“How often do you visityourparents?” Zephyr fired back.
“Never, if I can help it.” Wyatt replied, even though the question hadn’t been for him. Rafe snorted, but didn’t look at Wyatt, which was surprising. The two friends were truly on the outs. Even in my earliest memories from childhood, the two were attached at the hip.
Maybe that’s why Wyatt was resisting Skye so hard. Maybe he blamed her for coming between them.
Which wasstupid, of course. We could all be happy together if he’d just get over himself like I did.
Zephyr’s lips twitched like he wanted to grin.
“Who are the flowers for?” Wyatt asked, taking the lack of verbal jab as an opening. “I didn’t take you for much of a decorator. Unless you have a girlfriend?”
Zephyr snorted.
“Boyfriend?” I tried.
Zephyr laughed. “These are for Skye. Our mom always kept flowers in the kitchen. I kind of stopped putting them out while Skye was gone, but she likes them, and she’s home now, so…”
I hummed thoughtfully at that. I’d never gotten Skye flowers before,but I knew how to get to that little garden. I made a mental note to get her some flowers when we got back to school.
I mean…ifwe went back to school.
“I’ve never gotten my sister flowers.” Wyatt said, because he was an asshole.
“Well, maybe you should.” Rafe muttered from his spot near the window, where he continued to watch the neighbors.
Wyatt glared at Rafe’s back. “Something interesting going on out there?”
“Yes, the neighbors are packing for a trip.” Rafe said lightly. “Somewhere cold, it seems.”
Zephyr ignored the interaction, then replied to Wyatt, “That doesn’t surprise me at all. Can’t even get flowers for your sister, why would you get them for another woman?”
My stomach dropped, and as if he could sense it, Zephyr glanced up at me apologetically. I swallowed hard as his face softened. I nodded just slightly. He wasn’t insulting me. How could he even know I had never given Skye flowers before? Skye wouldn’t have been gossiping with herbrotherabout a guy, would she?
“Wait a minute, can’t youmakeflowers, earth boy?” Zephyr said then, giving Wyatt a cursory glance.
Wyatt’s cheeks actually turned slightly pink. He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I can.”
Zephyr hummed a judgmental sound. I stifled a laugh, coughing at the last second. Wyatt looked wounded, but Zephyr hid his smile by turning back to the sink.
“I’ve given Skye plenty of flowers,” Rafe drawled. “She just…didn’t actually know it was me giving them to her, but still.”
The dots connected in my mind.Skyehadn’t been picking those flowers for her dorm. It’d been her shadow.
Zephyr snorted. “Itold herthat stalker was a man.”
“So did I!” I chimed in with a laugh.
Rafe rolled his eyes.
“Anyway,” Zephyr said lightly as he tied a ribbon in a bow around the vase. “Skye deserves nice things. Sue me.”
“You deserve that, too, Zeph.” I said softly. Zephyr paused hismovement for just a moment and his eyes flicked up to mine. He swallowed hard before going back to his bow.
“Skye has had a really hard time. She doesn’t deserve anything that’s happened to her.”
“Neither have you,” I argued. “You stepped up. You did a lot of work that you never should have had to do.”
Zephyr breathed a laugh. “So, what? I deserve flowers now? We both did what we had to.”
