Page 7 of Unspoken Hearts
Looking at him, my smile picks up as my stomach growls loudly. “It’ll be okay,” I mumble. Gray shakes his head.
Laynie walks back in with a half eaten pie in her hand. “Wow, these are good.”
My stomach goes again, and Grayson snickers before swiping his keys off the bench. “I’m grabbing us pizza from the pub.”
“I’ll come,” Laynie pipes up, following him out the front door.
Sighing, I move into the living room where the boys are watching a movie. Axel’s eyes move to mine, and he pats the small space between him and his best friend, Damien.
Sinking into the cushion, I lean my head on my brother’s shoulder.
“Here.” He hands me one of his pies.
Taking it, I nibble on the end as steam wafts out.
How are they downing these so quickly when my mouth is on fire?
“Are you okay if they stay for a bit? We want to finish the movie then play some video games. Jack got a new one we want to try out.”
I nod against him as pastry fakes fall onto my top. “Sure,” I chirp. Tonight is his night. “Do you want more food? I can find you something.”
He glances sideways at me, like he wants to say yes but something is stopping him. “You don’t have to.”
“But I know you’ll be hungry. I can find something.”
Axel's mouth turns down as he pulls me into him once more. “You know what I forgot to tell you today?”
“What?” I utter, unsure of where he’s going with this.
“That you’re the best sister I could have had.”
Smiling, I smack his arm playfully, not wanting to let my emotionsget the better of me. “Well, if it weren’t for me, you’d probably still be stuck in eighth grade. Remember when you couldn’t write that essay for French class?”
He snickers softly. “Yeah, I remember, and somehow I got a B.”
“Somehow?” I gasp lightly, shuffling in my seat. “I basically wrote it all for you.”
“And thank you for your service,” he mutters. I hit him on the leg, laughing.
I finish off my pie when Grayson and Laynie return with a stack of pizzas. “All right, come and grab it.”
The boys all get up, and when I stand, I feel like an ant about to be crushed by a sea of giants. I wait for them to get their dinner before I reach my friends, who toss the last empty box on the bench.
“Seriously?” I grumble, thankful that I at least got a tiny meat pie.
Laynie giggles. “Don’t worry, we saved the best one for us.”
Grayson pumps his eyebrows before pulling me through the house and out into the front yard. It’s overgrown with weeds and grass that’s well above our ankles and littered with fallen leaves. I stop beside Laynie, watching as Gray heads to his ute and pulls out a full box.
My stomach growls with excitement. “Please tell me it’s chicken.”
“Of course,” Laynie says, opening it and grabbing a slice.
Taking one, I get right into eating it as she sits on the porch step beside me.
“How was your trip to Sydney?” I ask.
Her face flattens for a split second before she smiles. “It was great. I got to see my cousin, Sadie, after a year.”
