Trinity nods, itching to hold Stella as she moves closer to where we stand. But Stella only winds her arms around my neck and clings to me tighter. I give my best friend sorry eyes as she deflates in disappointment.
“That’s okay, Stella. We’ll have a dance party later.” Trinity reaches out and squeezes her shin. “I’m pretty shy too.”
“A little human!” Elijah yells excitedly, making all of us flinch as he runs over to where we stand, stopping only inches from Stella and me. “Are you ready to have the best weekend of your life?”
Her eyes widen at my excited-looking brother before she nods her tiny head. Her arms loosen around me before she leans toward my brother, gesturing for him to take her. Stealing her from my arms with a giant smile on his face as she clings to him tightly, he gives her a bear hug while walking farther into my house and whispering into her ear, making her giggle happily.
Mouth open in offense, Trinity stands in place. “Am I ugly or something?”
“You’re gorgeous. Elijah just has the …” I stop mid-sentence, looking for the right words. “He has the Elijah effect.” I shrug.
Everyone loves my brother. His energy is just too positive.
She sighs, wrapping her arm around my shoulders while we walk to the sound of their voices. “You’re right. I kinda hate him for it.”
“No one can hate him,” I muse, thinking back to my childhood.
He was a hit with everyone. It didn’t matter how old you were or how wealthy. Everyone just loved Elijah. Nothing has changed since then. He’s still secretly the most favorite Drakos sibling all around the world.
Every day, he proves to me why he is. He has the kindest, purest heart out of everyone I know. When you sit and have a conversation with him, he’ll remember every single detail that came out of your mouth. He’s the friend who remembers everyone’s birthday even if he hasn’t seen you in years, he makes it his goal to put a smile on your face even if he feels at his lowest, and he always just reminds you he’stherefor you.
“You’re right; it’s impossible,” she says while hitting my hip with hers.
Stopping in the doorway of my living room, I point, staring at the scene in front of me.
Elijah is aggressively playing an air guitar while Stella sits on Leonidas’s shoulders, singing one of my songs in an invisible microphone while Leonidas pretends to play the drums. I don’t think I have one thing to worry about.
Leonidas catches us at the doorway before looking up at her, and then he yells at me in Greek, embarrassed that we caught him being a softy.
I laugh, giving him my finger when I make sure my boyfriend’s sister isn’t looking.
“What did he say?” Trinity whispers, not understanding our native language.
“What? It’s not her fault she’s related to a devil,” I translate with a roll of my eyes.
* * *
The past twenty-four hours with Stella have been nothing but easy. I practically forget she’s there most of the time. She’s so quiet. Just like her brother.
I was worried when it was time to put her to sleep. Levi had told me she has a hard time falling asleep. Doing the normal nighttime routine her brother had advised me to do, I got into bed beside her, and she fell asleep in record time. I’m totally bragging about that when he comes back.
When I woke up in the morning and felt her body nuzzled against mine, she asked me to make her pancakes, so I did, and Elijah made sure to cut hers in special shapes. Making her extremely happy as she ate them with a goofy smile on her face.
After a while, the four of us took her to the mall and bought her a really cute outfit and a stuffed animal she couldn’t let go of. We shared a salted pretzel while walking around, window-shopping before going home and having another dance party before dinner, which definitely made me sweat.
She refused to eat her dinner while I was trying to feed her, which worried me because she hadn’t eaten much all day. If this is how my brothers have felt for years, I feel bad for them. After a while, she ate all her mac and cheese and ran up to my room after I told her to wait on my bed for me.
We’re streaming her brother’s concert live tonight from my laptop, and she couldn’t be more excited.
Plopping a pink Jolly Rancher in my mouth after turning it around in my hand, I try to imagine Levi sorting through several packs just for the pink ones because I told him they were my favorite.
How is he such a softy?
Hearing the loud buzz of everyone’s screams through my laptop, I laugh, looking over at Trinity as Stella squeals, seeing her brother first appear onstage.
I’m fangirling like everyone else in that building, but I’m keeping my screams inside. There isn’t anything hotter than seeing your man doing his job, all sweaty and moody-looking. His hair falls into his eyes when the camera zooms into his well-structured face as he begins singing.
The three of us dance along during the entire concert, jumping on my bed and pretending we’re right there with him. When the concert is almost finished, Levi walks offstage, making me scrunch my face in confusion.
