sound of my big sister’s voice, whipping my head around to see her standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“Sorry to interrupt. I was upstairs napping.” Skye smiled, but it was inquisitive.
I hadn’t even noticed her car outside.
“That’s okay.” Jane closed her laptop and pushed up off the couch. “I need to get back, anyway. I promised Willa I’d babysit the kids tonight.”
Disappointment filled me. I didn’t want her to go. I stood, towering over her curvy, five-foot-six figure. “You’re coming to my party tomorrow, right?”
I hadn’t wanted a birthday party. I wasn’t a birthday-party kind of guy, but Skye had convinced me that inviting guys from the track team and their friends to a party would help me find my place at USC. It was harder for me to fit in when I wasn’t staying on campus. Or at least that was Skye’s worry.
“Jamie, you know I’m not a party person.”
“But I also know Lorna will browbeat you into coming, so I’ll see you there,” I teased.
Jane laughed. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waved at Skye.
“See you tomorrow, sweetie.”
As soon as the door closed behind Jane, my big sister pounced. “So, I’m not imagining the fact that (a) Jane is allowed to read your writing, and (b) you were flirting with her—am I?”
I groaned and strode past her into the kitchen. “Skye, leave it.”
“Uh, if it were anyone else but Jane, I would.” She followed me in and leaned against the peninsula counter. Her gaze bored into me. “What’s going on there?”
“Nothing that will happen while she’s not eighteen,” I promised.
“You like her,” Skye surmised. “It’s not just that she’s drop-dead gorgeous. You’re letting her read your work, so you must like her. Respect her opinion?”
“I do,” I admitted.
She exhaled slowly. “Jamie … Lorna won’t have it. As far as she’s concerned, that sweet kid has belonged to her from the day they met.”
Anger churned in my gut, and I glared at Skye. “And you don’t think that’s a little fucked up?”
Concern flashed across my sister’s face. “Lorna has insecurities you and I seem incapable of helping her with. She met Jane when she needed someone to be hers, only hers, and at the time Jane needed that just as much.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Do I like the way Lorna manipulates Jane sometimes? No. But they’re both grown-ups now. It’s up to them to work out their relationship.”
“Here’s what I know: Jane doesn’t belong to Lorna. And Lorna’s feelings on the matter won’t stop me.”
Skye scrutinized me. “Are you … are you in love with her?”
The thought made my heart race fast and my palms sweat. “Fucking hell, what kind of question is that?”
“The kind of question a person asks when their little brother is the biggest player ever and he casts his sights on a young woman I adore and feel protective of.”
That anger turned to indignation. “You think I’d hurt her?”
“Jamie, if your feelings are genuine, I’m all for it. Even if I have to deal with Lorna freaking out about it. Because it would make me happy if you ended up with someone like Jane. But”—she glowered at me—“if you’re thinking with your dick because the girl is a knockout, then don’t go there. Please. She …” Skye heaved a sigh. “I’m betraying the sisterhood when I tell you this, but, Jamie, that girl has had a crush on you since forever.”
My heart lurched at the thought. Happiness warmed me all over. “Really?”
Skye narrowed her eyes. “Really. And if you aren’t serious about her, you’ll crush her.”
This wasn’t the kind of conversation I wanted to have with my sister. In fact, I didn’t think it was right to tell her this shit before I even told Jane, but since Skye would probably worry over it for the next nine months, I gave her what she needed to hear.
“That girl deserves to be loved,” I said, my voice hoarse with emotion and a little discomfort. “No one has ever loved her right, except for you. Not even Lorna. When a guy comes along, he needs to love her hard. To make up for all the times people forgot to love her.” Or the times it was taken away from her, like with her adoptive parents. Just the thought of Jane feeling unloved made me want to punch a fist through the wall. “I plan to be the guy who loves her like that.”
Tears brightened Skye’s eyes. She reached up and brushed the backs of her fingers