinn said. “Bet she and Maddy have a lot catching up to do.”
“Wait, what?” Maddy straightened up. “What are you talking about?”
“Brie’s at Dad’s,” I said, reluctant to meet her eye.
Maddy’s head fell to one side. “What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s living there,” I said. “While she finishes her graduate program.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Her tone was sharp and accusatory.
I shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”
She snapped her laptop shut.
“Besides, I didn’t think you cared what she was up to.” I don’t know why I said that. I knew damn well she cared. I guess I was just sick of the fact that she refused to admit it.
“You still should’ve told me.”
“I figured you would’ve just read my mind,” I said. “Like you’re always reading Quinn’s when he needs a fresh beer.” I expected her to scowl at me, but the first thing she did was glance at Quinn’s drink.
He raised his palm subtly, as if to let her know he was good, and I honestly couldn’t tell in that moment if I was disgusted by what they had or jealous of it.
Her scowl followed. “You don’t have to be an asshole.”
I scoffed. “I’m not the one who kicked my best friend to the curb for something that wasn’t her fault.”
Maddy’s mouth fell open. “Are you fucking serious right now?” She set her laptop on the table and swung her feet to the floor.
Quinn shot me a disapproving look.
Maddy’s neck strained forward. “I just want to know how she’s doing.”
“Then you should ask her,” I said, tired of being the middleman. “She’s as much your stepsister as mine.”
“What’s your problem?” Maddy asked.
I met her eye. “I don’t have a problem. With you or with Brie.”
“Did she say anything about me?” Maddy asked. “Or ask how I was?”
“Nope.” I could see in her eyes that the truth hurt, but there was no telling the level of sleuthing she might ask of me if I gave so much as an inch.
Quinn kicked me under the table.
He was lucky I didn’t sock him in the face. Lord knows he had it coming one of these days. But he had a point. Maddy had as much right to a relaxed Friday night as any of us, and me giving her shit wasn’t likely to fix anything. “For what it’s worth, though, I don’t think it’s because she doesn’t care.”
Maddy’s brows lifted.
“I think it’s probably because she has a healthy amount of self-respect, and she’s had ten years to come to terms with the fact that you wrote her off.”
“I didn’t write her off,” Maddy said, shooting to her feet. “Whose side are you even on?”
My face furrowed. “Is that a real question?” It was ludicrous to suggest there might be sides in this situation. The only thing more ludicrous would be to pretend Maddy wasn’t to blame for their falling out.
Sure, it was awful t
hat they both lost their best friend, but at least Maddy still had my mom at the time, a strong, intelligent woman whose biggest flaw seemed to be that she’d been so blindly in love with my dad. Brie, on the other hand, went home with not one but two adults who were so mentally warped they couldn’t see that they’d simply swapped chardonnay and casinos for Christ and church.
Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful every day that my dad hadn’t ruined any more lives since the divorce, but any onlooker could see they were still addicts, albeit addicts in their Sunday best. It’s no wonder Brie was always escaping into books.
And yeah, I went home with them, too, but it’s not like I was there for her. We were awkward around each other at the best of times, and while we’d always gotten along, Maddy’s tangible absence made our attempts at friendship seem clumsy and ill-fitting. Like flirting. So it was easier to keep our distance.
“Does she still have a crush on you?” she asked. “Is that why you’re being so weird?”
“What? No,” I said, perhaps too defensively, the air around the poker table shifting as my competition’s ears lifted in unison. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Maddy folded her arms and glared at me, her eyes narrowing like lasers. What exactly she expected to find during her attempt to peer into my soul, I don’t know, but—
“She’s fucking with you,” Quinn mumbled beside me. “She’s just trying to get you back for making her feel bad.”
My stomach knotted, but I kept my eyes locked on hers. “You’re twisted, you know that?”
“It’s the truth,” she said, her voice steady. “Though it’s damn near impossible for me to believe she’d still carry a torch for someone as selfish as you.”
And there it was. The big fat button she couldn’t help but push. But she was wrong. I wasn’t selfish, wasn’t my father. I wasn’t holding out on her because I didn’t care about her. I was holding out on her because I did.
But Maddy’s heart was too scarred to see that. And when I looked around the table at my friends’ faces, I knew they couldn’t see what was really happening here either.