Page 116 of Cloudless
Her brows furrow. “What does that mean?”
The floorboards groan under me as I move toward the hall. “You’ll see.”
“Wait!” My feet halt their advance with her command. “Where are you going?”
I smirk over my shoulder, taking pride in the beautiful blush that creeps up her neck. “Someone has to help Jasper and Posey pack.”
Lila’s slacked jaw sends an overwhelming hit of satisfaction soaring through my veins as she looks around my living room. “You guys did all this?”
Mace’s eyes sparkle as he looks around at their handiwork. “Sure did. We even dusted the ceiling fan.”
Dax grins over his shoulder as he climbs the ladder to hang the banner I stole from Lila’s house. “We couldn’t let you have your first book club meeting in a dump, Sullivan.”
Tears rim Lila’s eyes as she looks around at my three best friends. “Thank you guys so much.”
A rare smile flashes across Wyatt’s face before disappearing. “You’re part of the team now, Lila. We take care of our own.”
Ellie’s arm slides snugly over Lila’s shoulders as her eyes roam around the room. “Color me impressed, boys. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Dax rolls his eyes as he lands on his feet with a thunk at the bottom of the ladder. “Just cause wechoosenot to clean doesn't mean we don’t know how, Ellie.”
She rolls her eyes so hard I’m surprised they don’t roll out of her head. “The fact you see nothing wrong with that statement just shows how far gone you really are, Declan.”
Dax shivers like Ellie dumped cold water on his back. “Don’t call me that, Ellie. You know how much I hate it.”
The mischievous glint in Ellie’s eyes only grows as she shrugs. “It’s a perfectly good name, Dax. I’m not sure what your problem is with it.”
A car door slamming out front silences Dax’s argument. Instead, he rolls his eyes and pouts up the stairs. “Enjoy talking about thepornyou’re reading, Ellie. Make sure you talk aloud enough for Kam to hear. Every brother wants to hear their sister talking about their favorite sex positions, right?”
Ellie’s face turns a frightening shade of red as she stares lasers into the back of Dax’s head. Her fists vibrate at her side as she screams, “Don’t knock it till you try it,Declan!You might learn a thing or two from mypornbooks!”
I roll my lips to keep my laugh firmly locked away. “Well, on that note—” I kiss Lila’s smile as my voice falls to a whisper, “—have fun talking about yourpornbooks.”
Her smile turns into a full grin. “There’s more to our books than sex, Trouble.”
Ellie raises her brows as a knock sounds at the door. “Of course there is, but you have to admit that reading about it is pretty great.”
I close my eyes as I let out a breath. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”
Ellie’s beaming smile greets me when I open my eyes. “What? Sex is a normal thing, little brother. And so is reading about it. Plus, sex actually only takes up like one percent of the book, if that.”
I raise my brows. “Oh, I know. I just don’t want to talk about it with mysister.”
She shrugs as she unlocks the door. Her squeal reverberates through my bones as she opens the door and throws her arms around someone just out of view.
My smile returns as I look down at a grinning Lila. I plant a quick kiss on her nose that makes her smile turn even more radiant. “Have a good time.”
Their voices fade behind me as I make my way to the hall leading to the kitchen. Jasper and Posey’s red-stained smiles greet me from where they sit coloring at the kitchen counter.
I shake my head as my smile grows. “How can you guys eat popsicles when it’s this cold out?”
Jasper looks at me like that’s the stupidest question he’s ever heard. “It’s not cold inhere, Kam. Plus, Matt said it’s never too cold to eat a popsicle.”
I raise a brow. “Matt, huh?”
He nods while licking a trail of syrup off his finger. “Yeah. He’s not so bad once you get to know him. He just needed a friend.” Red food coloring tents his smile. “I made sure he knows he’s not allowed to talk about Posey like that anymore, though. It doesn’t matter if he’s my friend. Sister trumps friend any day.”
His hair is silky against my palm as I ruffle his hair. “You’ve got that right, Tank.”
