tried desperately not to stare too hard at the outline of his body through the tinted windows. It was quickly becoming a losing battle.
Wren was busy tossing our bags in the back while Jamie and Ever loaded Four’s bike on the trailer hitched to the van. Four, Bee, and Lou must have still been inside the house because I hadn’t seen them, either.
Sighing, I let Selena pull me to the side out of earshot.
“You probably don’t think much of me right now,” she began as she tucked her straightened hair behind her ear while staring at the ground, “but I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Still feeling a little vulnerable, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why did you?”
“I don’t know…jealous, maybe?”
I frowned at that. “Why?”
“Because I’m your sister, and they know you better than I do?”
“That’s not their fault,” I scolded. “It’s not yours or mine, either. Our parents lied to us, and when my father comes back, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
“I know.” Selena stared at the ground, her shoulders bowing in shame. “And I’m sorry I implied that you and Four have nothing in common. As much as I might not want to, I can see why you like her. She seems sweet and genuine—not to mention a total badass.” She gestured toward Four’s bike that Jamie and Ever were still fighting to secure.
“She is, and you’ll like all of them if you give them a chance. I don’t know what you’ve been through, and I know that you’re older, but I’m here now, and I’d never let anyone hurt you.”
She smiled at that before pulling me into a hug. “Ditto, baby sis.”
Arms linked, we headed back to the van, all smiles.
“You know you girls could pass for twins?” Jamie observed. He was now leaning against the side of the van near the sliding door, loudly smacking on what I was sure was nicotine gum. I guess he’d quit smoking again. “I’ve never fucked twins,” he purred, surprising me. I didn’t think there was anything Jamie hadn’t done. “Not at the same time, at least.”
“Well, that’s a shame,” Selena said before sticking her hands in the back pocket of her shorts. It made her chest, which was a little bigger than mine, stick out. “Maybe we could rectify that for you someday.”
Jamie’s eyebrows shot up at Selena’s offer. It was obvious he hadn’t been expecting that since Selena knew he was with Bee. “Flattered, kitten, but I’m spoken for.”
As Jamie wisely walked away, unease spread through me. My sister hadn’t cared that Jamie had a girlfriend, someone I now considered a friend. “What was that?” I snapped as soon as Jamie was out of earshot. I wondered if he was heading to tell Bee about Selena coming on to him. And if he wasn’t, should I?
“What was what?”
“Why were you flirting with him when you know he has a girlfriend?”
“So what? He flirted first,” she pointed out.
“He wasn’t really flirting,” I tried to explain. “He’s just…Jamie. He doesn’t have a filter and likes to mess with people.”
Selena looked completely unapologetic as she tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Well, Tyra, tell me something. How was I supposed to know that?”
Feeling like my head was about to explode, I stormed up the van steps without responding. Selena was proving to be a handful, making me feel like the older and more mature sister. I was at my wit’s end, and it had only been a week.
It wasn’t until I nearly tripped over a pair of long legs that I remembered Vaughn. Mortification filled my already boiling pot of emotions when I met his green gaze. He had to have heard everything, but I didn’t care about that as much as the emptiness in his eyes. Why did it look like he hadn’t slept in days?
“Excuse me.” My voice was meek, doing nothing to break the thick tension or ease the awkwardness between us. We’d fought before, but we’d never broken up. Or whatever it was called when you weren’t a couple, to begin with.
Rather than remove his legs from blocking my path, he rose from the bench he’d been lying prone on and claimed the entire back row for himself. Feeling the need to be close to him even though I couldn’t offer him comfort, I chose the row in front of him. I was only slightly annoyed when Selena plopped down next to me as if nothing had ever