But herlips. God, her lips looked just as juicy and suckable as I remembered.
Jesus. Danny’s sister. Remember?
I shook my head, finding no sudden change from one picture to the next on her profile. No proof of plastic surgery or fillers most girls around here were addicted to.
Like a buzzing in the air, a static electricity formed, and I knew she had spotted me. I struggled not to look up, to catch those little doe eyes with mine and swallow her confidence whole. But that fucking heart of mine sped up again, and I took a moment to exhale, reminding myself of who she was and what she had done to Danny.
Little Fox was always the favorite. Perfect in every way. A parent’s dream kid. And why give two fucks about your son who struggled with his grades, experimented with drugs, and had ADHD when your second kid was just flawless, right? Danny had become invisible to his parents, Colleen and David Fox, the moment Avery started excelling and he started failing.
As if Avery hadn’t gotten enough attention with her straight As and her billion extracurriculars, taking up everyone’s goddamn time, then she’d had to go and almost die in that car accident. She had become this precious survivor everyone in our part of town worshipped and tried to protect, as if she were the only one who had experienced trauma.
That might sound cold. Well…fuck it. It was, and I didn’t care.
After that, her spotlight had only gotten brighter while Danny’s dimmed, even with the rising success of our band.
Danny had built up a thick skin over the years, but I would never forget rushing him to the hospital after his dad’s funeral to get his stomach pumped. Alcohol poisoning had almost taken my best friend. My family. And I could never forgive his parents or his sister for that. If David had gone to our gig that night instead of Avery’s stupid piano concert, like planned, he’d still be here. We all knew it. And maybe, just maybe, Danny wouldn’t have to fight so many demons inside of himself.
A muscle in my neck twitched when I heard Nikko offer our dinner to Avery, and my eyes accidentally landed on her. She declined, but before I could go back to staring at my phone screen, we locked on to each other.
Her gray eyes were anything but cold. They warmed with an innocence I was sure she’d mastered after years of practice. But there was no way she was as innocent as she looked. Not with that face and that body.
My stubbornness shattered for a moment when I saw her lips move, making my eyes fall down her face. Those perfect lips stretched into a hesitant smile, begging to get one in return.
Was she kidding?
Tic and Nikko shoved through me into the kitchen, shaking off my lingering stare. I stifled a laugh. Just because Danny had taken pity on his little sister and was letting her stay with us did not mean we were going to suddenly be friends.
I saw the disappointment in her eyes before I left, hearing the door to her room close shortly after.
Herroom? That was going to be hard to get used to—having someone I loathed rooming directly below where I slept. As if I didn’t have a hard enough time with sleeping already.
I thought about all the ways I could exploit her, to get under her skin, but with how long she was staying, it didn’t seem worth it. Besides, from the looks of her now, she looked like she had developed a pretty thick skin herself.
Blood was the only thing she and Danny shared, but in my experience, blood didn’t mean shit. Family wasn’t something you were born into. It was the people who chose you above all others when your own blood betrayed you. Danny, Tic, Lexie, and Nikko—they were my family. I would do anything for them. And the best thing I could do for Danny right now was to keep Avery as far away from him as possible while she was here.
And for her sake, she’d better listen.
Discovering a new chord progression, I softly danced my fingers across the strings of my guitar, repeating the melody over and over until I was happy with the sound. I liked starting new songs on my acoustic. It sounded different than what we typically performed, but I knew if I didn’t like it this way, I wouldn’t like it with an electric guitar, drums, and bass. This way was a form of therapy for me. Creating in silence, the rest of the world blocked out—or asleep on the couch. I shook my head at my boys passed out, strewn about the cushions.
This song though, it was almost there, but it was missing something. I didn’t even have the lyrics yet, but I knew I needed to hear it another way.
I could double up the progression, make it faster? Or slow it down and add a lower—
My train of thought cut off. I felt her presence before I saw her, but I kept playing like she wasn’t there.
“That sounds nice.” Avery’s velvety voice sent shivers up my spine, and I didn’t like it.
I quickly started playing a song Danny had been working on, one I didn’t think she’d like as much, but that didn’t get her to leave either.
She needed help with the futon, and fortunately for her, I was the only one in the house who knew its sweet spot to open it. It was old and broken. We should’ve bought something else by now for guests to sleep on, but most of the people who spent the night either passed out on the couch or were in bed with one of us.
I charged into her room, hoping to get in and out before she could make it through the door but I wasn’t fast enough.
And then she touched me. Her fingers felt like silk on my skin, nothing like the rough, callous ones I had been left with after almost two decades of playing guitar. I started to wonder what the rest of her felt like when she spoke again, pulling me out of a fantasy I hadn’t been ready to leave yet.
Danny’s sister. That’s Danny’s fucking sister.
She thanked me for letting her stay here, but it wasn’t like I’d had a choice.
