When I got to the bottom step, I was faced with Storm Summers, my nemesis, and more shockingly, my sister.
She had been talking on the phone with a smile on her face. Who was she talking to, Reed or her bow Jasper? She quickly ended the call and slid her cell into the pocket of her baggy jeans.
She looked thin and drawn.
I stopped and pushed my hands into my pockets, feeling as awkward as fuck.
“Well, if it isn’t my little brother,” she said.
I was surprised. Yes, there was a snarky element to her tone, but I’d expected her to say something so much worse.
I gave her a half smile and stepped forward, towering over her. “Less of the little,” I replied.
This woman and I shared the same blood, and that thought made me feel different towards her. I didn’t like the fact that she looked so unlike herself. Pale didn’t suit her.
Rocking back on my heels, I watched as she folded her arms across her chest.
“I hear congratulations are in order?” I said before I could stop myself.
“Don’t.”
As our gazes tangled and locked, I hoped she saw how deadly serious I was when I said. “You need to tell him.”
She visibly swallowed. Although no names had been mentioned, we both knew I was speaking about Reed as she replied. “I know.”
I raised my eyebrows and then went to walk away, but she stopped me by calling. “Phoenix.”
I swung back around and faced her. “I love him—as in, I’min lovewith yourstupidbrother.”
It was the first piece of honesty I had heard from her lips in months. “I know,” I said, echoing her earlier words.
Storm took a deep breath and dropped her arms to her sides.
We shared a moment. There in the large grand lobby where she looked like she belonged, and I lifted out like a hungover sack of shit, but we both shared that one thing.
A parent.
“So where do we go from here?” she asked, taking a step forward.
“You mean with Reed, or with us?”
“With us.”
“I’m still getting my head around it. Could I suggest a truce—for now?”
She sniffed. “I’d like that.”
“And then maybe even friends?” I added with a raised brow.
Storm’s mouth curled into a half smile. “Let’s not push it.”
Holding back a chuckle, I dashed a hand across my face and then said. “Could you tell Dominic that I’ll be in touch?” I couldn’t bring myself to say father in front of her and rub more salt into the wound.
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” Reaching out, I placed a hand on her shoulder and said, “It’s going to be alright, you get that, don’t you?”
I didn’t know if either of us knew what I was referring to, but she seemed to take comfort in those words. “I hope so, Nix. I really do.”
