“I suppose this isn’t necessarily me sharing a secret,” she mused. “Since I’m sure you know he’s into you now.”
“You two are close enough to have a secret?” I tried to turn again. She kept her hands firmly on my head.
“Um… well…”
“Claire? Don’t play with me.”
She let out a sigh. “Okay, okay. Back when we first met…”
“Yes,” I prompted, moving my hands so she’d talk faster.
“I caught Leo watching you at an assembly,” she explained as her fingers started braiding my hair. “Got him to confess.”
“This was when?”
“Your first year,” she mumbled, trying to get to the next part quickly. “Nate, you, and I were the only kids at that school on scholarship. I didn’t want to start drama when Leo joined our little group. And telling Nate that his best friend liked his little sister would have been the very definition of drama.”
“I suppose.” I pulled her hand away from my head for a second so I could crane my neck to look up. “But you could have told me. I thought Leo hated me, Claire. Like deeply loathed my existence.”
She laughed. “Hated you? God. That guy couldn’t hate you even if you stabbed him in the chest.”
“Right.” I scoffed and turned back around so she could resume braiding.
“Dead serious.” She waited a moment before asking, “I assume Nate doesn’t know? Since he’s not in here throwing a fit and all.”
I rolled my eyes at the thought. “I already got my lecture from him at the bonfire. Besides, I’m not ready to tell anyone about us besides you just yet. Leo and I have a way to go in terms of…rebuilding trust. I’m not sure if this side of Leo will last, so I want to be careful. I want to prove I can handle myself without Nate looking out for me, you know?”
Claire hummed in support. “I understand.”
“Between my fears and Nate’s warnings, being with Leo feels a bit risky.”
“Hey, you don’t have to listen to everything Nate has to say, okay? Leo’s sweet when he puts his mind to it.” Claire’s voice was more tender than usual. “I know he’s going to put his mind to it for you because he’s liked you for a long time. He’s all grown up now. We all are.”
I spread my skirt across my legs to examine the small number of wrinkles around the waist. “I hope so.”
“Besides, not everyone can reach the high standards of Nate Anderson.” The tenderness in her voice had turned bitter.
I kept quiet as she finished up my braids. She pinned them before picking up the hand mirror to show me her handy work.
“You want to talk about it?” I took the mirror from her to admire the beautiful braids.
She stuck her tongue out at the thought. Before she could answer, Nate backtracked in the hallway. My stomach flipped at the possibility of him having heard part of our conversation.
“What’s going on here?” He brought his nosy self right into my room and laid across my bed like he owned the place.
“Girls’ night.” Claire was far quicker on her toes than me.
“Oh, really?” he wondered. “You were never the type to not dress up for girls’ night, Claire.”
I raised a brow at my brother. Impressive. He’d actually addressed her. And not just addressed, but made full-on eye contact with her. It was then I realized; he wasn’t here to be nosy about me - though that might be a bonus - he was here for her.
“I can keep things low-key when I want.” She shrugged.
He made a contemplative hum. “Another new thing?”
“Don’t you have someone else to pester?” I wondered, trying to shoo him away.
“I’m looking at her.” Nate gave me a teasing smile.
“Well, I have to change into a better bra,” I announced. “Are you going to hang around and pester me during that process, too?”
“And that’s my cue.” Nate rolled off the bed, hurrying out. Claire and I laughed at his speedy exit.
“Nice one.” Claire started on my eyebrows. “How fast do you think he’d be down that block, ready to kill if he knew Leo’s the one who might see a bra change tonight?”
“He’d beat records.”
Claire laughed. “God, I kind of wish I could see that.”
