Page 21 of #Awestruck

Aubrey just gave me another Mom Look in the mirror.

My stupid sister. Wanting everybody else paired off. Like she’d been called to be the current incarnation of Noah. “My life is not a one-and-a-half-star movie. Evan and I are not going to fall in love with each other, no matter how much you push us together.”

“Like Dad always says, nothing truly great came from a comfort zone.”

I folded my arms so I wouldn’t be tempted to choke her. “This isn’t about comfort zones, Aubrey!”

“Or, a positive attitude will take you far.”

“I don’t need your sports philosophizing. And I’ve found that a negative attitude can take me much further.” I leaned against the counter, arms still folded. “What is your endgame here? Do you think I’m going to marry Satan? What would our color scheme be? Devil red and brimstone?”

“Who’s Satan?” Charlotte piped up, causing us to both turn and look at her.

“The guy downstairs in the kitchen,” I told her.

Aubrey rolled her eyes at me. “Are you really telling my daughter that Evan Dawson is the actual devil?”

I shrugged one shoulder. “If the pointy black horns fit. Besides, my job as her godmother is to make sure she’s properly instructed on all religious matters.”

“Hello? Is anyone home?” someone called from downstairs.

“Why is Rory here?” I asked Aubrey, who suspiciously did not meet my gaze.

“I might have mentioned you two were coming over.”

Was this some kind of Bailey family conspiracy? Were they all in on this “let’s make Evan and Ashton spend time together” situation? “Promise me this is it. From now on, you’ll stay out of my love life.”

“Okay, fine, I promise,” Aubrey said in an exasperated tone. Like I was another one of her toddlers.

I went downstairs to find Rory before she started hitting on Evan and climbed into his lap. Because I did not need that visual image permanently seared into my brain.

How many meddling family members was I going to have to put up with tonight?

CHAPTER SEVEN

To my surprise I didn’t find my younger sister draped across Evan Dawson’s lap. Instead, she was standing in the family room, watching him make phone calls to the former students on his list.

Not at all creepy.

She had a big dreamy grin plastered on her face. My little sister was the opposite of Aubrey—flighty, superoptimistic, idealistic, and so full of life.

I had no patience for any of it. Especially right then.

“I just love athletes,” she said with a sigh. “They’re so ... athletic.”

“Profound observation. What are you doing here?”

“Admiring the view. Man, if being sexy was a crime, he’d get a life sentence.”

I shut my eyes and counted slowly to ten. When I opened them, I said, “It’s not just about his appearance. Don’t you remember the stories I told you about him?”

“Yes, I remember.” She shifted her body, almost like she was posing against the wall in case he glanced up at us. “I also remember he tried to apologize to you back then, and according to Aubrey, he’s trying to apologize now.”

How did Aubrey know that? Just how long had their phone conversation been? I should ask her. She would know. Her job required her to keep track of literally every minute of her day.

Rory kept going. “And I also remember that you hold a grudge longer than anybody not named Hatfield or McCoy should hold one. Like when you thought I broke your talking stuffed animal when you were ten. You were mad about that for years.”

“Was not,” I scoffed. “And two people saw you do it.”

---