for me to start fresh.
“You have to come. This city is amazing. And full of hotties.”
“I’m sure Nathan loves that.”
“I’m in a relationship, not dead.” She laughed. “Come, Kins. You can stay on our sofa for a few days. Yes, I actually fit in a sofa. See if you like it. And it has a ton of opportunities in marketing,” she taunted.
“Yeah, okay.” I nodded my head. “But no sex while I’m there. I heard you enough through our apartment wall.”
“Hey, Nathan’s always thought you were cute.” She tried her sexy voice.
“Stop.” I laughed, cringing at the thought. “Nathan is like my brother.”
“Seriously, how are you doing though?”
My emotions came at me like a slap, sinking me onto my bed.
“That bad, huh?”
Tears burned my eyes as I peered up at the ceiling.
“Did you tell your mom or Kasey?”
“Tell my mom the guy she thinks as another son not only screwed her youngest daughter while still married, but just got out of jail for embezzling money from his best friend, and turned his back on his father, who is now dead? He’s a liar and con artist.” My throat clotted; my chest ached.
“And what about the other part?” she asked softly.
“You mean the fact he’s going to be a father?” I croaked, saying it out loud felt like I took a chainsaw to my soul. A tear slid down my face, recalling the sonogram Becca showed me. About six to eight weeks along.
It was why she had tracked him down, so she could tell him he was going to be a father. They were going to be a family.
If the newspaper clippings weren’t enough to dissuade me, Becca having his child was.
“I don’t want to talk about him anymore. He’s with Becca now. Having a baby. He’s in the past. A mistake.”
“Okay, okay,” Sadie responded, flipping the topic and vibe like a switch. “See you in a few days then?”
“Yeah, gonna drive pretty much straight through this time.”
“Yay. I’m so excited. I’ve missed you so much. And that mutt. Crap, I’ve really missed him.”
“I’ve missed you too. And Goat will be so happy to be with his other mommy again.”
“You don’t know how well our family fits in with SF.” She snorted.
The sound of a car door slamming yanked me from my thoughts back to the present, moving me to my window, seeing Kasey get out of her SUV. Mom was right, I needed to talk to her before I left. I hated we were fighting over something neither of us had.
“Put it in your old room.” I heard my mom’s voice downstairs, the sound of footsteps clicking up the wood steps and down the hallway.
Kasey’s head turned as she passed my door, her lips pinching together, going into the room next door.
“Kasey?” I trailed after her. Her room still in homage to the teenage Kasey who loved purple, as if Mom hoped we’d all magically go back in time. Filled with cheerleading banners and pompoms, trophies, and ribbons from every sport or club she was part of, and pictures of her and her friends covered every surface.
She set down the box filled with items for mom. The rooms were the same, but all our closets were now crammed with Mom’s crap.
“Hey.” I shuffled awkwardly at the door.
She continued messing with the box like I wasn’t there.
“Kasey, come on. At least look at me.”
Puffing out her nose, her head snapped over her shoulder. “Rather not look at the person who backstabbed me, thanks.”
“Fuck sake, Kasey.” I stomped into her room. “I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with you from the moment things changed between Smith and me, but you didn’t make it easy.”
“How about… ? ‘Hey, Kasey, I’m fucking the guy you really like’?” She whirled around, anger lashing her tone. “My bad.”
“Don’t turn this around on me. I take full responsibility for not standing up to you and telling you right away, but he wasn’t yours. You didn’t even know him… and believe me… I didn’t either.” I left out telling her everything, keeping what Becca told me to myself. “It’s not fair to be so angry at me over this. I’m sorry I hurt you. But you can’t hate me, Kasey. You and Smith weren’t together. Not even remotely.”
Her lashes beat against her cheekbones, her arms folding.
“I won’t lose my sister over this,” I said softly.
“It hurts.”
“I know.” Fuck, did I know.
“You hurt me, Kins. You’re my sister. The person who should have my back.”
“And you should have mine,” I