Page 109 of When It's Us
I chuckle, running a hand down my face. “Guess I’ll take my Nutter Butters and go.”
She picks up a small, teal-colored box off the back counter and places it in front of me, with a skeptical look. “I don’t remember you ever being a fan.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not. But I know someone who is,” I say, fishing in my back pocket for my wallet.
Nat pauses, as if she’s letting my comment sink in, then raises her eyebrows. “Might thissomeonebe a certain redhead staying with our little sister?”
I shift uncomfortably; eyes focused on digging through my wallet.
She huffs out a laugh, and when I glance back up at her, her expression is caught somewhere between incredulous and concerned.
“What?” I ask, maybe a little too aggressively.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just you’re not one to buy cookies for yourself, let alone a woman,” she says, picking up a tea towel from the counter and flinging it over her shoulder.
I shrug. “Thought I’d do something nice for her.”
“Mmhmm,” she hums. “So, when we were all at Roxy’s for eighties night Finn said something about you twostillhooking up… That a thing now? You graduating from tourists to our sister-in-law’s friends now or is this a seasonal hobby?”
Her words catch me off guard. Had Ginger confided in Finn? I couldn’t see her telling Finn and not Wren. But if they both knew, and Nat knew, theneveryoneknew.
Was I the only one whowasn’ttalking about whatever this was with Ginger?
I’m not upset that she’s been talking about us. Hell, I don’t really care much about who knows and who doesn’t. Still, the way Nat said it, like it was a joke, like I couldn’t possibly be capable of more than a fling grated more than it probably should have.
We’ve only been back in town a week and a half, but we’ve already slipped into this rhythm—talking, laughing, grabbing dinner in town, and bringing it back to my place. One night she made spaghetti, and we crashed on the couch watchingSnapped, which, apparently, is one of her favorite shows. A fact I teased her about and asked if I should sleep with one eye open. She grinned and gave me a creepy wink.
The muscle in my jaw involuntarily clenches and I look up at her. “I like spending time with her, okay? I don’t know what else you want me to say.”
Nat’s playful expression drops, and for a moment, I’m worried I’ve hurt her feelings. I didn’t mean to. I’m so tired of every question from my siblings being about who I’m screwing around with. Like, I could never be interested in more than just sex with someone. Am I really that shallow to them?
“I’m sorry,” I tell her, pulling out two twenties and holding them out to her. “I gotta go. Just keep the change.”
Her hand on my arm stops me. “You’re perfectly capable of having a real relationship, you know. But you don’t let yourself. I know I give you crap,” she hesitates. “We all do…it’s our dynamic. We give you shit about who you sleep with just like we tease Hudson about his hair and Hank about his cargo pants.”
I chuckle. She’s right. Every single one of us has our thing. Nat’s aways been the prom queen, Norah, the nerd, and Hales is the baby, dad’s favorite—next to Hank.
“If you like her, maybe you should do something about it,” she says.
I snort, shaking my head at the box of Nutter Butters. “I’m just trying not to make a mess of shit while she’s here.”
“If you ask me, calling your little sister after hours, asking her to make some chick a batch of her favorite cookies... well, you’re already in pretty deep. So maybe stop denying the way you’re clearly feeling,” she says, shoving the box of cookies toward me.
“I’m not sure what that looks like,” I mutter, more to myself than to Nat.
“Then figure it out, dumbass,” Nat says, making me chuckle.
“Thanks for the cookies,” I tell her.
She nods, then she does something she’s never done before. She opens up a small paper sack before scooping up one of those little strawberry pastries, before dropping it inside. She folds the top over and holds it out to me.
My eyebrows hit my hairline.
She points a threatening finger at me. “You tell Hank I gave you that first and you’re dead to me, got it?”
I give her a lazy smile. “Got it.”
Nat grinned. “Good, now get the hell out of here before I change my mind.”
