“I saw you kissing Liza.” Sierra swallows, her tongue wetting her lips. “I was worried you were down or something...but then I saw you with Liza.”
I’m not sure what to say.
So what if she saw me with Liza?
“You were worried about me?” I allow her fingers to play with mine, but my eyes are locked on hers.
Sierra tilts her head to the side, her gaze dropping to my lips.
“You’re so hot, Crane, but fuck, are you miserable. Why?”
I force my eyes away from hers, glancing down the hallway as Sierra pulls me into her arms, burying her head in my neck as she holds me.
I’m not sure how to react, but slowly I raise my arms so they’re wrapped around her, my heart thumping in my chest. I dip my head down to her ear, the sweet scent of her perfume making me crazy.
“What’s this for?”
“I just wanted to hug you, you know?”
I relax, but my arms don’t dare move down the curve of her back; something about her in my arms feels fucking bizarrely right.
“Fuck,” I whisper into the air as Sierra grips my jacket in her hands, moving so she is in my line of sight, staring up at me.
“I know I’ll always be like your kid sister?—”
No, you’re really not.
“But I want you to know you can always talk to me about anything.”
Oh.
Of fucking course, that’s what she means, dickhead.
“Crane?”
“Yeah?” I respond gruffly, releasing her from my arms reluctantly.
For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel the pain in my chest.
Because Sierra hugged me.
“Can I finish the whiskey?”
NINE
SIERRA
Istudy Crane on the Uber home, wondering why I’ve blown off Jaden to leave with him.
I mean, a sexy college guy with a mysterious allure is always going to win over the guy who tells you he wants to “fuck the ass off you,” but this guy has zero interest in me.
We arrive home, and I make my way around the back as he frowns at me.
“What’re you doing, Sierra?”
“Well, I kinda snuck out…” I explain, cringing with embarrassment.
God, I feel like such a child right now. “So I need to go back in the way I left.”
