Page 2 of Late Nights

My brain struggled to process everything that had happened in the last five minutes.

How had I gone from the monotony of playing a video game, to West’s sister possibly moving in with us? The sister who I’d worked hard to distance myself from. The sister whom I was extremely attracted to. West would strangle me immediately if he had any clue about what I thought of her.

I brought in more of Demi’s bags, still reeling about why she was here. That she’d dropped out of her last semester at Stanford before getting her MBA was a big enough deal in itself. But dropping out of Stanford as a child of Victor Vanderhall was probably worse than committing a serious crime. I couldn’t say I was surprised that Victor’s reaction was to kick her out. Not that I agreed with it. But being a Vanderhall came with a lot of pressure and responsibility. It was just understood that you went to Stanford and then joined the family business. He’d already been annoyed that Demi had taken a two-year gap between her undergraduate and graduate degrees.

“I just couldn’t do it anymore, West,” Demi said as she sat next to her brother on the couch, Halle on her other side. “I don’t want to be a venture capitalist. I don’t want to work at Vanderhall Capital. I couldn’t do one more day at Stanford, going from class to class, studying all night long. It felt like a part of me was dying every day I kept trying to live that lie.” She swiped under her eyes.

West rubbed his forehead in confusion, evidently hearing about this for the first time. “Demi, how long have you felt this way?”

She gave him a sheepish look. “Since I graduated from high school.”

His brows shot up. “You’ve been hiding your true feelings for eight years? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

Finally getting the last bag inside, I shut the door.

I stood there awkwardly, not knowing if I should join them in the living room or if I should give them some privacy. I wasn’t technically part of the Vanderhall family, but I had been an honorary member for the last ten years. Demi and I had drifted apart over the last couple of years. Ever since she’d come back from her gap, things had shifted between us. What had always been an easy camaraderie was now awkwardly tense.

West turned to look over his shoulder at me curiously, pulling me into the conversation. “Cannon, did you know anything about this?”

Why would I know anything about her wanting to quit the mandatory Vanderhall path that had been laid out for them since birth?

“No, of course not,” I said, shaking my head as I came to join them on the other couch, now feeling like it would be weird if I left.

West nodded and turned his attention back to Demi. “So I wasn’t the only one blind to your unhappiness.”

That must have been why West asked me if I’d noticed. He wanted to make sure he hadn’t been the only unobservant brother.

West referred to me as his brother often, and usually it was a welcome term. When it came to Demi, I didn’t want to be seen as a brother at all. But unfortunately for me, I couldn’t be anything more to her than that, instead existing in this weird sort of limbo.

“I tried. I really did,” Demi said as she kept swiping at the tears falling from her eyes. “You know how intense Dad can be. He doesn’t care that I want to make my own path, do my own career. All he can see is me working for him, loving the company as much as him, and wanting to work crazy hours alongside him.” She rubbed her hands along the tops of her thighs. “I know deciding to drop out at the start of my last semester, being so close to getting my MBA, wasn’t smart, but I felt like I was suffocating.”

West rubbed her back. “I know exactly how suffocating Dad’s expectations can be.”

He really did. He’d almost lost Halle over trying to prove himself to Victor. It had been three months since West had stood up to his dad, and I’d never seen him happier.

“I know you do,” she said. “Watching you tell Dad how you really felt, and watching Halle living out her dream by starting her own dance studio—you both helped me find the courage to finally do something.”

Halle bit her lip and snuck a glance at West.

“And you’ve really thought this through?” West asked his sister.

“Yes.” She’d finally stopped crying, and the look of determination in her features was enough for us to know she was serious.

“Okay, then.” West nodded. “You know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”

Her shoulders relaxed in relief. “Thank you. I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as possible. And I’ll make sure it doesn’t look like you have someone living on your couch.”

“Demi, I’m not having you sleep on the couch,” West said. “You can take my room, and I’ll stay out on the couch.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice sounding unsure.

“Don’t let him fool you,” I chimed in, giving West a smug grin. “He mostly sleeps over at Halle’s, so he won’t be spending too many nights on the couch.”

West’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “Do you have to tell my sister about my nightly habits?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “It’s not like she wouldn’t have found out on her own. She may be your little sister,” I paused, my eyes moving over to Demi on their own. “But she’s not little anymore.”

West’s posture stiffened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

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