her? What did that mean? I tried to think back to the first time I’d met Lucy, tried to compare how she was then to how she was now, but she seemed the same happy chick who had helped me through such an insane time in my life. Sure, she was in love now, but that was the only difference I really saw.
What had I missed?
It niggled at me, making me want to pause to go back over all the months we had been best friends. As I looked at Lucy, watched how she interacted with Angie and Caleb, I realized that maybe there was a difference. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Caleb turned from hugging Lucy, forcing me back to the moment as he thrust his hands into his pockets. “Are you really grounded? Your email to Angie said you were, but you didn’t know for how long. What the hell did you do, Kin?”
I knew he was teasing me, but remembering that I was grounded burst my happy bubble. “Nothing,” I grumbled. “For once, I didn’t do a damn thing. Georgia rushed the stage, kissed the guy performing, and got escorted out of the club with her hands cuffed with zip ties.” I didn’t mention it had been Jace she had kissed. I wasn’t ready to dive into that conversation with the twins yet. “Lucy gave us a ride home and Marcus here walked us to the door to explain to my father and Jillian what happened. Georgia got a pat on the head by mommy dearest and I got grounded indefinitely for not using my ‘influence’ to get her out of trouble.”
It still stung that Scott had been so worried about Georgia, but hadn’t spared me more than a glance the night before. Asshat.
A honk echoed off the school walls behind us and I clenched my hands into fists as I told myself I needed to keep my nose clean. That meant not punching my step-bitches in the face. Although I was pretty sure that Jillian would use it as a good reason to enhance her daughters’ features.
“We’ll see how long you stay grounded once Daddy gets here,” Angie muttered more to herself than to anyone else as she flipped the step-bitches the bird.
Ah, I loved Angie so damn much. She was a little goddess. The sister of my heart looked like what most would call an angel with her long blond hair and those brilliant blue eyes. She had a sweet voice that she used to her advantage often and had gotten us out of trouble more than a few times with it. The thing about Angie, though, was that appearances had never been more deceiving. She was anything but an angel.
She was pure hell on high heels when she needed to be—or more like when she wanted to be. And when she was with me and her twin, she wanted to be. Often.
Caleb, on the other hand, looked like a gorgeous beast from hell. He was scary with his hulk-like body and sometimes menacing scowl. Like his twin, appearances were deceptive. The brother of my heart was more angel than his sister could ever hope to be.
“But we aren’t going to get to hang out tonight, are we?” Caleb said with a cute little pout, bringing me back to the situation at hand.
“No,” I muttered as fresh tears stung my eyes. Damn it. I had cried more in the last ten minutes than I had in six months.
Lucy was quick to step in, though. “How about I take you two out on the town tonight? Marcus and I will pick you up at your hotel and take you to dinner and then to First Bass. I’ll give you the full VIP experience.”
I forced a smile for her. “Yeah, you two.” I knew that Lucy would take care of the two people who meant so much to me. “Go out with Lucy and have a good time. When Carter gets here we can have our time.” Georgia hit the horn again and I was ten seconds from punching her in the face, so I hugged the twins again. “I’m so happy you two are here. I love you both so much.”
Angie opened her mouth, but Carolina chose that moment to yell at me. “Kin. Let’s go. Mother is expecting us.”
At least it was Carolina. If it had been Georgia, I might have gone all Tasmanian devil on her ass.
Keep your nose clean, Kin.
I gritted