Page 94 of Perfect Pairing
“This one too,” Amara said, mimicking Chloe.
God, it was still so strange to see not one, but two of my sisters pregnant and due so close together. Roughly five weeks separated their due dates, and all of us were so excited to be welcoming two little peanuts into the family at once.
But circling back to the matter at hand, I said, “Someone tell me what I’m missing here.”
Ella turned to me, her green eyes vibrant with pain. “He cheated on me, Bee. Repeatedly.”
I gasped again. “How did you find out?”
“Got a few ‘hey girlie’ Instagram DMs. When I confronted him about it, he flew off the handle, saying I didn’t trust him and just spewing all kinds of bullshit. Then, he told me he couldn’t be with me anymore and left.”
“Fuck, El,” Delia said, moving back into the small living room and sitting on the floor beside her. “I’m so sorry.”
Ella gave her a sad smile. “I’m sad, of course,” she said. “But I’m more pissed off than anything. I gave that man—no, thatchild—so much of myself. For three years, I suffered through strained relationships with all of you, put up with him repeatedly talking shit about Mom and Dad and the family business, let him belittle me and make me feel horrible about myself. And for what? For this?” She gestured to herself, to the ratty, oversized band tee and black, threadbare sweatpants hanging off her frame. “I fucking hate that I wasted so much time on him. Time I’ll never get back.”
I was struck then by the contrasts of our situations. Ella had spent three years with a piece of garbage who had dimmed the natural, free-spirited light she’d exhibited all her life to the point where we hardly saw it anymore. Meanwhile, I’d been running from the man who wanted nothing more than to foster my own light, to be by my side and support me in whatever I wanted to do.
Going from the high of Ezra asking me on a date, finally putting into motion this relationship we’d once tasted and now wanted more of, to sitting here with my sister as she fell apart was jarring to say the least.
“That’s definitely a tough pill to swallow,” Chloe said. “But look at it this way: you’re still young, you’re hot, and now you’ve got all the freedom in the world to find a man who will worship the ground you walk on, exactly as you deserve.”
Ella gave her a weak smile. “I just don’t know if I’m cut out for dating.”
Delia rolled her eyes. “We didn’t mean right now,” she said. “You only just got rid of that douchebag. But when you’re ready…there will be someone out there for you.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so,” Delia confirmed with a confident nod. “In fact…I have an idea.”
She trailed off, and me and my other sisters groaned.
Ella held up a hand. “I love you, Lia, but…no.”
“No, what?”
“Whatever you’re thinking, the answer is no. I just got out of athree-year relationship that left me shredded emotionally. I need time before you decide you want to meddle.”
“Me? Meddle?” Delia asked, placing her hand over her heart in mock affront. “Well, I never…”
“You literally do it all the time,” I said. “And now you’ve rubbed off on Mom!”
Delia’s gaze swung to me, mischief dancing in her eyes as always. “How’d that work out for you, Baby Bee? You and Ezra get your smooch on?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Except for the times youhavekissed him and told us,” Amara pointed out.
I glared at my second oldest sister. “No one asked you.”
“The mistletoe clearly worked its magic,” Delia crowed gleefully. “You can’t mess with that kind of karma.”
I knew I wasn’t getting out of this without giving them something, but before I opened my mouth, Chloe piped up. “Oh, something happened alright. Did you guys see the text she sent us?”
I winced, hoping they’d missed it. I should’ve known better than to think anything would get past Chloe. She was a romance novelist, for crying out loud. She lived for stuff like this.
Each of my sisters withdrew their phones and read the text I’d sent at the same time Ella had.
Amara looked up at me, mouth open in surprise. “He asked you out?”
