Page 10 of Rejected Plus-Size Mate

She nodded. "Oh yeah, I think that's how they kind of fell in love. Their hatred brought each other closer."

"And you've been good?" I asked, pouring some pancakes onto the griddle.

"Yeah, I'm good. Are you…" she paused for a moment. "Happy here?"

I looked at her and saw she was sincere when she asked.

"I'm happy," I said with a nod. "It was hard, but yeah, I'm happy."

She nodded when I could hear footsteps stomping back down the hallway. April growly loudly. "I'm done fighting with you! Quit calling me!"

Riley sucked her lip into her mouth, biting onto her upper lip. A habit she did when she was trying to remain quiet.

I could hear a lower voice responding to my sister. The words were mixed, but I could catch the tone as begging.

"Enough," April snapped, and the line ended as she rounded the corner back to the kitchen. Her lips were pressed together angrily as she slammed the phone onto the counter, sliding into the chair next to Riley.

We both looked at each other before we looked at April, who was clearly fuming. And I knew my sister. At least, I knew her at one point.

"So…" I pulled a couple of pancakes off the griddle. "Who was that?"

April's eyes snapped up at me, turning her anger at me. But her lips remained sealed.

"Sounds like a fight is all." I quickly added. "And I would hate for you to start throwing things in my apartment." That had been one of April's bad habits. She threw things to release her anger.

"I grew out of that years ago," April sighed. "I'm an adult now." She took a deep breath in and relaxed her shoulders. "I'm going to need to head back home."

Riley and I both froze, and April scowled. "So soon? When do we leave?"

"I," April said, putting her hand on her chest. "Will be going back for a little while, but you can stay. You should stay."

Riley frowned.

I looked between the two, wishing I knew who they were talking about and what was going on, but neither seemed tobudge on telling me. And I couldn't blame them. I would just have to be patient and wait for one of them to let me in finally.

"I can go back with you."

"No." April shook her head. "We already paid for the Air-B-N-B and won't get the money back. You should stay here and enjoy it. I'll come back in a couple of days, and we can get back to our vacation."

Riley didn't look convinced, so April sighed. "You need a little time away from Brad anyway."

"Who's Brad?" I asked.

"No one," April said, glaring at me.

I scowled, hating how she answered it so quickly.

"What about our shopping?"

"I'll leave tomorrow," April said, looking at me. "Now, how about that breakfast?"

I looked between them, a little irritated. I wanted to know what was going on, but this wasn't like when we were young. My sister and Riley had been protecting themselves since I left, but I wanted to help. I could see they both were struggling with something, and I wanted to be there.

I took a deep breath. I could make breakfast. While that wasn't a huge help, it was something—until they trusted me with everything else.

Chapter 5 - Riley

The car was quiet as Cayden drove with the music turned down low the vehicle, but it didn't break the awkwardness that filled the space.

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