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The ring of Kieran’s phone immediately cut through the moment of silence between us. From my bedroom, his phone rang loudly. I froze, breath stopping.

Lena hesitated before turning to face me again. She looked at me, eyes narrowed. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Before I could do anything else, she shoved my bedroom door open revealing Kieran, presumably still naked, with my blanket pulled up to his chest, revealing his bare shoulders. His eyes were wide and his chest was still, as if he were holding his breath.

“Seriously?” Lena said, before storming away.

I glanced at Kieran, who nodded, before chasing after my sister. I caught up to her by the front door, where she’d stopped to fumble with getting shoes on, and put a hand on her arm. “Lee, wait.”

She stopped and gave me an intense look, her eyes blazing. “What were you thinking?”

“I…” Words failed me. I took a breath and tried to center myself. “I’m sorry.”

“But you agreed—”

My stomach churned and I hated that I’d broken her trust, but I needed her to understand. “That was, like, ten years ago or something. Things have changed. I’ve changed. I really like him, Lee.”

From behind me, Kieran cleared his throat, startling me. I glanced back to see him standing in the hallway, wearing jeans and one of my T-shirts, and despite the tension of the moment, I nearly growled and lunged at him, seeing him in my clothes.

“I really like him, too,” Kieran said quietly.

She scoffed and shook her head before fixing her gaze on me. It had softened, almost as if she were fighting back a smile. “I swear to God, if you break his heart…” She turned to Kieran. “And that goes for you, too. No breaking of any hearts. Got it?”

“Got it,” I said.

Kieran chuckled and saluted her. “Aye aye, Captain.”

Lena sighed and pressed her fingertips to the space between her eyebrows briefly. “Okay. Well, I guess this is a thing now. What’s next?”

I shrugged and looked at Kieran, my heart catching in my throat. “I don’t know,” I said softly. “I think we were just trying to see where this goes.”

“How long has this been going on?” Lena asked.

“Since you sprained your ankle,” I mumbled.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Since I sprained my ankle? That was weeks ago. You guys have been keeping this a secret that long?” When I shrugged again without answering, Lena started to laugh and shake her head incredulously.

We were all quiet for a few moments before Kieran spoke up again. “It’s getting late. Is anyone hungry?” When both Lena and I said we were, he offered to go get takeout. “How’s Italian sound?”

“Perfect,” Lena agreed. A few minutes later, Kieran was gone. Lena flopped onto the couch and sighed. “I still can’t believe you.”

“What?”

“First Jade, then Eva. Hopefully you spare Kieran.”

“I apologized about Jade. What do you mean, ‘then Eva’?”

“You’re a heartbreaker,” she said with a shrug.

“I did not break Eva’s heart.”

“That’s not what I heard,” she countered, eyebrows raised.

I suppressed a sigh and rolled my eyes. “Do you want to know what happened? Like, do you want to know the real story? Because clearly you haven’t gotten the truth from whoever your source is.”

“Eva told me.”

I narrowed my eyes at Lena. “Okay.”