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Cami slapped her thigh. “He’s damn awesome is what he is. I’m going to have to think about what kind of medal I’m going to give that guy the next time I see him.”

I snorted. “Somehow I don’t think Curtis is into medals. Maybe you could get him a new tattoo.”

She giggled. Then she grew thoughtful. “Who’s to say Parker won’t keep creeping around you at that college? Especially if he’s got someone feeding him inside information.”

“The restraining order will give me some legal protection once I have it. And as far as the insider information, it won’t matter soon anyway. At least I hope it won’t.”

Cami was confused. “What does that mean? You’re not quitting school, are you?”

“In a way. I applied for a transfer to Arizona State so keep your fingers crossed that all goes as planned and I’ll be going there full time in the fall.”

“That’s great!” Cami gushed. “I’m so proud of you!”

I tried to smile. “Thanks. I’m working on being proud of myself.”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”

I shrugged, feeling a little embarrassed. “I just wish I’d done so many things differently. That’s all.”

My sister was quiet for a moment. “Our mistakes aren’t what break us,” she said softly. “What hurts the most is how we punish ourselves for them. So don’t do that, Cassidy. Be good to yourself.”

The words sounded familiar. “An impressively profound statement, Camille. Did you read that somewhere?”

“Nope, those words were once said by a wise woman.”

“Who?”

She smiled. “You. Don’t you remember? When we went to go see Debra in the hospital after she took all those pills. You told her that.”

Cami was right. I did remember now.

“So,” Cami said and now her green eyes practically danced with mischief, “I’d like to hear a little bit more about Curtis.”

I knew where she was heading with this and I played dumb. “Oh, well he’s been busy getting his new apartment set up. He still hasn’t had any luck searching for Tristan but Brecken’s been doing great. And even though he’s too polite to admit it, I’m sure Curtis is excited to be sleeping somewhere other than our pullout couch. Did I tell you Uncle Deck hooked him up with some furniture?”

Cami waved an impatient hand. “Stop babbling about nonsense. You know damn well what I want to know.”

“Enlighten me anyway.”

She leaned in close and looked me right in the eye. “Cassie, when are you going to admit that you want Curtis Mulligan so bad you can’t think straight?”

“Oh my god.” I rolled my eyes and huffed out a sigh even though I knew denial was futile. The consequence of having a twin sister is that she will always and forever be able to see right through you.

Cami was not sympathetic. “Who do you think you’re kidding, dear sister? I can hear it in your voice every time you say his name. And I confess that I had some doubts about him when he first showed up but I’m delighted to admit I was wrong.”

“You don’t even know him. You met him once, right?”

She cocked her head. “It doesn’t matter. You’ve told me more than you realize. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still ready to grill him about his past, present and future the next time he’s unfortunate enough to be in the same room with me. But he’s a good guy, Cass. And he cares about you a hell of a lot.”

I squirmed. “You don’t know that.”

“Sure I do. You think the world’s full of guys who would stick by your side like he has, even waiting around for you after class, with no promise that he was ever going to get anything out of it? For crying out loud, he slept right down the hall from you every night for weeks and never even tried to touch you.”

The blush must have reached my cheeks because Cami’s eyes went wide.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “When?”

“It was nothing,” I insisted. “We just kind of started messing around one night. And I didn’t tell you because it’s really a bit humiliating. I asked him to come to my room and he turned me down. Curtis said he couldn’t disrespect my family like that and he was sure I was too good for him anyway.”

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