Joy was offended by the suggestion. “No. Mom’s the prettiest grown-up in the whole world. And she has really big boobies, so that makes her even prettier.”
I choked on my spit and buried my mouth in my fist. This girl was something else. I waited until I’d regained my composure before speaking again. “I agree with you, Jackson. Mike isn’t ugly. Besides, he can’t help it if he doesn’t have beautiful caramel skin, shiny brown hair, and big brown eyes like the rest of us.” I exaggerated my words and winked. Joy giggled.
Jackson didn’t pick up on my joke. He was too thrilled about being right. I’m guessing that didn’t happen often—not with his sister around, at least. He beamed with pride, and the hesitance he’d had to interact with me melted away. “Is your dad Mexican, too?” he asked.
“Nope, he’s Cuban.”
Jackson opened his mouth to say something, but Joy cut him off. “Well, my dad is Mexican, and my mom is Floridan. She says that’s why we look like sun-kissed angels. Mikey’s dad isn’t Mexican or Floridan. So, he’s not as lucky as us.” Joy stopped talking to think, then opted to agree with Jackson and me. “I guess you’re right. It’s not his fault how he looks.”
“That’s so gracious of you, Joy,” Mike said sarcastically. “Now, can we keep walking? I bet you guys have a lot of homework.”
“Can we have a snack first?” Jackson asked. He was a man of few words, but he obviously had priorities. Ones I greatly appreciated, since I was still starving.
“Yes. If we ever get home.” The twins pulled ahead of us, holding hands as they walked.
“Guess what?” Jackson said to Joy. “My name starts with J and your name starts with J and Josh’s name starts with J and Jayden’s name starts with J. And, we all have brown skin and brown hair and brown eyes. Jayden is more like our sister than Mike is.”
“I’m not like your sister at all,” he pointed out. “And I have brown hair, too, remember?”
“Yes, but it’s light brown, and you put all that weird blond stuff on the end. It’s just not as beautiful as ours.” Joy gave Mike a sympathetic look, then added with a grin, “Sucks to be you.”
“Anna-Joy Rodriguez!” Mike gasped. His maternal nature was endearing. “That was completely inappropriate. Where did you learn to say that?”
Joy stopped walking and turned to give us the duh face. “At school. Everybody says it.”
“All the kids in first grade say sucks to be you?” he argued.
“I don’t say it,” Jackson pointed out, and Joy glared at him.
“That’s because you have class, little man,” Mike said with a smile. He reached down and ruffled his brother’s hair. Then he gave his sister a stern expression. “Joy isn’t going to say it again, either, or she’s going to be grounded from cartoons.”
“Mikey!” She huffed.
“Anna-Joy,” he replied. Mike’s hard stare and serious tone said he meant business. I watched him hold his own against this tornado called a six-year-old, and something twitched inside me. Something weird—familiar and foreign at the same time. Admiration? Appreciation? Attraction? No, couldn’t be that last one. It’s not like I was an emotionless robot. I recognized what I was feeling, I just didn’t think it was possible to feel impressed by someone like Mike.
“Fine,” she agreed, much to her chagrin, then pouted for a second. But the pout quickly turned calculating. I watched as a light bulb illuminated her little eyes, and they sparkled with mischief. Her voice dripped with honey as she offered Mike a deal. “If I promise to never, never say sucks to be you again, can we have cookies for an after-school snack? Pretty pleeeease?”
“Oh, yes! Please?” Jackson added hopefully, bouncing on his toes. It was the most excitement I’d seen from him since we’d met.
“You just said it again,” Mike pointed out.
“I meant starting now,” Joy corrected herself.
“All right.” Mike gave in, pointing a finger at her. “But if I do hear you say it, you’ll never, ever get cookies for a snack again. Do you understand me?”
“Yay! Cookies!” the twins bellowed in unison and took off at lightning speed—without acknowledging his threat. I was pretty sure they’d tuned out at the words all right.
“Look before you cross the street!” Mike yelled, followed by, “Two cookies. That’s it!” Then he sighed.
