“Yes. I was going to say that,” Sonia says dryly.
“And he never takes anything seriously!”
“Okay. But—”
“I mean, sometimes he takes things seriously, I suppose,” I admit. “He put on this really good event for the house party. I was impressed. And it is nice to laugh with him.”
“But...” Sonia trails off.
“Well? Out with it!”
“Oh, you’re going to let me finish this time?” She waits for me to interrupt and I don’t give her the satisfaction.
“ButI think you can get overannoyingwhen he’s making you come on the regular.”
I should stop sharing things with Sonia if she’s just going to use them against me in this aggressive manner. “Well, who told you to make sense?” I ask belligerently.
It’s just hard to let go of a lifetime of seeing someone in one box—the enemy—and have to readjust to seeing them in another box—a lover and maybe even a partner.
Sonia rolls her eyes at me. “He matches you intellectually, he makes you laugh and the sex is good. You’re even arguing in favor of him againstyourself.”
“Yeah. But he chose a shit time to try to have an emotional conversation with me when I was already going through the wringer.”
Sonia looks at me, waiting for what we both know is coming. I don’t disappoint.
“Fine. When I put it like that, having bad timing isn’t the worst characteristic for him to possess,” I say. “But you should be backing me up completely and ready to burn down Gavin’s Upper East Side town house, not making sense against me.” She might need to be demoted from best friend. Cousin I can’t change much.
“AmIthe one making sense against you?” she asks incredulously.
I ignore that. “Plus, I stormed off when I found out what Dad did and Gavin said he loved me. Maybe he’ll give up on me now and decide I’m too much trouble.” Just as I decide that I want something more with him.
Typical, aggravating Gavin.
She shrugs. “You had a bad day after some rough news. I think that’s something he can get over. And if he can’t, you’ll actually have a compelling reason to not be with him. One I’m sure you’ll still debate yourself out of, but it’ll be stronger than the other points.” She reaches for my phone. “Now, do you want me to call him, or should I send him a text from your phone?”
I slap her hand down before she can steal the prize. “I’ll call him, eventually.” When the embarrassment dies down and I can control my emotions.
“I’ll hold you to that.” The words are harsh, but she puts the blanket over me, tucking it into my sides as I bring my plate closer to me so we can have a TV marathon. I bump her back up to best friend for letting this go and taking care of me.
Which is good because without her, the winner for my best friend title is my Postmates delivery person.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“Didi, are you home?” Ajay barges through my front door. “I have your favorite cheesecake from the bodega around the corner. The cashier asked if you were dead since she hasn’t seen you. How much time do you spend at that place, anyway?”
I raise my head over the back of the couch and see a masculine version of me breaking into my home. With the key I stupidly gave him when I was handing them out like candy on Halloween to Sonia and Mom as well.
“What are you doing here?” I quickly close the box I was eating from. Which happens to contain the cheesecake Sonia brought me yesterday.
“I felt a disturbance in the twin bond...”
“Not a thing.”
“And you haven’t been at work since you got back. Sonia wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong.” He sounds hurt that Sonia knows and he doesn’t. I feel a twinge at being a bad sister, but how do I tell him I’m sad about something that involves him but he doesn’t have control over?
That’s not protecting my baby brother.
Ajay detours to my kitchen for some forks, and only judges me silently when he sees what I’m eating. He pulls it out of my hand and replaces it with the superior product. He claims the second-best cheesecake that Sonia mistakenly thinks is the best, for himself.
