Page 34 of The Plan

“Thanks, Sage.” After a lot of convincing, I decided to still come to the twins' party even though Sire and I haven't spoken since this morning in the parking lot.

I pull Sage in for a hug and wish her a happy birthday. “It’s actually only August's birthday today.” How? They’re twins?

Sage smiles as if she read my mind and answers my unspoken question. “I was stubborn as always and popped out five minutes after twelve, so—”

“So her birthday is actually tomorrow.” Hmm, I’ve never met twins with separate birthdays. Well, I’ve never met twins at all, but still. I turn around at who just finished her sentence, and a very pretty blonde walks up to Sage and hugs her as Sage squeals.

I watch them for a beat, and I can’t get myself to look away from their eyes. Sage’s are emerald as ever, but the blonde next to her has these blue eyes that rival the damn sky on a clear morning.

My eyes aren’t dark brown; they’re lighter, more of honey or bourbon, but damn would I want to have blue or green eyes right now. Sage looks back over at me and lights up like she remembers something.

“Oh, V, this our sister Lisette, who Sire favors.”

Lisette laughs and nudges Sage. “Please, okay, how many times do we have to tell you that those two short years don’t have shit on you? You guys adopted him, for fuck’s sake, Sage.” I laugh at them, picking on some sort of inside joke.

Lisette looks over at me, and I give her a small smile. “Don’t tell Sire since he’ll suffocate me in my sleep, but he talks a lot about you.” She winks at me, and I feel my entire body heat.

“I bet he does.” Hazel walks in, and Sage reintroduces Lisette. Hazel hands Sage a gift, and when I tell her about the twins' separate birthdays, she doesn’t believe me.

Sage takes a sip from her water bottle while nodding. “Yup, he was born today, May tenth, and I’m on the eleventh. I’m actually so glad for the separate birthdays. Double the parties.” We all start laughing. I don't know why, but I really like that I’m getting along with Sire’s sisters. Even if he’s been an ass today.

“Well, happy early birthday. I love your dress, by the way.” Sage starts talking about how it belongs to some celebrity. She’s an influencer or model, both, I think, but she apparently has a huge dress collection that I’m sort of dying to see.

When I see Sire from across the room, I roll my eyes but immediately wish I didn’t when Lisette notices. “He being an ass?” I nod. No point in hiding it now. Lisette reaches behind her for the fruit bowl on the counter and grabs an apple.

Without warning, she beams it at Sire, but to no one's surprise, he catches it. He looks in our direction, and when he notices it was his sister who threw it, he looks back down at the apple in his hand before they both burst into a laugh, literally hysterical, and I’m certain there's definitely an inside joke here.

I turn around, but once their laugh sobers, Sire makes his way into the kitchen, so I start to make my way out. Just as I pass him, he snakes his arm around me and leans me against the wall. Before I can get out of his arms, he puts his hand near my head, caging me in. “Were you planning on avoiding me the entire night?”

Well, this is his house, so I was expecting to bump into him sooner or later, butmeavoidinghim? He didn’t say anything to me when I first walked in, so I assumed he was still mad for whatever reason.

I fold my arms across my chest and look into the living room, ignoring him. “The silent treatment. Cute.” I look over at him, and my breath gets caught in my throat. I wasnotexpecting him to be this close. Gazing between his eyes, the bit of green in them pops more with the matching green shirt he’s wearing.

A rush of heat runs down my spine as he rubs my bare skin on my side. “You look really good in blue.” I watch him as his eyes cast down to my lips. It is getting way too hot in here.

I put a hand on his chest to move him, but I never push away. I don’t think I want to. “I’m still mad at you, so move.” Withthe way my voice came out, I definitely don’t sound like I’m still mad, but I am. He was so rude to me earlier for no reason.

His eyes sweep down the rest of my figure, then back up to my eyes. “I’m still mad at you, too, but we can go to my room and make up right now if you want.” Is he implying we—

He pulls my hips closer to him so that we rub against each other. He’s totally implying what I thought he was. “No, thanks. I'm good with us fighting a bit longer.” I push him aside and walk away. We’re not a couple. Makeup sex is not needed.

“She was definitely flirting withyou,” I tell Hazel, and she rolls her eyes. Everyone left the party a while ago, so it’s just us, Sire, and his siblings here talking shit. I hop up on the counter as Hazel responds.

“Well, even if she was, too bad for her. She was a shitty girlfriend, so there’s no way I’m taking her back. Plus, I—” She cuts herself off when August comes stumbling into the kitchen, clearly drunk.

He leans against the fridge and then turns his head, keeping his eyes trained on Hazel. “You're into girls?”

Hazel nods her head. “And guys.” I’m sure August knew that already. I smile proudly at Hazel, though. She's never hid the fact that she’s bi, and I love that about her.

A smile also grows on August's face. “Are you more into one or…” He trails off, and I look over at Hazel, expecting her to blush at his flirty tone, but she surprisingly doesn’t.

“Definitely more into guys,” she says confidently.

“Mentirosa,” I say under my breath. Hazel looks over at me from the corner of her eye but doesn’t respond. She’s been with way more girls than guys, but I guess she’s really into August.

“Nice to know,” August replies. I don’t say anything and just look away because they’re giving each other fuck me eyes. Before it starts to get too awkward, Sage walks in with two plates of cake as she kicks off her heels.

I can’t believe she kept those on the entire night. She goes to hand Lisette one, but she’s sleeping against the table, so she puts it in front of her and hands me the other one. I thank her while taking a spoonful.

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