Good question."Did you ask Flynn?"
"Sure."
"And what'd he say?"
"All he said was, 'Jack's an interesting guy.'"
No kidding."But you didn't ask for details?"
"Sure," she said yet again.
"But…?"
"Flynn said they weren'thissecrets to share and asked me to leave it at that."
"And you did?"
"Of course. It's only fair. It's not like I tell Flynn everything aboutyou. I mean, you likeyourprivacy, too, right?"
Damn it.As usual, my sister was way too reasonable for my own good. I muttered, "I guess."
And now I was seriously torn. Part of me wanted to beg Anna to learn everything she could. But on the other part realized the request would only make her worry.
This was the last thing I wanted. "Well, his secrets can't bethatbad," I said, "or he wouldn't be friends with Flynn."
"Yeah, but Flynn can handle himself. He was in juvie, remember?"
Of course I remembered.Flynn was a poor kid who'd had some hard knocks – much harder than he deserved, thanks to my stupid stepdad.
Still, I replied, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"I'm just saying, if there's trouble, Flynn could handle it."
"AndIcouldn’t?" I made a scoffing sound. "For your information, I totally kicked a girl's ass today."
"What?" she said. "Pleasetell me you're joking."
"All right, fine. IguessI'm joking." This was surprisingly true. At best, I'd come out even. Still, I tried to look on the bright side. "But she didn't kick mine either."
My sister was quiet for a long moment before saying, "Well…Iguessthat's good."
I smiled.Yes. It was."But back to Jack," I said. "What are you saying? You don't like him?"
"That's not it," she said. "Idolike him, a lot, actually."
"But…?"
"But I don't really know him. And even that book tour – it doesn't make any sense."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, for one thing, Jack's never done any book-signings, until now."
"So?"
"So, what's changed?"
"Maybe he just never had the time."