Page 9 of The Wrong Sister

I’m not a violent guy, but I am very fit. I started working out as a teenager for the mental benefits. It was very necessary at the time—a physical solution to some mental difficulties. Now it pays the bills and allows me to surf and paint. I feel the pressure though, as a personal trainer, to look a certain way. Nobody wants a trainer who is merely healthy. They want someone who is cut, someone who looks good, someone that they believe they can be if they put in enough hours. We were hoping that my height, muscles, and overall look might be a deterrent for Troy. He doesn’t strike me as the type of guy that intends to hurt Mina, more delusional than dangerous, but you never can tell. He needs to take the hint and go away. She’s not interested. She will never be interested.

I saw Troy come in, over Griffin’s shoulder, and Mina immediately stiffened. He didn’t look right at us, but I could tell he knew we were there. He stopped in the aisle, preening, never quite looking in our direction. Then he stood at the bar counter where you order, looking in the general vicinity of the menu, but not ordering. He kept running one hand through his short blond hair while the other tapped on the bar. Pretty sure he was watching her in the mirror behind the rows of alcohol. What a creep.

As planned, we put on a show. I got close, touching her and tucking her hair behind her ear. I could see his fists clench, but he didn’t leave. So I pushed it a bit further. I whispered to her to go with it and started nibbling her ear. It was weird. I love Mina, but not like that. It was pissing Troy off, though, so I kept at it. Mina played her part well, I was impressed. If I didn’t know better, I would have bought it. Troy’s jaw was clenched and he was openly watching when I glanced up again, but I also saw, before I put my attention back on Mina, that Griffin looked very bothered as well.Interesting.

Troy stormed off, but I nuzzled into Mina’s neck, kissing it solely for Griffin’s benefit. Drawing my nose up her neck and speaking against her lips, I asked her if she thought that worked. Griffin looked slightly ill and annoyed. I spent the rest of dinner thinking about his face and his reaction to me touching Mina. There is something there. I decided to take it one small step further. Call it curiosity. I paid for Mina’s meal. We walked out before they were done and went back to Mina’s chatting and laughing. No one else saw what I saw. Typical.

“Did you see Troy’s face? He looked pissed! Here’s to hoping that thinking you’re my big burly boyfriend will keep him away. And thanks for dinner. I’ll buy next time.” She bumps me with her hip but she’s more than a foot shorter than I am; she ends up jabbing my car keys into my leg. “That was some masterful flirting, by the way! Makes me wish I was attracted to you, even a little. I think we’d have a lot of fun together if I wasn’t super grossed out by the idea.”

“Me too, Meens, me too. Was it weird basically being on a double date with your sister and crush?”

She tilts her head to look up at me, groaning. “I hate hearing that out loud! But, no. It was surprisingly nice. It was nice to all be together again. It felt good. We should do it more often. I wasn’t even thinking about the fact that they were on a date. They weren’t very couple-y, were they?”

I’m thinking about what she said as she unlocks her door. “You know, you’re right. They weren’t very couple-y. At all. There was no vibe there. Isn’t that weird?”

“I guess it is, yeah. They’re both good-looking!” She tosses her keys down and drops her things in a trail from the door into her living room.

“Well, look at us! You’re like a pint-sized badass goddess and I’m…”

“A bearded hipster Adonis,” she finishes for me.

“Exactly. We’re hot! We’re fun! And yet, we wouldn’t work.”

“Do you really think we wouldn’t work if we tried? For argument’s sake. I’m not trying to put the moves on you. Remember, grossed out.”

“I think you’re hot, Meens. I could probably flip a switch and be into you, easy.”

“Really?”

“Really. But I never would.”

“I’m weirdly comforted by that. Why not?” She drops down onto her couch.

“One, I value our friendship too much.”

“Same.” She bumps my fist.

“Two, I think a romantic relationship with you would hurt me too much, long-term.” I sit next to her, stretching out my legs.

“Am I that bad?” Mina is glowering at me.

“You’re not! At all! But I think the things that I love about you, as a friend, would be different, harder, if we were dating. I’m the first to admit how sensitive I am. I take things too personally, I’m too self-involved, and I internalize everything. You’re very no-nonsense. You’re blunt. You say things like you see them and don’t worry too much about your delivery or how others might perceive it. I wouldn’t say those are faults, you use them as strengths, but I see our personalities together as becoming volatile if sex was involved.”

“You’re very wise, my friend.” She leans her head against my shoulder, hugging my bicep with both of her arms. “Thank you for having the emotional maturity to save us from a disastrous relationship. Do you think their personalities could cause a similar problem?”

“I don’t see them as being volatile. The opposite, actually. I think our older siblings are too safe, too similar, too boring to be good together.”

“What do you think that means for Catherine and Griffin? I don’t want them to be unhappy.” Mina is uncharacteristically pensive.

“I don’t know. I could be wrong, of course.” She jabs me hard in the side. “Ok, I’m not often wrong about these things. I’m not sure if either of them realizes it yet, but they don’t work. And any relationship they force won’t be as good as either of them deserve.”

She looks thoughtful, chewing on her lip. “I feel like I should celebrate that because I still want him, even after all these years, but I can’t. I don’t want either of them to be hurt. And I don’t want a failed relationship to ruin friendships. I want them both to be happy.”

“I think they both could be happy. But not with each other. Hopefully, they figure it out while they can still part as friends and laugh about the time they tried, unsuccessfully, to date.”

She goes into the kitchen to get water and my phone vibrates in my pocket.

Griff: Did you already head home?

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