“Anyway. I didn’t come up here to talk about good nail hygiene.”
“Then why did you come up here?”
“I came up here to find out why you’re pouting like a little whiny baby.”
“Jesus Christ, Cass. You’re the worst.” I sighed, flopping down on Ryan’s bed. She leaned against the desk, crossing her arms over her stomach.
Even just sitting in the house all day, Cassandra looked incredibly put together. Her cream silk blouse was tailored and looked like pure luxury. She had it stylishly tucked into a high-waisted skirt, and her toned legs were crossed before her. Her bare but perfectly manicured feet looked ready to slip into some strappy designer sandals at any moment.
We had completely different styles, but as annoying as she sometimes was, she was one of the few people on this planet who reallygotme.
Naomi was too young to remember the basement, but Cassandra and I had lived through that together. There was a time when we were all the other had, and we had clung to each other in the dark.
We both knew what it was to claw your way out of a desperate situation with your bare fucking hands, and we both had the scars to prove it.
Cassandra ran her hand through her thick, dark hair, and the sleeve of her blouse rode up her arm, exposing the skeleton key she had tattooed on her wrist.
It was the twin of the key I had tattooed on my chest. We had gotten them done together so we would never forget who we were fighting for.
“Spill it, little brother. I don’t have all day,” she snipped, and I sighed, knowing there was no way I was getting out of this.
“I feel like a loser. I don’t have a job, and Ryan basically just told me I could stay here out of fucking pity. It’s not hot.”
Cassandra raised a razor-sharp brow and gave me an irritated look.
“So? Get a job.”
“With what skills?” I snapped. “I’m not really interested in perfecting the phrase ‘do you want fucking fries with that.’”
She rolled her eyes. “First of all, I don’t think you’re supposed to curse at the customers.”
“Cassandraaaa,”I whined. “This is serious. I can’t have my man taking care of me like this. I would rather die.”
“Shut the fuck up, Cal. Stop being a pussy,” she snapped, clearly annoyed that I would even joke about taking my own life. She stalked toward me, her brown eyes burning with that same passion she had so many years ago when we had stood at the top of the stairs together. Ready to go to war for our sister.
“Know what I’m hearing? A bunch ofexcuses.When I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, do you think I sat around and bitched and whined that I was so much farther behind the other kids?”
I pursed my lips but shook my head.
“No.”
“That’s right. I fucking put in thework,” she said, reaching forward and brushing my hair off my forehead. It was a sweet, sisterly touch and directly contrasted with the intense look on her face.
“You know just as well as I do that no one in this life is going to hand us shit, Callum. If you want something, you’re going to have to do whatever is necessary to take it for your damn self.”
I swallowed. She was right.
“So… what is it that you want?”
I thought about it for a second.
Ryan. I wanted fucking Ryan. I wanted to make all his goddamn dreams come true. I wanted to be there for him. I wanted him to lean onme.Rely onme.I wanted him to not be able to imagine his life without me in it… so how did I do that?
Suddenly. It hit me, and I felt like such a fucking idiot that it took my bitchy ass sister to force me to get there.
A slow smile spread across my face, and my eyes locked on Cassandra’s.
“Can you help me shop for a suit?” I asked, and her blood-red lips curled at the corners, her eyes shining.
