“Have you seen the guy she’s with now?” She ignores me. “Is he hot?”
Before she can say another word, I grab her wrist and yank her all the way back to my bedroom, ignoring how she complains the entire way. Once I shut the door, I crowd her. “What the hell was that?”
“Just deserts.” She snickers, but her smirk falls at my expression. “What? You can’t tell me this isn’t karma at work.”
“He came in this morningcrying.” I lower my voice to a whisper, not wishing to humiliate her brother any more than he’s already been for one day. “He’s distraught. Andrew and Kayla were together for over a year. How can you be so cruel about this?”
“Because he’swaycrueler to me.” She rolls her eyes. “Why are you taking his side? Kayla can do so much better.”
“Kayla’s side is not the one you should be on.” I grip her shoulders. “I know he’s hurt you in the past—”
“That’s the thing, Julian.” She shakes her head. “There’s no past about it. He hurt me as recently as two weeks ago. He hurtyouat his birthday party. How the hell can you forgive him so quickly for something like that?”
“Because we talked it out,” I tell her. “And we apologized. Profusely. Something you two can never seem to do, which explains the vicious cycle you guys get into.”
“I don’t trust his apologies. They’re always backhanded,” she says. “Like he wouldn’t have to apologize if I wasn’t always such a problem. I’m sick of it.”
“Leticia.” I let out a sigh. “He’s my best friend. What we have doesn’t work if you two can’t get along.”
She stills in my arms, and I immediately wish I could take it back. She’s shutting down before my very eyes, and I’m racking my brain for the right thing to say to fix this and come up empty.
“That didn’t come out the way I meant it to,” I say. “I mean, it would be nice if you guys could get along. It would make things easier.” Fuck, that wasn’t any better either. If her expression is anything to go by, it’sworse.
“Easier,” she repeats, pulling away from me. “Right.”
“You know me. I can’t not meddle.” I try to lighten the mood as a different tactic, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick either. “He has his faults, but he’s my best friend. He was there for me in a time when no one else was.”
“You both have mentioned as much,” she tells me, and I’m not sure if I’m more surprised or wary at her careful tone. “He knows you better than I do. I know you’ve been through a lot with your dad, but I don’t know the full story. He’s the only one who does.”
“It’s not something I like talking about,” I admit. “It’s a lot to get into. I don’t want to put that on you.”
“Don’t turn this around on me. I can make that choice formyself,” she tells me. “I can handle whatever you throw at me, Julian. Even if you think it’s too hard or too much. Just let me in, okay?”
There’s a new determination shining in her eyes, and my heart picks up speed at the realization that we’re not talking about Andrew or my messed-up family life anymore. No, this is something else entirely.
“I have, Leti,” I tell her. “You’re in already.”
“Am I?” She tilts her head at me, and I hate how unsure she is.
Despite what I’m telling her, despite every desire I have to let her all the way into my heart, I’m still holding back for fear of losing her. Only this time, we both know it.
“Look, all I want is for you and Andrew to be happy. To coexist together. Does that make sense?”
“Sure it does,” she says, but her smile doesn’t reach her eyes. “I should probably go. Give you guys some bonding time to shit-talk Kayla.”
“He has nowhere else to go. We have plenty of time for that later,” I tell her. “We work through shit together, remember? Not running the minute things get hard.”
“That’s when we’re in a committed relationship,” she says, already moving away from me to pack. It makes no sense, since I know she has a month’s worth of pajamas in there. “Not when we’re dating exclusively, remember?”
“Is this you running, then?”
Her hand stills on the strap of her bag. She doesn’t react when I take it from her, but her eyes do widen slightly when I kick it under my bed, out of view.
“Let me make it up to you. Please.”
“There’s nothing to make up for. I’m not mad,” she says, and even though I believe her, I still know something isn’t right here. “Really, Julian. We’re fine.”
We’re anything but. What I don’t know is how to fix it.
