Page 11 of Between Now and Forever

My stomach sinks and I close my eyes. I stare at the screen and try to figure out how to respond.

“What the fuck is this?”

I scream and nearly jump out of my skin.

I whirl on James.

“Why the hell are you sneaking up…” My words die in my throat. He’s holding my iPad up to my face, my iMessage screen open.

2

Live Free

ELISABETH

“I was tryingto be nice, Liz. Dad wouldn’t even let you go out with Dina. And you expect me to let you go out with Duke again after the way he brought you home last time? Are you high?”

I clasp my hands together under my chin and stare beseechingly into his sea blue eyes, and for the second that our gazes lock, it’s like looking into a mirror.

It’s the only feature we share.

Otherwise, he’s my father’s spitting image, like they were cast in the same mold. He’s got the same dark blond hair, the height, athleticism, and graceful posture as my father, but that is where their similarities end.

In every way, from their very core, they couldn’t be more different.

He’s the light to my father’s dark.

The give to his take.

The tenderness to his rigidity.

The love to his scorn.

He’s so much more than my brother.

He’s the canyon that keeps the winds of life from sweeping me away.

He’s the dam that holds back the raging rivers of family turmoil that would drown me otherwise.

When my mother left, he was my lifeboat. Without him, I would’ve never survived. It was James’s hand in mine while I slept that evening that kept me anchored.

But right now, he’s standing between me and what I want. So, I use the baby sister card and start to beg.

His glare darkens as he looks up at me, but it’s more in frustration than anger. He’s wavering. I give him my sweetest, I-love-my-big-brother smile and prepare to taste triumph.

“Fuck.No,” he grinds out.

My own earlier indecision is long forgotten, and all I can think is that he’s going to ruin everything.

This was supposed to be my night, and he’s going to ruin it.

I throw a Hail Mary.

“I’ll watch Ziggy for you when you go see Erin next week.”

He scoffs.

“Wow, you must be desperate to go. You hate that dog.”

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