Trials and Tiaras (Untouchable #7) - Heather Long Page 0,52

to talk, I had to wonder how much good they could do her until she was willing to be helped?

She released a long sigh. And I didn’t look up from my phone. Social media wasn’t that interesting, but sometimes, Jake and Archie posted pics of what they were working on. Not always specifics, but the tools they used or something equally vague. Couldn’t hurt to look for clues.

Another heavy sigh escaped Trina, and she shifted her weight. I didn’t glance at her or smile. I got it, she wanted my attention. Well, she needed to use her words. Not that I could miss her exaggerated complaints. At the same time, she’d been pretty much in the treat me like crap category, so I wasn’t feeling a lot of intense sympathy, even if I understood the actions.

The hardest thing in the world to do was not reward bad behavior. Then again, I wasn’t going to let her ghost me either. Learned that lesson with Frankie. I drew back and let her set the terms last summer when I should have pushed.

So here we sat, and I endured these sessions with Dad for her sake. Maybe it would help me to get my anger into perspective. Maybe not. Who knew?

“Coop?”

Still not smiling, I glanced up from my phone. Jake and Archie were being less than helpful in my quest to figure out what they were up to. “Hmm?”

“Do we have to wait here?”

Shooting her a look, I studied her a bit. She had her head down, and she seemed intent on picking at a seam in her pants. One foot tapped and the rest of her kept shifting subtly in her seat. “Nope,” I said, rising. “Texting Mom to let her know we’re going to grab food and we’ll see her at home.”

“Oh thank God,” she said in a rush and grabbed her bag from the floor. When had Sis started carrying a purse? It was weird ’cause Frankie mostly stuck to her wallet that was just like mine and used her backpack. Shaking that off, I pushed open the door for her and hit send on the message. We all had our phones off in session, so they’d get it after they were done. Considering how frosty it had been between them, that might take a while.

Once we were in the car, she reached for her phone, even as the Bluetooth system picked up mine and started on my playlist. The number of Torched songs on it might have climbed recently, but at least Trina didn’t complain. She didn’t look up as I pulled out of the parking lot, her attention on the phone.

I slanted a look at her when we were at a traffic light. The first week we’d started these sessions, she’d been talking nonstop. The more we went, the more distant she grew. Clipped. Downright bitchy at times. My little sister knew how to be a brat, but this was different. This was like I was being punished for something, only I didn’t know what that something was.

Yeah, fuck that. I did that with Frankie last summer, let her dictate the where and the when. Let her shut us out when she’d been hurting. At the next traffic light, I turned us around and headed back the way we’d come. There was a Mexican restaurant that Trina loved. An all you can eat buffet and endless sodas.

Frankie discovered it—because Frankie—but she’d introduced me and Trina, and it had become Trina’s top pick whenever we asked her about going out. Sis didn’t even look up from her phone until I parked, and then she frowned.

“Why are we here?”

“Because we’re going to get food and talk.”

“What if I don’t want to talk?” The belligerent tone in her voice dared me to fight her.

“Then we’ll sit at a table and stare at each other while we eat. Just chew your food with your mouth closed.”

“I don’t want to eat.”

“Get out of the car, Sis,” I ordered. I got out, and she continued to sit there, all mutinous. Oh, fuck my life. Opening the passenger door, I glanced in. “Out. We need to eat. You like this place.”

She sighed and dragged herself out of the car like I was killing her. Holy fuck, fourteen wasn’t that long ago. I did not remember being this dramatic.

Frankie would have socked me.

Inside, I paid and then went through the buffet line and loaded up. Trina didn’t get as much as usual, so I got extra