Page 12 of Wild About You
Things have to change. The loser boyfriend is at the top of my list. He’s twenty, thinks he’s God’s gift to women, has no ambitions, and is basically going nowhere fast. Not exactly the influence I want on my baby sister.
My thoughts drift back to Piper. I get that same uncomfortable sensation in my chest. I rub at it as I pull out my phone. She didn’t respond to my text. I guess I deserve that. It was obvious she wasn’t thrilled to see me. I don’t blame her, but it feels like the first bit of good luck I’ve had in a while to run into her again. The number of times I’ve looked for her in a crowd are too many to count. I knew she was here, and it was torture not to track her down.
I planned to as soon as the season was over. She’d be done with school, and I’d have, hopefully, proved my worth to the team. I wanted things to be different when I saw her again. I wanted to feel like I wasn’t keeping her from doing all the things she was meant to do. And yeah, I guess it was important to me that I’d reached my goals too.
But now? Ready or not, I’ve found her and there are so many things I want to say. I don’t know where to start.
I really appreciate what you did today. Can I buy you dinner as a thank you?
After I fire off the text, I order takeout and pick up the place. I toss anything that’s Everly’s into the bedroom, reclaiming a small fraction of space back for myself. I fall asleep watching TV and wake up at the creak of the front door.
Everly steps inside and pushes it closed softly behind her, then tiptoes toward her room.
“It’s almost ten,” I croak.
She stills and then stands tall to flash another haughty stare at me. “I was back at nine, but we were talking in the hallway.”
I wince. I’m almost positive that means making out where all my neighbors could see.
She starts for the bedroom again.
“Wait, Ev, sit down. We need to talk.” Sitting up, I roll my shoulders back to work out a kink. I’ve been meaning to buy a new couch, one with a pullout, but there never seems to be time.
She does, but her reluctance is clear with every slow step.
If someone had told me a year ago that I was going to have to think like a parent and have awkward conversations with my little sister, I would have laughed in their face. Yet, here I am.
“What’s going on with you? I thought things were going better?”
“They are,” she says quickly, then backpedals. “They were. I didn’t know the backdrops were for some stupid play or I wouldn’t have done it.”
“Why were you in the art room by yourself anyway?”
She stares down at her hands. “It was lunch, and I wanted some time alone.”
“What about your friends?” Oh shit. “You did make some new friends this week, right?”
Everly’s eyes narrow. “The girls at school are stuck up and the boys are worse. Besides, I have River.”
“Ev,” I start.
She stands. “I’m fine, okay. I don’t need you to feel sorry for me. If I wanted to make friends, I would, but I don’t. I’m only going to school because you said I had to.”
I think back to my high school days. God, how much worse would it have been without guys I could count on. Even now.
“Are you kicking me out?”
“Is that what you want?”
“If it were, I would have already left. River said I could stay with him.”
Oh, perfect. That brightens my mood. But even without the threat of her moving in with River, I won’t turn her away. Everyone deserves to have someone that will look out for them. Neither of us got that from our parents. I found it in my teammates, and I guess I’m going to be that for Everly. I’m not sure how, but I will figure it out.
“You can stay, but we have to make some changes around here.” I wave a hand around the apartment. “This isn’t working.”
“You can have the bedroom,” she says glumly.
“It isn’t the bed, though this couch is awful. We need more space, and you need people around when I can’t be here.”
