"It's because of my sister."
His voice grew flat. "Your sister."
"Yeah, Delaney."
"Iknowwhat her name is."
I cleared my throat. "Right." On the nearby sidewalk, tourists milled past, looking decidedly happier than I was, at least at the moment. I gestured vaguely toward the crowd. "Should we walk while we talk?" It was a reasonable suggestion. After all, we did have someplace to be.
With a humorless laugh, he asked, "You mean together? Or, with you a few paces behind?"
It was an obvious joke, so I tried to keep it light. "That's a little outdated, don't you think?"
"Alright. Thenyouwalk ahead of me."
Joking or not, neither of us laughed.
I let out a long, weary sigh. "Just listen, okay? I love my sister, really, I do. But we haven't gotten along in ages, and I'm pretty sure I know why."
He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "Why?"
"The short version? She's jealous."
When Ryder opened his mouth to reply, I cut him off, feeling desperate to explain. "Listen, I know how that sounds."
He studied me for a beat. "Do you?"
"Totally." I forced a laugh. "I sound like a conceited snot."
Finally, his mouth softened just a little. "I wouldn't go that far."
"Iwould," I said. "But you haven't heard the most important part."
"Which is…?"
"It's not her fault. Or mine either." More softly, I added, "Not really."
His jaw tightened, but he didn't look away. "Go on."
"Growing up, my mom always favored me over her, and I guess I leaned into it, trying too hard to succeed while Delaney did just the opposite, getting into trouble any time she could. So of course, the imbalance only grew." I gave Ryder a pleading look. "By the time we hit high school, she hated me."
Judging from his face, he wasn't buying it. "You don't know that."
"Idoknow that. And you wanna know why?"
"Why?"
"Because she told me." I gave a bitter scoff. "And not just once."
His eyebrows lifted. "And?"
And what?I didn't even know what he was looking for. "I'm just saying, it really sucked."
"And?" he repeated, like he was genuinely missing the point.
His reaction surprised me – and not in a good way. "So…you wanna know how this relates to us?"
"Sure," he said. "But that's not what I meant."
