“Run!” she yelled, then she took off, feeling two more hard pecks on her calves, and ran as fast as she could toward Julia. Julia squealed as Eliana took her by the hand and ran alongside her, leaving the stunned flamingos in the background. They ran all the way to Asher’s house and crashed through his door, still screaming and laughing, tripping over boxes and landing on the floor in a heap. At some point in the melee, Eliana had dropped off the livestream, thank goodness.
They laid on the carpet and laughed until they could finally breathe again.
“That was so weird,” Julia said.
“You’re telling me,” Eliana said through choppy breaths. She hadn’t run that fast in a long time. “What was their goal?”
“You’re wearing a pink shirt and shorts. Maybe they thought you were one of them.” They dissolved into giggles again. “We need to clean your legs up before they get infected.”
“Wait.” Eliana laid a hand on Julia’s arm. “My stomach hurts too much from laughing to get up. I need a minute.”
“Whose house did we break into?” Julia propped herself up on her elbows to look around.
Oh. Crap.
“Asher’s grandpa’s house,” Eliana said as casually as possible. “I’ve been helping him clean it out.”
“Huh,” Julia said, and if that wasn’t a loaded huh, Eliana would go join that flamboyance of flamingos and rename herself Yoko Ono.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s just … you seem different.”
“Different how?”
Julia laughed. “Stop sounding so suspicious. You’re more relaxed. Open. Happy.”
“I’ve been happy,” she said, maybe a little too defensively.
“Yes you have. Happy is the wrong word. More at peace.”
Okay, Eliana could give her that.
“Usually, you’re so made up, you’re almost intimidating. Lately—I mean, you did a live in an oversized T-shirt, and you didn’t refresh your make-up beforehand.”
Julia didn’t have to explain what she meant by that. Eliana didn’t like to be seen by anyone without perfect make-up, perfect outfit, perfect surroundings. But all that perfection seemed … exhausting lately.
“I like it,” Julia said. “It’s more real. It reminds me of how you were before—” She cut herself off, but Eliana finished the sentence in her head. Before Corbin.
“It’s being here in Diamond Cove with you guys.” And Asher. She hadn’t changed for him—she’d never do something like that again. It was more that she felt comfortable being her real self in front of him, and it had been a long time since that had happened.
She was falling for him.
There. She admitted it. She was falling for Asher Brooks.
But remembering Sienna made her feel sick to her stomach. She got canceled for someone taking a picture of her holding a caffeinated beverage. If Eliana—writing a book on being happily single—fell in love? She could lose everything she’d worked so hard for.
“What’s wrong?” Julia sat up, and Eliana followed suit. They sat with their legs crossed, facing each other, still in the entryway of Asher’s house. Could she tell her sister? If not Julia, then who else?
“I’m attracted to Asher. Like,reallyattracted.”
“Okay, that’s normal,” her sister said encouragingly. “He’s a handsome guy.”
“I mean …” She lowered her voice. “I can’t stop thinking about him. And me. Together. As more than friends.” She brought her palms together for a visual that definitely wasn’t necessary.
Julia’s eyes widened, but to her credit, she didn’t gasp or clutch her pretend pearls or accuse her of hypocrisy, or any of the other reactions Eliana had been afraid of. She saw the moment the dilemma of Eliana’s situation dawned on Julia.
Her gaze softened. “You need to figure out what you really want. Not what anyone else wants for you. Or expects from you. But what you really want,” she laughed self-deprecatingly. “I know that’s rich coming from me, but I speak from experience. You’ve lived a lot of your life trying to live up to other people’s expectations.”
