Page 18 of The Road Less Traveled By

“He’s fine. We’ve only been on one fake date so far, with manymore to come.”

“I still don't understand this whole fake dating thing. Why did Connie do this in the first place?”

“Tristan, you don't really need to understand it. It is what it is,” I snap, a bit harshly, and I immediately regret it. I’m just sick of talking about this.

“It just feels like bullshit. Why make you fake date someone to distract from the news about Ralph rather than focus on finding him? It rubs me the wrong way.”

“You and me both,” Vince speaks up, and for someone who’s usually quiet, he sure has a lot to say tonight. His gaze meets mine again. “It’s not fair to you, and that Alex kid sucks at following the fucking rules.”

“The rules?” Teags questions, and I shake my head.

“It’s nothing.”

“No, it’s not, Bree. He touched you without asking. The kid is a fucking prick.”

“I’m sorry, he what?” Tristan shouts.

“I’ll snap his wrist if he does that again, Bree. Just let me know which hand.” Teags smiles, maybe a bit too joyfully at the thought of doing that.

“Can we please stop talking about this? It’s bad enough that I’m in the situation in the first place. I want to know about your book, Liv. How’s it going?”

“My girl's book is still in the top one hundred of the Kindle store.” Tristan smiles, proud of everything my sister has accomplished.

“Thank you, baby. It’s going well. Marketing has been kicking my ass, but I guess I’m doing okay.” Liv’s face flushes, and I instantly know she's uncomfortable. She always gets weird talking about her success, but I’ll never stop shouting about my sister and how talented she is. Her books are like a breath of fresh air, and there’s a reason why people love them so much.

“I’m proud of you, Liv. Did yousee my video about the release?” I ask her.

“Yes. Your new vlog style is super cute. I love all the little doodles you add to the screen. It really makes things pop.”

“My favorite part was watching all the guys cry when Liv read the dedication. I swear, Dom looked like he was going to start blubbering,” Teags laughs, but I see right through her. That mention of Dom was no slip of the tongue. In fact, that was probably her favorite part of the video.

Teags has been crushing on Dom since she met him, but I doubt those two will ever happen. After all, she’s in a relationship with someone else, whom she seems to like.I think.They’ve only been dating since January, so a few months, but this has officially been her longest relationship. Teags isn't one for staying attached to someone for long periods of time—at least romantically—so she must really like this guy.

Teags loves reading romance books, since her parents' relationship made her believe in love, and she believes it’s possible for her.

I don't.

And I don'twantanyone to be in love with me. It’s too hard. I can barely deal with the invasions of privacy, and I doubt anyone else would.

It’s not easy to love me, but Teags and my sister prove that theory wrong every single day. My sister is one of the only people in the world who makes me feel like I matter, and Teags is my one true friend. Most of the influencer friends I have are only in it to up their follow count by being seen with me. It’s all superficial and fake—purely for social status.

But Teags has become someone I can’t live without, and if I told her that, she would gag, but I know she feels the same about me. She doesn't do feelings well, but her actions show otherwise.

“Are you guys ready for dinner?” my sister asks us, and we all congregatearound the table.

After a dinner filledwith us making fun of Tristan, Liv pulls me into her office. I feel bad for leaving Vince, but Liv told him this was an important, sister's only conversation, and when he looked at me for confirmation, I nodded.

I take a glance around Liv’s office, both of her books now lining the shelves behind her desk. I trace one of her shelves with my hand as I feel her gaze pierce my back. I know why she brought me in here. She wants to really talk to me, to make sure I’m okay.

I may be good at masking my emotions, but my sister is the one person I could never hide from.

Wanting to push that conversation off a bit longer, I head to a safe one. “I loved these two. I read them only recently even though they’ve been published for a while.”

I trace the spines of two of my favorite reads from last year.

“That’s my favorite shelf. I read those two because of you. I think you mentioned them in a video once, and they both piqued my interest.” I turn to face her and see her leaning against her desk.

“Dinner was good. I didn't know Tristan could cook that well.”

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