It scares me. The fact that the relationships I have with my sisters now could dissolve when we all get married and start “new” lives. Will this be the closest we ever are?
I hope not.
A fist raps against my door before it swings open to a crack. “Shhh,” Lily hisses. “She could be sleeping.”
I fold my hands on my lap and cross my ankles like a lady, waiting for them to enter, my smile peeking through. If we part ways in a few years, I might as well enjoy this now.
“No…I see her. She’s awake,” Daisy says, craning her neck above Lily’s to look into my room.
Lily opens the door wider, and Daisy slips in front, holding two mugs with marshmallows floating on top.
Lily cups her own red mug in her hands. “We made you hot chocolate.”
“We thought it might help your migraine,” Daisy adds.
She hands me a dark blue mug while they plop on the mattress by my legs.
A migraine? That was Connor’s lie? He could have done better, but I suppose he didn’t want to worry anyone with a fib.
Lily nods to the television where dead bodies are being thrown into big ditches. She looks mildly horrified. “What are you watching?”
I smile into my cup. “The Black Death.” I take a long sip and then feel Daisy’s hand drift to my neck, examining the diamond pendant.
“Is this new?”
I nod. “A gift from Connor.”
“Pretty,” she says with sincerity, delicately placing it back against my chest, but I see a lingering sadness behind her eyes. She tries to conceal anything out of the ordinary by twisting her hair into a giant knot with one hand.
“What’d I miss?” I ask Daisy.
“Besides Scott being a douchenozzle, nothing,” she says easily.
My eyes narrow. “What’d he do?”
“He’s not the douchenozzle,” Lily says, giving Daisy a strange reprimanding look that she rarely produces.
My mouth falls. “Are you defending Scott, Lily?” Did Connor fuck me to another dimension?
She reddens. “No,” she says quickly. “I mean, Scott is still an asshole. He keeps whisperingslutwhen he passes me in the hallway. But…” She shrugs. “…I’m learning to ignore him like everyone else.” She sets her sisterly glare back on Daisy.
I stiffen. “What is it then?” I connect the dots faster than Daisy forms words. “It’s Julian, isn’t it?”
Daisy shakes her head, but Lily nods and points a finger at her. “He put his hand down your pants, in front ofRyke. That’s not nothing!”
“And I took his handoutof my pants,” Daisy says in a hushed whisper. “No harm done.”
Lily clues me in on the rest. “Ryke almost punched him.”
“I bet,” I say before sipping my hot chocolate.
Lily’s eyes form tiny slits as she scrutinizes me. “You’re calm about this.”
“Julian has been marking his territory since we arrived in the Alps. I’m not surprised he chose to do it by grabbing her ass.”
“Underneathher jeans,” Lily clarifies.
“I’m right here.” Daisy waves her hand.
