“Watch this,” Paul told me.And then he turned and punched Ryan in the face.
Ryan’s head snapped back, and then he let out a howl.He launched himself at Paul, and both brothers went down and began scrapping in the middle of the hallway.
“Boys!”Christine shouted.“Boys, knock it off!It’s game night!”She even tried clapping her hands, but that didn’t work either.
Somehow, Paul got to his feet and sprinted off into the house, and Ryan chased after him.Both men, it appeared were giggling.
“Sorry,” Millie said, “they’re SO DUMB—”
“Oh my God, is this Dash?”
The voice came from a girl I hadn’t met before.She shared Millie’s build and look, although where Millie tended toward a casual, almost athletic look—with manic caffeinated energy, of course—this girl appeared to have spent an inordinate amount of time in the press-on nail section of the closest Ulta.Another girl joined her, and she had the same vibe.
The second girl said, “We’ve been waiting forever to meet you.”
Christine was practically glowing as she said, “Millie, introduce your sisters.”
Something like a thundercloud moved across Millie’s face.“Dash, this is Kassandra.”(The first one.) “And this is Angeline.”(The second one.) “And they know they’re not supposed to hog you tonight—”
“Don’t you just hate it here?”Kassandra said over her.“I mean, isn’t Hastings Rock so boring?”
I managed to make a noise that, I hoped, was thoroughly noncommittal.
“And there are no cute guys,” Angeline said.
“Or they’re cute,” Kassandra said with a giggle, “but they’re gay.”
“Have you met anyone since you moved here?”Angeline asked.
Kassandra nodded eagerly.“Have you met any hot guys since you moved here?”
“Dash just broke up with his boyfriend,” Millie said.“He’s not trying to meet people right now.”
Angeline shot her a flat look.“Don’t you have something else to do?”
“Is it true Bobby’s living with you?”Kassandra asked.“Everybody’s talking about it.”
From the way Millie’s face turned bright red, I thought I had an idea of whoeverybodywas.“Kassie,” Millie said, and she sounded like she was about to cry.“I told you not to bring that up.”
“God, Millie,” Angeline said like someone who’d reached their limit, “go away!”
Blinking rapidly, Millie ducked her head and retreated a step.
“You have to tell us everybody you think is cute,” Angeline said, reaching for me.
Kassandra took my other arm.“Starting with Bobby, of course.”
Slipping away from them, I caught Millie’s eye.Her face was still bright red, and she was blinking furiously, clearly trying to fight a wave of tears.She looked away almost immediately.
“Actually,” I said, “you’re going to have to excuse me because I made Millie promise that she’d show me her room.And then Millie has to tell you about this guy I went out with.It was possibly the most epic date fail in history.Spoiler alert: he ended up being a murder suspect.”
The sisters stared at me.Christine stared at me.Deeper in the house, Paul was shouting, “It was an accident!”and it sounded like Ryan was crying.
“Millie tells it so much better than I do,” I added.And then, turning to Millie, I said, “Show me your room?”
We’d barely turned the corner when Millie crushed me in a hug, her face wet and hot against my shirt as she mumbled, “Thank you.”
In spite of my splintered ribs and punctured lungs, I managed to say, “Happy Thanksgiving.”
