“I have an older sister and two brothers,” he adds, watching my expression carefully.
“You have siblings?” I ask, genuinely surprised.
He chuckles, picking up his glass of water. “I sure do.”
“Tell me everything.”
He hesitates, taking a sip of water first. “My sister is a singer.”
“A singer?” I ask, tilting my head. “Like, a famous one?”
He clears his through and looks away. “She goes by Callie James.”
I gasp, and slam my fork down on the table, my cocktail swishing dangerously close to the rim.
“TheCallie James? That’s your sister? I was literally watching a rerun of her superbowl performance last night. She’s one of my favourite singers.”
He winces slightly and nods. “I know,” he says, and just like that I realize she isn’t someone he loves to talk about.
“Okay,” I say quickly, reining myself in. “That’s…really cool. And what about your brothers?”
He looks taken off guard, as if he didn’t expect me to move on from him so easily. He’s always been used to people berating him for details about his sister and that’s probably what he expected from me too. Maybe that’s why he’s kept that information from me for so long, because I’ve definitely made it known in the house over the years that Callie is my absolute favourite musician of all time—But I refuse to come off as one of those psychotic stalker fans he’s probably seen plenty of.
Even if Iamtotally obsessed with his sister—in a healthy way.
“The oldest, Cade, runs the business side of our ranch,” he says. “And Cooper handles the maintenance.”
Callie, Cade, Cooper, and Colton.
I guess their parents really like names that start with the letter C.
“Do you talk to them much?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, not really.”
He looks unphased, but there’s something closed off in his tone now, like he’s being careful about what he says.
“They must’ve been happy when you were surfing for the Rip Raiders at least,” I say before I can stop myself.
The second it leaves my mouth, I know I’ve entered dangerous territory, but before I can fix the mistake, he answers me.
“They never knew,” he admits.
“What do you mean they never knew?” My chest tightens. “You never told them?”
He shakes his head, staring down at his plate. “They don’t exactly support me choosing surfing over the family business.”
“But wouldn’t they have noticed you were on their home team instead of the Saltwater Shredders when they watched your surf competitions?”
“They don’t watch my competitions.”
My heart aches for him and I have to swallow back my tears a few times before I can speak again.
“But your sister?—”
“She’s the only daughter,” he says with a small, humourless smile. “She gets a free pass.”
I swallow. “But…not you?”