“Wow. She’s a handful, isn’t she?” I laughed, now that the kids were out of earshot. I’d been holding it in since they got off the bus.
“That’s putting it mildly.” Mike grunted. “But Jackson is really mellow most of the time, so he kind of evens her out. Those two are like night and day but still thick as thieves. It’s a twin thing, I guess.”
“I’m envious,” I admitted.
“Why? You’ve got plenty of that high-strung thing going on.” Mike’s insult was playful. “Besides, you’re more like Joy’s sister than I am. She said so herself.”
“Ha! She did, didn’t she? No, I’m envious of their relationship. I’d have given anything to be a twin when I was little. I used to imagine I was all the time. Now, I’d settle for a sibling.”
“You’re an only child?” Mike asked.
“Yep. My mom had some serious complications with me, and the doctors advised her that having more children would be dangerous. She always told me that she wanted more kids but that she’d rather stick around long enough to be my mom.”
“Do you get lonely?”
“Sometimes,” I replied honestly as we crossed the street and headed up the porch. “But believe it or not, being an only child can be suffocating. My parents don’t have anyone else to direct their attention to, so I get all of it, if you know what I mean. My dad holds his giant magnifying glass, waiting for me to screw up, so he can lecture me about how being his daughter means being the best.” We stepped inside to the sounds of cupboards slamming, papers rattling, and something falling on the floor, followed by an oops.
“Hold that thought.” Mike held up a finger and looked toward the kitchen. “Make yourself at home. I’ll be back in a minute.” He didn’t wait for me to respond before dashing off.
“Go do your thing, Mr. Mom,” I joked, but he was too busy heading off disaster to hear.
I sat on the couch and sank into the cushions. The fabric was worn but comfortable, and it instantly made me want a nap. My family wasn’t rich, but my dad made good money and he liked our house to reflect that. Our couches were sophisticated and pretty, but not so much inviting or comfortable.
I looked around the small living area. The whole room was cozy. There was an afghan thrown over the back of the sofa. It looked like it’d been made with love—probably by a grandmother. I wasn’t chilly, but I pulled it down and snuggled up anyway. Mike had said to make myself comfortable. I should have pulled out my Spanish book. Instead, I focused on the sounds of chaos in the kitchen and let myself daydream about having a house full of siblings. A family with parents who laughed and played and were proud of me no matter what grade I was getting in Spanish.
A hand gently shook my shoulder, and I snapped upright. Mike laughed as he set a plate down on the coffee table in front of me. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep. Talk about embarrassing. I hoped I wasn’t snoring or drooling. I shook myself to get my blood pumping and said, “Wrong reference. It’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure the prince woke Sleeping Beauty with a kiss, not by shaking her.”
“You’re right. And I would know, because unfortunately, it hasn’t been that long since I’ve seen it.” Mike rolled his eyes and sat next to me. “But since shaking you worked, it must mean one of two things.”
“Which is?” I asked, curious to hear his theory.
“Either you weren’t asleep, or you aren’t a princess.”
I opened my mouth in mock outrage. “How dare you question my nobility.”
Mike held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Hey, don’t get mad at me. I’m inclined to b
elieve in your royal lineage, since you have such a proclivity for being bossy and rude.” Now he was smirking. “Unfortunately, the only way to test your true pedigree is to drug you heavily, then kiss you to see if you wake up.”
I felt my face flush when he said the word kiss, which made me feel stupid. But I didn’t want him to think I was a prude. Not that it should matter if he did. “That’s not true,” I objected quickly. “You could give me a light sedative to get me sleepy, then pile up all the mattresses in your house and lay them on a pea.”
“Yeah, but kissing you would be more fun,” Mike replied flippantly. He must have realized how it sounded, though, because he instantly clamped his lips shut. Did he just say it’d be fun to kiss me? I must have heard him wrong. He probably meant that kissing any girl would be fun. Except…he did change the subject awfully fast. He nodded to the plate on the table and said, “I thought you might be hungry.”
“I’m famished. How’d you guess?”
“Your stomach was growling in your sleep.”
“Oh my gosh! That’s almost as bad as drooling.” I laughed.
