Summer Breeze Kisses - Addison Moore Page 0,167

this were genuinely disconcerting. In a way it is. Sabrina as a free agent has generally been a dangerous thing.

“Yes, really.” Her smile crumbles a moment, and I see myself in her features, knife-sharp like a mirror image. I’ve often wondered what Duncan saw in her—in the least he saw a vague image of me. “The truth is, I’ve always been jealous of you. I’ve always wanted what you’ve had. I was never that into Duncan. And don’t hate me, but I wanted to try to steal Rex away from you, too. Deep down, I’ve always felt like everyone gravitated to you, and all I ever wanted was a piece of that affection. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Sabrina.” I pull her in, and her chest bucks over mine.

“I’m ready to bury the past with an ice pick,” she whispers.

“You mean hatchet?”

“No, trust me, when you really need the job done, you always go with an ice pick.”

We share a hearty laugh, a sisterly laugh. She hugs me hard, and I hug her back. For the very first time in forever, it feels as if something has been restored. Even though I’ve lost Rex, I’ve regained my sister.

I guess you really can’t have it all.

August comes with a searing heat that turns my hair to whiskers of hay, my skin to dry scales, thirsty for a cocoa butter bath. But it’s my heart that’s shriveled ten sizes too small, no longer able to care for the rest of me. I want nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep through the rest of this thick, polemic heat wave that summer has become. But it’s not the heat that’s got me wishing I could escape reality for a week or ten. It’s the boy who reached into my chest and squeezed the life out of my beating heart. I’ve successfully avoided Rex, dodging into the bathroom for an hour straight when I accidentally bumped into him in the library. My entire body clapped with an electrical jolt. I shook like a dog at the kennel as I sat fully clothed on that toilet seat. Not my finest moment, but by the time I paroled myself from my self-imposed restroom exile, he was nowhere to be seen.

He’s all but stopped texting me, so there’s that. A part of me misses the barrage of electronic missives that bordered on cyberstalking as much as I miss Rex, or at least the version I thought I knew. Then finally—and much to my relief—the football team disappeared off to some boot camp for the last two weeks. It was as if I could finally move about campus without fear of bumping into him, landing myself on another toilet for far longer than any clothed tushie was ever meant to sit on it. But now he’s back, and I’m right back to dodging. With the exception of this very minute, I’m not dodging anyone. I’m frosting at a million miles an hour.

Roxy and I have stood side by side for the last four hours straight, frosting cupcakes for one of her best friend’s wedding. I’ve met Izzy around the bar, and, of course, Holt practically runs the place himself with his brother, Bryson. Roxy’s been on edge all day trying to get every little detail right. The cupcakes of choice are red velvet with cream cheese frosting. Half of the cupcakes have a pink ballerina slipper made of melted sugar because Izzy owns her own dance studio, and the other half are adorned with a chocolate martini glass to represent the bars that Holt owns.

“These are totally adorable,” I reassure her as I box up the last of them. There are fifty boxes, a dozen in each box, which makes for one serious cupcake feast for everyone at the venue. Not to mention the fact, Roxy’s cupcakes are huge, more muffin-like than anything small and dainty. I sniff hard while stacking the boxes for Cole to carry downstairs. I’ve already studied the route to the Electric Lights Dance Company as if it were the LSATs. It’s way out in the boonies, but with a little fancy, yet time-consuming maneuvering, I can totally get there on side streets.

“Hey.” Roxy places her hand on my shoulder and carefully spins me toward her. “Things still in the crapper?” Her dark cherry red hair is a touch more pronounced than mine, and her makeup is amazing, albeit Goth-inspired with heavy kohl liner ringing her eyes. Roxy is gorgeous and

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