Page 32 of The Wrong Sister

She falls back onto the bed, throwing the pillow angrily across the room. “I’m as angry with myself as I am him! Maybe more!”

“Ok, what did you do then? Do I need to punch you both? I can be an equal opportunity puncher, no judgement, just fists.”

“We had sex.”

“WHAT?!”

“Don’t yell, Raff. There’s another pillow if you need one. Think of the neighbors.” At least she’s calmed down enough to joke.

“You had sex with Griffin and you didn’t even text me?” I drop back on the bed next to her.

“My phone is dead. And I didn’t want any outside influences ruining the perfect bubble. Clearly, I was right to be worried about that.”

“How did this even happen?”

“Long story short: Catherine dumped him, he got super drunk, and Alex the waiter called me to come to get him. I walked him home and he yelled at me, I yelled back, then he kissed me and we had sex. A lot. Like, I imagine, if you hadn’t been here, we’d be having sex again right now.”

“Too much detail, Meens! Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Where are we at right now concerning the state of the thing?”

She groans, pulling another pillow over her face and punching it before turning her face to talk to me from underneath. “I don’t know! If you had asked me five minutes ago I would have said it was good. I felt seen and appreciated. He chose me!” She frowns. “Well, sort of. Maybe only by default. I don’t know, I was avoiding thinking about that part. Mostly because we are AMAZING together.” I must grimace because she apologizes before continuing. “Right. Internal editing engaged. You don’t want to hear about the sexing of your brother. But then he saw you and it was like he was embarrassed to be seen with me. Or like reality came crashing in and he remembered I’m a mistake. I thought we had a real connection; that it was special. I’m not anyone’s dirty little secret, Raff! Fuck that.”

“Will you be ok here by yourself?”

“I’m fine. Just angry.”

I press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m sorry. I’m going to check on him. Find out what is going on in that head of his. Plug your phone in and for the love of all that is good in the world, at least consider putting on a bra!”

I find Griffin in the hallway, slumped down against the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him. He looks at me, his face reflecting the chaos that must be going on in his head.

“What the fuck, Griff?” I kick his leg and then plop down next to him.

“I don’t know,” he shakes his head in confusion. “I just… I don’t know.”

“Why did you act like that? Why did you go from laughing and carrying Mina to her door to imitating a statue in the hallway?”

“I said I don’t know! Fuck! I saw you and I fucking froze! Like my brain started short-circuiting and my body stopped working!”

Maybe it’s disingenuous, but I decide not to tell him that I know he and Mina slept together.

“I’m not going to lecture you or talk you through this whole thing. I don’t have the time or energy to hold everyone’s fucking hands today. YouhurtMina. You need to figure your shit out!”

I leave my brother to his thoughts and go back into Mina’s one more time, yelling down the hallway. “Meens? You wanna sweat?”

“Fuck yes!”

“K! I’m grabbing breakfast. Be back in 20. We can eat and workout.”

“Thank you!” she yells back.

When I step back into the hallway, Griffin is gone. Good. I don’t understand how someone so organized and put together can be such a head case sometimes. In the meantime, I’m starving and Mina needs to work out her fury. Maybe I can even bring the conversation around to what I’m dealing with. If not, I’m cool to let it marinate for a while. There’s no rush. I can be a good friend and ignore my own shit if that’s what today calls for.

21

mina

I’m absolutely furious with myself for letting this happen. I knew he wasn’t ready! I knew he was going to freak out when the real world intruded! I warned myself things were too shaky! And yet somehow I still let part of myself believe that I was wrong, that being the default didn’t matter because he chose me. I allowed myself to be blinded by his hot body and his complimentary words. I can’t be the only person to briefly lose their common sense because of chemistry, but that doesn’t make it any less humiliating. I know better! I’ve already made this mistake once before and I don’t do repeats. At least this time I walled myself off enough to avoid all the humiliating sobbing. I don’t care how off-the-charts our physical connection is, nothing is worth losing myself. I will not be less for anyone. Not even Griffin fucking Simms.

I change into workout gear, thankful that Rafferty knew how much I need to sweat out these feelings. A big glass of water while I start the coffee helps me feel calmer and that first sip of coffee brings me down even more. I’m curled up in my chair, mug in hand, soaking up the sunshine when Rafferty returns with breakfast.

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