Her lips purse, and I give her my best look of sincerity. It’s definitely one I don’t use often, but I really do mean it, oddly enough. It’s been a long time since anyone needed me, since I had the ability to be what someone needed, and even in this small way…it feels kind of nice.
“This still feels weird,” Ian says as he emerges from the bedroom with Abby trailing after him.
I beam at him. “Does it? Does it feelweirdhaving your sister live under the same roof as me? Man, wouldn’t it be weirder if, I don’t know…I was doing unspeakable things to her?”
“I can assure you,” Abby pipes up. “No one in this apartment will be doing unspeakable things to me.”
That draws a loud laugh out of Ian. “Okay, so maybe I don’thave anything to worry about.” He points a finger at me. “You’re too much.”
“Just gearing up to be the best brother-in-law I can be someday,” I tell him.
Dee and Ian share a smile at that, and I have to suppress the urge to gag. They really are tooth-achingly sweet together. It made it easier not to hold any real grudges about them keeping their…thing a secret from me for so long.
“Well, I guess we’ll get out of your hair,” Ian says. “You’ll be at practice tomorrow?”
I nod. “Team doctor finally cleared me. I’ll make the Buffalo game too.”
“That’s good,” Ian says.
Dee scoffs. “Sure it is.”
Ian places a hand over her nape, squeezing gently while they have one of their silent conversations with their eyes. It’s really annoying when they do that.
“You’ll call if you need us?” Dee asks Abby.
Abby nods back at her. “I know where to find you.”
Ian gives his sister a tight hug, Dee following suit. They both murmur their assurances that she still has a place at their apartment if something happens. And if I didn’t find it so amusing, how little they seem to trust me, I might just be offended. I could tell them that I have no plans to woo Abby, that she would probably have my balls if I did anyway, but letting them squirm feels like appropriate punishment for having the audacity to fall in love with one another.
My sister moves to hug me after, whispering in my ear, “Be good.”
“I can assure you,” I tell her, “I’m always good.”
“That’s really not reassuring,” she sighs.
I laugh as I pat her back. “I’ll be good.”
It takes them a few more moments to gather up their things and finish saying goodbye, and one would think that they’re dropping their kid off at a strange new daycare rather than an adult woman at a place she’s going to be living in for the foreseeable future. When they’re finally gone, Abby lets out a beleaguered sigh.
“Do you see what I mean now?”
“You mean them acting like you’re still in diapers and need me to baby-gate the apartment?”
She grimaces. “Yes. That.”
“They mean well.”
“I know they do,” she says. “And I love them, but I just need some of my own space sometimes.”
“I’m all about space,” I say seriously. “King of space over here.”
Her nose wrinkles. “Are you going to make me regret this decision?”
“I mean…” I shrug. “Probably.”
She rolls her eyes. “At least my new room has a lock on it.”
“I’ll have you know I’m still adept at being annoying through a door.”