“Nah. It’s nowhere near as bad as drooling. It’s not even as bad as snoring. Of course, a tiny little snore can be cute sometimes.”
“So, let me get this straight. You’d place my disgusting digestive symphony at less embarrassing than an ugly snore but more embarrassing than a cute snore?” I laughed again.
Mike looked pensive, then said, “Yeah, I’d say that’s accurate.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“Not long. Ten or fifteen minutes, maybe.”
“Was I snoring?”
“Possibly.”
“Was it an ugly snore or a cute snore?”
His eyes narrowed as if he was considering an appropriate answer, then he did the smart thing and changed the subject again. “I wasn’t sure what kind of food you like, so I grabbed a bit of everything. Though, given our recent conversation, you might want to stay away from the apple slices. They could be poisoned.”
“Apples are Snow White, not Sleeping Beauty.”
“Different curse, same cure,” Mike spoke casually, but his smile was subtle, and I couldn’t help reading into his words. I might not have been giggly and boy-crazy like Becca, but I wasn’t adorably naïve like Summer, either. I was a girl who had just enough experience with boys to be totally confused by Mike’s multiple kissing references. Was he flirting with me? Or was I going crazy?
“I’m done!” a singsong voice called from the other room. Joy came skipping in with her homework packet in hand.
“Is this all you have to do?” Mike asked skeptically as she nodded and handed him a pen. He signed the bottom of the last paper, knowing what to do without asking or reading instructions. That left me wondering if he was naturally paternal, or if the parenting role was out of necessity. He’d mentioned that his mom had school conflicts this week, but where was his stepfather? And why was Mike doing his job for him? Mike had talked about him as if he was some kind of super-dad. But if he was actually a deadbeat, I’d…I’d…well, I wouldn’t do anything. But I’d be extremely mad on his behalf. My questions about Mike were piling up a lot faster than I was getting answers.
“Joy’s not done. She’s supposed to read for twenty minutes,” Jackson said, walking in with an identical packet of paper. Mike signed his, too.
“I knew that. I was testing her…and she failed.”
“No!” Joy defended her unsuccessful fib. “Reading isn’t homework. It’s reading. I was going to do that next.”
“Sure you were.” Mike wasn’t buying it.
“I was. But I’m too bored to read for twenty whole minutes. Will you read to me?” Joy asked Mike with puppy dog eyes. They must be her secret weapon.
“I can’t. That’s not the assignment. You won’t get better if you don’t practice. I’d let you read to me, but Jayden and I really need to get started on our own homework.”
“You can read to me,” Jackson suggested to Joy.
“But don’t you need to read, too?” I asked him, feeling left out of the conversation and desperate to appear even half as responsible as Mike was.
Jackson frowned. “Yes.”
“We could wait a little longer to study, if you want,” I suggested, looking at Mike.
“Yay! I knew you were almost my sister,” Joy said dramatically, like the star of a soap opera or southern belle playing the damsel in distress. “I’ve always wanted a sister. Do you want to be my pretend sister?” She hopped on my lap, not waiting for an invite.
“Sure, why not?” I laughed. “I’ve always wanted a sister, too.”
Jackson crawled up next to me, on the side opposite of Mike. “What do you think you’re doing?” Mike asked him.
“I want to sit by Jayden,” he whined. “If she’s going to be Joy’s pretend sister, then she’s my pretend sister, too, because we’re twins. And twins share everything. Joy can’t hog her. It’s not fair.” Tears pooled in Jackson’s eyes.
“Oh, for crying out loud.” Mike was getting frustrated. He hadn’t been sitting super close to me, but he scooted a little farther away and patted the space between us. “Come sit here, then. You can read to me and still sit next to Jayden. Will that work?”
Jackson nodded and sniffled as a stray tear rolled down his cheek. It was heartbreaking and endearing at the same time. Not even my own dad wanted to fight over spending time with me. And I was made from half of his DNA. I gently placed an arm around Jackson’s shoulder and whispered, “Would it make you feel better if I promised that you could read to me next time and Joy can read to Mike?”
