She tipped the cup, forcing me to drink and didn’t let up until I’d chugged the entire thing. Geez, she was probably just a joy in college. Swallowing for so many consecutive seconds, I had to gulp air when she finally let me breathe again.
“Sugartits” was most definitely going to be my first topic of contention. That was until Clementine let out a series of uncontrollable giggles as she covered her mouth. I blinked at my sisters. “Is she okay?”
Ceci shrugged. “Turns out she’s a lightweight. Who knew?”
“You knew! Weallknew, Ceci! Did you get her drunk?” Taking in her glassy eyes and wiggly limbs, the answer was a definite yes.
“Tipsy, and she got herself here. I’m just enjoying the show.”
I bit my lip. “Well, just as long as Ox doesn’t?—”
Ceci snorted a laugh. “Oh, he knows. He’s been watching her like a hawk since the first sip.”
“Well then,” I sighed, ignoring my brother glaring from across the party like a creeper. “I guess they can work that out.”
And I would wash my hands of it because, miffed or not, when it came to his wife, my brother could get ruthless. If Ceci wanted to get her drunk, she could face his wrath on her own.
Luckily Clem seemed happy as she suddenly latched onto Melissa’s hand. “I want to dance!”
“With me?” Melissa asked, shocked. Clem just nodded furiously before turning big eyes to me and Ceci.
I shook my head. “You guys go ahead. I need a breather.”
“Okay!” Clem started to pull Melissa toward the little dance huddle in front of the DJ’s table, but she thought better of it and doubled back for us. At first I thought she was going for Ceci since they were best friends, but I was surprised when her thin arms wrapped around me instead. “Thanks for inviting me, Al, I love being in on sister stuff.”
We watched them go in relative silence. I felt warm with her sweet confession and a little cold at the sad look Melissa gave me as I pulled away from Clem. Almost like she wanted to be a part of it.
I wondered if I was being too hard on Lis. It’s not like she’d done anything outright to me and it seemed sort of unfair to be taking out my frustration on her.
Take it out on me, a familiar voice called to me in my head.
Yeah unfair, especially when I had a volunteer to take the brunt of that frustration just waiting for me to make a move.
A sharp elbow knocked me out of my thoughts before they could spiral too far. Ceci’s glowing irises looked almost catlike in all the ambient orange and yellow lighting of the night. “You know, Clem’s been going through a hard time lately. They both have.”
“Both?” I asked.
“Ox too. Married stuff, I guess,” she shrugged and then adjusted herself to look out toward the party. “I’m not saying to let him off the hook. He can be an ass sometimes, but just keep it in mind, okay?”
I wrinkled my nose, surprised to realize I felt bad hearing that. Yesterday, I’d been so heated that I’m sure the same news wouldn’t elicit the slightest shred of empathy from me. Today felt different. Today Harper’s words seemed to really register in my head. It wasn’t Ox or Melissa or my parents or even Grace I needed to wait on to prove myself. I was doing just fine proving myself to myselfalready. There’s always going to be something going on in other people’s lives. I had to be the one to fight for the life I wanted and stand as the me I wanted to be now. And I didn’t need anyone’s permission for that…
Although I did still need a little help.
Brown eyes flashed in my mind and my heart surged in my chest. There was no doubt it was cold out tonight. We were just a few hours away from November on the east coast, but I felt warm as I thought about all the ways the owner of those eyes had offered to help me lately. And just how much I suddenly wanted to take him up on all that we hadn’t tried yet.
The sight of Ceci’s grinning face pulled my attention to her as I noticed her attention was set on something over by the pumpkin tent. Connor Ferguson, Clem’s brother and Ceci’s recent best friend turned love of her life, was holding up the two biggest pumpkins I’d ever seen in my life.
“Are you going to carve those?” I asked, my eyes magnetized to the way my sister’s face was lit up. Just weeks ago I’d been so confused by the prospect of the two of them even being friends. Now I couldn’t imagine them away from each other.
“Yeah,” she smiled. “We’re seeing who can carve a better Lila. Loser has to—” She coughed, realizing what she was saying as her cheeks went pink. Who even knew my sister could get embarrassed? “The loser has to do what the other says.”
Got it.She was talking about sex stuff. Which got me thinking…
There was no stealthy way to clear my throat in preparation for this question, but she had already brought it up so… Well, here goes.
“So, um–Connor’s pretty big, right?” I asked, powering straight past the way my voice went high and squeaky. I needed to stay strong. This was for research, after all.
“Yeah, huge why?” she answered without so much as a blink.
