here, that she saw me kissing Ethan, that Dane saw me kissing Ethan, or the reality that—even eleven days after they were knocked down by a toxin—they both still look positively horrible. I think Ami has lost over ten pounds, and Dane has likely lost more. The gray sheen to Ami’s complexion hasn’t entirely gone away, and her clothes sag on her frame.
And here we are, tanned, rested, and making out in baggage claim.
“What am I seeing?” Ami says, dropping her half of the sign in shock.
I’m sure I’ll examine my reaction later, but given that I can’t tell whether she’s excited or angry right now, I let go of Ethan’s hand and take a step away from him. I wonder how it looks to her: I left for her honeymoon, paid almost nothing, suffered not at all, and came home kissing the man I was supposed to hate—and never once mentioned any of this to her on the phone or in texts. “Nothing, we were just saying goodbye.”
“Were you kissing?” she asks, brown eyes saucer-wide.
Ethan tosses out a confident “Yes” just as I state an emphatic “No.”
He looks down at me, smirking at how easily that lie came out of me. I can tell he is more proud of my smoothness than he is annoyed by my answer.
“Okay, yes,” I amend. “We were kissing. But we didn’t know you were going to be here. We were going to tell you guys tomorrow.”
“Tell us what, exactly?” Ami asks.
Ethan takes this one readily and slides his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close. “That we’re together.”
For the first time, I get a good look at Dane. He’s staring directly at Ethan, his eyes narrowed like he’s trying to beam words into his brother’s cranium. I try to tamp down my reaction, knowing it’s probably just my own read on the situation, but his glare looks a lot like What did you tell her?
“It’s cool,” Ethan says calmly, and my resolution to mind my own beeswax returns, heightened by the potent mix of adrenaline in my blood.
“Everything is very cool,” I say, too loudly, and give Dane a dramatic, and probably ill-advised, wink. “Super cool.”
I am a maniac.
He bursts out laughing and finally breaks the ice, stepping forward to hug me first, and then his brother. Ami continues to stare at me in shock, and then slowly shuffles over. She feels like a skeleton in my arms.
“Dude, are you two really a thing now?” Dane asks his brother.
“We are,” Ethan tells him.
“I think I can approve it at this point,” Dane says, smiling and nodding at each of us like a benevolent boss.
“Um,” I say, “that’s . . . good?”
Ami still has not relaxed her expression one bit. “How did this even happen?”
I shrug, wincing. “I hated him until I didn’t?”
“That’s actually a very accurate synopsis.” Ethan slides an arm around my shoulders again.
My sister shakes her head slowly, gaping at the two of us in turn. “I don’t know whether to be happy or horrified. Is this the apocalypse? Is that what’s happening?”
“We could totally trade twins sometime,” Dane says to Ethan, and then erupts into a fratty laugh.
My smile droops. “That would . . .” I shake my head emphatically. “No thank you.”
“Oh my God, shut up, honey,” Ami says, laughing and hitting his shoulder. “You are so gross.”
Everyone laughs except me, and I realize it too late, so my ha-ha-ha comes out like a pull-string toy.
But I think that’s my problem with Dane, in a nutshell: he’s gross. And unfortunately, my sister loves him, I’ve been hooking up with his brother, and not five minutes ago I gave Dane the all-clear wink. I made my decision; I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to put on my big-girl pants and deal.
chapter fifteen
I wanted to stay in Maui. I wanted to stay in bed with Ethan for weeks, and listen to the ocean while I fell asleep. But even so, the moment I’m back in my apartment, I want to kiss every piece of my furniture and touch every single thing I’ve missed for the past ten days. My couch has never looked so inviting. My television is way better than the one we had in the suite. My bed is fluffy and clean, and I can’t wait until it’s dark enough to justify taking a running leap into my pillows. I am a homebody, through and through, and there’s nothing like being home.