“They were probably scared of how you’d react, and given the current situation, I’d say rightfully so.”
Silence fills the cold air around us as she lets my words sink in. “Do you think I’m overreacting?”
“A little bit, yes. But once again, I get where you come from, and I’m sure Kate and your brother will, too.”
“Seriously, you switched from Katherine to Kate with a single correction from me? I asked you at least a dozen times to call me Andy.”
“That ship sailed a long time ago. You’ll always be Andrea. And don’t try to change the subject. Both Kate and Rafael can sympathize with your struggle. But you must realize that a deal you made with your brother a decade ago doesn’t matter anymore.”
After a moment of silent pondering, she mumbles, “Sometimes, you’re full of wisdom.”
“Twenty-four years of therapy have taught me a few things.”
The door opens behind us, and we twist around to find Kate’s slender silhouette against the light. I tighten my hold on Andrea for a brief second and let her go. “I’ll let you two have a talk. Don’t take too long, I’m starving.”
“Thank you, baby,” she says, her eyes following my moves as I get up.
When Kate and I pass beside each other, I try to give her a look to make her understand everything will be alright. Andrea may be hot-blooded and easily triggered, but as her father said, the love she gives is absolute. This won’t be the end of them.
On the contrary, I believe it’ll bring them closer.
Kate sits beside me, but I don’t look at her. I can’t stomach it yet.My fucking brother…
“How did it happen?” I ask when a whole minute of nothing has passed.
“Rafa checked on me a few times after the Stefano thing. First, to bring back the container of the pastries I gave him, and then to… talk, I guess. And one day, it turned into more.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because we were fooling around at first, there was no point in telling you. And because of that promise he made you, we knew you’d be pissed, so we didn’t want to upset you over nothing. But then, we started catching feelings, and we didn’t really know how to tell you since it had been weeks. It became a vicious circle. The more time passed, the harder it was to tell you.”
I want to complain and say they should have found a way, but my reaction proves why they were right to be so reluctant about it. Lex is right. They’re grown adults who can do anything they want. But I don’t want to be caught in the crossfire if things go south.
“If that asshole breaks your heart, you better not break mine, you bitch,” I demand.
She laughs, resting her temple on my shoulder. “I’m your ride or die, babe. You’ll never be rid of me.”
“So we have a deal?”
“Yeah. And best-case scenario, we become sisters-in-law.”
“That would be kinda neat. Do you think Rafael could ever be ready for that?”
“We already had that talk. We’re taking it as it comes, but it’s serious, Dee. I’ve never felt this way about other men, and we both know your brother was never serious about other women.”
This is huge. My prolonged celibacy before Lex wasn’t my fault. But Rafa? He was the one actively avoiding any sort of relationship.
“I still can’t believe your prince charming was under our noses the whole time,” I let out.
“Well, I’ve always had a crush on Rafa, you know that.”
“Yeah, but you were, like, twelve. Then it went away.”
“No, I stopped talking about it because you were upset about the whole situation in freshman year. But I’ve always had a crush on Rafa. Even before I told you when we were twelve.”
The revelation has me speechless. I remember when Kate had a thing for Rafa, peering at him whenever he wasn’t watching or trying to enroll him in our games…
“Damn, girl,” I let out.
