Page 9 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“It’s called marriage and commitment. I don’t expect you to understand.”

I bit my tongue. But then again, she’d started it. I unclamped my teeth. “Isn’t faithfulness also supposed to be part of that deal?”

She sighed. “Heisfaithful. And a good father and provider. Unless you have something specific to tell me, don’t badmouth my husband.” I rolled my eyes. “Just because you’re afraid of commitment doesn’t mean you have to disrespect those who aren’t.”

“I’m not afraid of commitment.”

“Then why are you still single?”

“I’m only twenty-two!”Geez.

“Exactly. You’re no longer a kid, Perry. You should at least be thinking about a serious relationship by now. I don’t know what’s going on between that Andre boy and you but—”

“He asked me to move in with him.”

I hadn’t meant to blurt that out, especially because I wasn’t planning on actually taking him up on it, but I wanted to put an end to our conversation. I tried visiting as much as possible before I blinked and Emily was off to college, but I didn’t enjoy these sisterly lectures that seemed to be part of the package.

She looked horrified. “Please tell me you’re not considering it.”

“What’s the problem? You were just saying how I needed to commit to someone.”

“You know very well that’s not what I meant. If you live together, he’ll never put a ring on your finger.”

“Dre asked you to move in with him?”

I glanced up at Christa who’d returned to the room. Her eyes were bugging out. “Yeah.” I turned back towards my sister. “And you know very well that I couldn’t care less about a ring.”

Her gaze drifted from the sleepy girl snuggled in my lap back up to my face. “You’re crazy for her, Perry. Don’t you ever want a child of your own to love?”

“Yes, I do.” Unlike a husband, I’d never been opposed to having a baby.

“Well then, you should care about getting that ring. Don’t blow your chances by giving him what he wants so easily.”

What the hell decade did I wake up in this morning?I loved my sister, even if it was painful to be around her most of the time. Her views on life clashed wickedly with mine. We often disagreed about one thing or another, but I felt like she was getting on my case more than usual. I wanted it to be over.

“Last I checked, ring fingers weren’t connected to reproductive systems. Fu—making love can cause a pregnancy the same whether or not you’re married.”

That seemed to shut her up. Sam gave me a disgusted look, but she didn’t snatch her child away and declare me a heathen. That’s all that mattered to me. She knew how much I adored Emily, and she’d never take that away from me. It was the one thing we had perfectly in common.

Otherwise, my sister and I would never see each other at all.

“Is something wrong?”

I flicked my eyes over at Christa before focusing them back on the road. We hadn’t stayed much longer at Sam’s since Emily had gone down for a nap, but Christa was exceptionally quiet during that time.

“Oh shit,” I said. “You didn’t have a run-in with Dickhead, did you?” I wondered if something happened when she came out of the bathroom. He’d never hit on her before, but that didn’t mean he never would. He just had to make sure he could get away with it first.

“No, I never saw him again. Thank fuck. God, Perry. How doesyour sister let him touch her without getting sick? I feel toxic just breathing the same air as him.”

“She believes his lies.”

I’d asked myself many times if I really was imagining things. If the rumors I’d heard were just that—rumors. But there were too many signs for it to be just a hunch. Too many occurrences to be a coincidence. Christa felt it too. He was a major womanizing sleazebucket. I just had to fucking prove it before my niece was old enough to know what was going on.

“Maybe I could try talking to her.”

“She’ll think you’re imagining it too.”

“I could set him up. Get him alone and then when he makes his move, you’d have your proof. We could record it or something.”

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