His smile was still sad, but it was bigger than it’d been ten seconds ago. He reached up to wipe the tears from his eyes, before snuggling back into my side. Mike mouthed thank you to me, then scooted closer to Jackson so he could see the book. But Jackson took that as an invitation and climbed up on Mike’s lap the way Joy had climbed on mine. He tugged the sleeve of my shirt, trying to pull me in. I did as directed and closed the gap.
For the next twenty minutes, Mike and I sat hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. Squirmy kids and the competing sounds of Hop on Pop versus Go, Dog. Go! should have been enough to keep my mind occupied. But all I could think about was how warm Mike’s arm was against mine and how nice his cologne smelled and how I should have been grossed out by the whole situation—but I wasn’t. Not one little bit.
MIKE
The kissing comment had been spontaneous. It just slipped out. Unfortunately, the meaningless flirtation hadn’t given me much insight into what she honestly thought about me. Still, for a split second I’d totally thought about kissing her. She was so peaceful while she slept. And she was snoring, but it was the cute kind. When I walked into the room and found her silently snuggled up on my couch, it was easy to see how attractive she was.
Her lips were pink and soft, and her long lashes were brushing against the tops of her cheeks. Her thick, shiny hair was fanned across the arm of the couch, and she looked extremely kissable. But then I remembered I was thinking about Jayden and that I absolutely, positively did not like her that way. Also, I valued all my body parts and knew she wouldn’t appreciate being woken by a kiss.
I was impressed by how well Jayden handled my little brother and sister. Especially when I discovered she was an only child. My siblings could be overwhelming, so I found her patience and genuine interest in them surprisingly hot. And that made me think about kissing her all over again. Which was wrong, since I did not like her. Of course, sitting so close hadn’t helped my wandering thoughts, because her skin was soft and she smelled awesome.
The twins had refused to leave us alone, so we’d given up on studying and watched cartoons with them instead. Finally, my mom walked through the door. She’d said I could bring Jayden home, but she must not have believed I would, because she looked surprised to see her. I hardly ever had people over. Especially not girls.
“Mommy!” Jackson and Joy yelled,
jumping off the couch where the four of us were in a jumbled pile of arms and legs. They ran to my mom and threw their arms around her.
“Oof,” Mom grunted as they almost knocked her over. “It’s my favorite troublemakers. How was school?”
“We have a new sister!” Joy announced excitedly, completely ignoring Mom’s question.
“You do?” Mom eyed Jayden, who stood uncomfortably. “I don’t remember giving birth to a fifth child. And that’s something a mom isn’t likely to forget.” Mom grinned and winked at Jayden as she bent down to hug her babies. Jayden’s shoulders lost some of their tension, and she smiled back. “Who’s your friend, Mike?”
“This is Jayden, my study partner for Spanish.”
“And your new daughter,” Joy added.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Jayden held out her hand for a polite shake.
Mom shooed her hand away and wrapped her in a quick hug. “I hug all of my children, so if you’re really my new daughter, you get a hug, too.”
Jayden laughed and awkwardly returned the hug with one arm. Joy ran over to Jayden’s side and bounced up and down. “If you want to share my room, you can. Jackson can move into Mikey’s room.”
Mom quickly shut down that idea. “I don’t think Jayden’s real mom would like it if she moved in with us. She probably needs to be your sister who doesn’t live with you.”
“Like Josh?” Jackson asked.
“Kind of,” she replied. “Is that okay?”
Joy’s smile turned into a pout. “I guess so. As long as she comes over more than Josh does.” Joy looked at Jayden, waiting expectantly for an answer.
“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try,” Jayden assured her, then whispered to me when Joy wasn’t looking. “How often is Josh here?”
“Not too often. You should be safe,” I replied, then asked my mom, “Are you cool if we go back to my room and start studying?”
“Yep, but leave the door open,” she warned, her implication playful. It might have been my imagination, but I could swear Jayden’s cheeks turned pink. When she leaned over to pick up her bag, Mom looked at me and mouthed she’s cute, then gave me a thumbs-up. I sent her a telepathic message saying cut it out or die.
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