“No. I mean…well, it’s just we haven’t even talked about that,” Dixie explains, and her big blue eyes are wide with insecurity. “I know he loves me and I love him, but marriage might not be his thing. I don’t know. I mean, we talk about the future, but not in those definitive terms.”
I shake my head. “I’m not surprised. You guys never talked about moving in together either. He just got the full-time contract with the Thunder and moved his stuff into your place. Everyone thought he was staying there while looking for his own place, but that never happened.”
“We did talk about that…eventually. Well, he left me a note before a road trip and said he wanted to stay instead of getting his own place so it’s official now,” Dixie replies almost defensively. “I was never going to ask him to leave because I didn’t want him to.”
I smile at her. “No one expected you to ask him to leave. You two are perfect for each other. Even Mom isn’t concerned about how fast you guys got together, and you know she would tell you if she was. Hell, Ty and Winnie have been dating since high school, and Mom warned her to think twice when she was thinking about moving in with him.”
I get out of bed and walk over to my dresser. Dixie sits cross-legged on the bed, grabbing my pillow to stuff behind her back. “Yeah but Winnie and Ty were only, like, twenty-one when they talked about it.”
“Now she’s almost thirty, and I swear Mom would still tell her to think twice.” I grab some gray velvet sweats and tug them on as I glance up at Dixie. “Wouldn’t you?”
“Hell, yes,” Dixie replies easily.
“And no one is telling you that because you and Eli work. Hell, you more than work. You are soul mates, just like Jude and Zoey,” I say confidently. I knew from the minute I met Eli Casco that he was exactly what my sassy, OCD, tough-as-nails little sister needed. Even more so, he was what she deserved. He’s wild, kind, confident, respectful, and is protective of her. If things didn’t work out between them, I would be as devastated as she would.
Dixie’s uncertain expression falters and is replaced with a confident, radiant one. “He is my soul mate, and between you and me I want to marry him one day. And have babies. But until then, our apartment is fine.”
My stomach grumbles. The bowl of cereal I ate before falling into bed wasn’t enough. I rub my stomach, as if trying to placate it. Dixie notices, or heard the grumble, and looks at me seriously. “You’re not eating enough.”
“I know.” I’ve lost some weight in recent months. It’s partly stress about my dad and partly too many overnights at work. I use all my breaks for cat naps instead of meals. “Not on purpose. Come on, let’s get food.”
I walk to my closed door and she follows. “Wanna go out? We could grab sushi or burgers and shakes. My treat!”
“I can’t. I have plans later and have to get ready,” I say. I think about all the texts I’ve shared with Griffin, and butterflies take flight in my gut. I try to ignore them as we make our way down the hall toward the kitchen.
Winnie is in the dining room, sitting at the head of the table with a giant bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. I stop. “Carbo-loading before your next big fight with Ty?”
She tries to obliterate me with her eyes. Dixie giggles behind me, which only intensifies Winnie’s death-stare. We wander into the room, and both Dixie and I grab forks out of a drawer in the buffet and sit down on either side of Winnie. She ignores us and lifts a forkful of pasta to her mouth as we both dive in with our own forks. Dixie goes for a meatball and I twirl some pasta onto my fork.
“I thought you weren’t working tonight?” Dixie says to me.
“I’m not,” I say, confused.
“Oh…but I thought you said you had plans.”
I swallow my pasta and stare at her. Winnie uses the moment to pull her pasta dish closer to her and farther from us, but it stops nothing. As soon as she lifts her fork to her mouth again, Dixie leans over and grabs another meatball.
“I can do things other than work, Dix,” I remind her.
“You don’t, though,” Dixie counters, without an ounce of remorse.
Winnie nods. “She’s right. You don’t.”
“You two are assholes,” I say.
“Says the woman eating my damn lunch,” Winnie shoots back.
“We aren’t being cruel, just being honest,” Dixie tells me as she pops the last of the meatball into her mouth. “You don’t even look at men like they’re men, you know what I mean. They all might as well be statues. The only time I’ve even seen you do a double take in the last year was last night when…”
Why can’t I have stupid siblings who don’t know how to put two and two together? Why couldn’t I get all the brains in the family the way Winnie got all the culinary abilities and Jude got all the athletic talent? Dixie slaps her palm on the oak table so hard it makes the plate of spaghetti rattle. “Do you have plans with Sully?”
“Who is Sully?” Winnie asks.
“Griffin Sullivan.” Dixie is buzzing with excitement. “He’s Eli’s goalie coach and he’s tall, dark, and delicious.”
Winnie wrinkles up her nose. “Aren’t coaches like a hundred?”
“Not this one,” Dixie says. “Thirty-something. Eli says he’s a nice guy. He’s the quiet and mellow type, which Eli says makes for a great coaching style.”
