Sylvie curled her lip. “Knock that shit off.”
“Make me,” Astra shot back.
Instead of jumping back into the fray as she normally would, Sylvie sat up and rested her arms on her updrawn knees.
“Seriously, Astra, you look happy today. Did you meet someone?”
Astra sighed. “Yes, I did. We went out on our first date last night.”
When she didn’t continue, her sister gave her a little nudge. “And?”
“It was great,” Astra answered with a smile. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”
“Considering how picky you are, that’s saying something,” Sylvie answered.
“I’m not picky,” Astra argued. “I have standards. They’re not even that high.”
“Yeah, you’re right. You don’t expect perfection, just as close as possible.”
Astra sat up and stared at her sister. “You don’t really believe that, do you?” she asked. “That I expect perfection from the men I date?”
Sylvie opened her mouth to give her a knee-jerk response but saw the vulnerable expression on her sister’s face and sighed. “No, actually, I don’t. You’ve always treated the men you date with respect and that’s what you expect from them in return.” She paused. “I think that, in reality, you just have a low tolerance for bullshit.”
NowthatAstra agreed with.
“I can’t deny that,” she said.
“Quit changing the subject and tell me about this guy.”
Astra frowned. Technically, Sylvie was the one who changed the subject. Still, it was nice to have someone to talk to about this.
“He writes mysteries and thrillers. He’s funny and he’s smart.” She paused. “And he thinks I’m beautiful.”
“Okay, so you do like this guy because, for you, this is practically gushing.”
Astra gave her sister’s shoulder a shove. “Smart ass.”
“You met him through the matchmaking service?” Sylvie asked, ignoring the shove.
“Yes. On the day I went in to cancel my membership.”
“Wow, so it’s like fate.”
“I guess so.”
“Is he Viking or fae?” Sylvie asked.
Astra shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Sylvie’s face closed down “You don’t know? You know that if he’s not Viking or fae that Mom and Dad will give him even more hell than usual? Look at what they put Claudia through and she’s demi-fae!”
Claudia was their sister Devorah’s wife and being a woman didn’t save her from the gauntlet that Astra’s parents liked to put their potential mates through. This was why Astra rarely introduced the men she dated to her parents. They were never malicious, but they did push boundaries. Devorah said it was because they wanted to make sure Claudia loved her enough to stick, but Astra thought it was because her parents were just severely twisted.
“I know,” Astra said. “But I’m not sure I care.”
“Dear gods, you really do like this guy if you don’t care what Mom and Dad will think!” Sylvie paused before a smile spread slowly across her face. “That’s good.”
“What?”
