Gem looks taken aback. “Like, you met a man?”
“Why do you sound so surprised? I’m still young, you know.”
“No, I mean, I just, you’ve never shown any interest in dating before. When did you have time to meet someone?”
“It happened at the diner.” I hesitate before throwing myself over toward her desk. I collapse into her chair with a groan. “This is really awkward.”
“You just have a boyfriend. That’s actually really awesome, right? What’s he like?”
Terrifying. Vicious. Hot as sin. Kind of an asshole. Weirdly obsessed with me.
“His name is Stellan,” I say, skipping right over his description. “And I know what you’re going to say. I just need you to know that I thought a lot about this.”
“About… what? Dating? Kira, seriously, you’re not my mother. You’re my big sister. I know you forget that sometimes, but I don’t. You’re allowed to have a life. Honestly, you really need to get out more.”
“You’re starting to sound like Mina.”
“She gets it then!”
“Please, just hold on.” I raise a hand to keep her from getting on a roll. “I seriously don’t know how to say this without sounding insane, so I’m just going to tell you straight.” I take a deep breath. I feel like I might throw up. My heart’s going wild and I’m sweating. I bet I smell like a dying fish. “I’m getting married.”
Gem makes a face like I just told her I’m super into eating garbage. She opens her mouth like she’s trying to formulate words, but nothing happens. I give her a second before she finally laughs awkwardly. “I hope this is some weird prank?”
“It’s not.” My shoulders slump. This is going horribly wrong. “I know it’s fast. Trust me, I’m aware. But Stellan’s—” I want to saygood manbut I’m trying really hard not to lie to my sister. “He’s going to take care of us.”
“Are you whoring yourself out to him?” she whispers, eyes going wide. “Is this a trafficking thing? I know places we can call. We had an assembly on this?—”
“No!” I say a little too forcefully. I’m pretty sure that only makes Gem more suspicious. “No, no, it’s not like that. It’s more like—” I wave a hand in the air as if I’m going to collect spiderweb strands. “It’s more like a green card marriage.”
Gem’s frown deepens. “He’s a foreigner?”
“Not exactly. Something like that. But I also like him and he likes me. We’re doing this because it makes sense for everyone. And I know it’s crazy, but I promise, it’s good. It’s going to be good.”
She tilts her head side to side. “Obviously, I think this is really right.”
“Totally. I know. Me too.”
She clears her throat. “This is the guy who’s paying for my car service, right?”
“Yep, that’s him.”
“And… he’s the guy who owns the building.”
My stomach twists in surprise. “How’d you know that?”
“I saw the way you were looking at each other.” She takes a slow, measured breath and nods to herself. “Okay, so you’ve been seeing each other secretly for a while.”
“Yes,” I say, drawing it out, because that’s not strictly true, but it also sort of is.
“And now you’re marrying for some weird reason you’re being really shady about.”
“That sums it up.”
“But do you honestly like him? I mean, you’re in an actual relationship?”
I pause and think. I don’t want to lie. But I also don’t want her to think I’m making a bad decision, even if I definitely am.
“We’re in a relationship. My feelings for him are complicated.”
