Page 36 of If Love Had A Manual

“You okay?” I ask, turning to her again.

She shrugs, chewing the inside of her cheek as she studies my tiny living room. “I guess. I just wanted to see you.”

My heart clenches. This kid drives me insane one minute and breaks my heart wide open the next. “I missed you, too. But seriously, you can’t just hop onbuses across town—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

I set down my hairbrush and run a hand through my half-styled hair. “Okay, well, you can’t stay here alone tonight. I have plans.” My voice falters with guilt I’m trying desperately not to feel.

Her gaze lands on my outfit laid neatly across the bed and the heels beside it. “Got a date or something?”

“No. It’s gig night at The Velvet Room. You remember?”

She perks up slightly. “You’re still singing? Thought you had that nanny job now.”

“I do both.” I don’t say how much I need it. Music is something I keep guarded, even from family.

She shifts, biting her lip. “Please don’t send me home yet, Lena. I really missed you.”

And there it is.

She hits me square in the chest with those big eyes filling with unshed tears, and I’m toast. Big sister sensibility evaporates instantly.

“Fine. You can come. But you have to behave, okay? No sneaking drinks or pulling any teenage rebellion shit.”

“Promise. I’m notthatrebellious.”

“Tell that to the bus ride you just took.”

Her returning grin is almost sheepish as I head back into the bedroom to change.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re walking down the street with the early-evening chill nipping at our skin.

Tess groans as she trails behind me. “Couldn’t you have driven?” she whines. “My feet are literally dying.”

“It’s three blocks.” Throwing my arm around her shoulder, I pull her close. She hates it immediately. “Welcome to city life. It builds character.”

She mutters under her breath about blisters and torture, but I just guide her gently by the elbow to cross the street.

“So, how’s Dad been?” I ask, bracing myself.

She kicks at a loose stone, eyes fixed on the pavement. “Dad’s... Dad. Always working, always in a bad mood. It’s like living with a really hormonal ghost.”

I gnaw my lower lip. “He cares. Losing Mom just broke something in him.”

“Yeah, broke his ability to be a dad. Why’d you have to leave anyway? It’s like you escaped and left me behind.”

My heart twists. “Tess, I was twenty-three when I moved out. It was time for me to build a life of my own. I’m only a phone call away,” I tell her, even though we speak every day.

“Yeah. Whatever.” Her voice is flat, but I see the hurt lingering beneath her teenage bravado.

We walk the rest of the way in silence until the bright neon sign of The Velvet Room comes into view.

Mack, the towering bouncer with a teddy bear heart hidden beneath layers of muscle, eyes us.

“Lena, baby, she ain’t twenty-one,” he grunts, giving Tess a skeptical once-over.

“I know, Mack, but it’s an emergency. She’ll stay in the back. Zero trouble, I swear.”

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