Page 17 of Something Like Sunflowers

Bless my stars. I smile widely and shove away from Big Brother 2.0 as I lock eyes with none other than Shane Porter.

Hunter

Thirteen Years Ago

Of all the girls to walk into Robbie’s, how did it end up being Devyn? And of all the things in the world she could be wearing, why did it have to be a teeny skirt and a top that barely qualifies as fabric? Every single eye in the room is on her, and I don’t like it for one second.

She’s Dusty’s little sister. She’s basically mine to protect when he’s not around.

Mine.

And it’s not the first time that word has dropped into my mind when I’ve been around Devyn. I shove the feeling deep down every time, though because again, she is my best friend’s little sister, and I’ve known her since she was in Barbie pajamas. It’s not a thing you do. You just don’t mess with someone that close to you. Someone with so many possible ramifications.

And if we did have something? What would happen if we broke up? Would I lose both Campbells? My best friend, too? I couldn’t risk that.

Still, Dusty isn’t here, and therefore, per bro-code, she’s mine to protect until he arrives.

She could have made the job easier by not being the prettiest girl in the room.

And the least dressed. I sigh and rub my temples as I get the sudden urge to put more space between Devyn and the guys, but before I can, Shane plants his huge ass between the two of us.

“Hey, Isaac, who’s your friend?” He lets his eyes roam her body and smiles at her the way I’ve seen him do to hundreds of girls before. I don’t like it. “You’re Campbell’s little sis, aren’t you?”

I don’t like it one bit. I especially don’t like how pink her cheeks get when he asks if she has a date for the dance yet.

The fuck?

“She does,” I blurt, and Shane and Devyn turn to me like they’ve just noticed I’m here.

“I do?” She folds her arm across her chest.

“You’re going with me,” I say, because I honestly don’t know what else to do. “As friends,” I add, feeling like I have to establish some boundaries. If not for her, then at least for me. I’m not sure I should be making my own decisions all of a sudden. I just asked—no, told my best friend’s little sister I will go to the damn dance with her.

Dusty’s gonna kill me. And Devyn knows it, too, because she smirks and clicks her tongue at me in that sassy ass way I hate that I like.

“You must want your ass kicked. But I’ll play.” She turns to Shane, and I almost think I see regret cross her face. “Sorry, Shane, I forgot I have to babysit this loser over here.” She shoves her thumb over her shoulder at me.

Shane looks confused, but that makes sense. This is all very strange.

“Okay, well…are you two a thing, or…?”

“No!” she shouts before I can say anything. “We’re not. We’re just friends.” she says it the same as I said it a few minutes ago, but it feels like a sting coming from her. I don’t want her to think of me as a friend.

But I don’t want her to think of me as a brother either, if I’m being honest.

Shane winks at Devyn, making her chest pinken and my knuckles clench. “Well, then, Miss Campbell, we were about to play spin the bottle. Wanna join?”

I don’t miss the way her eyes light up at his question. She really wants to play. She wants to play with him. I’m not sure what to do because this isn’t a short skirt and I can’t just wrap my hoodie around a multi-player make-out game, but I also can’t let Dev go swapping spit and getting felt up by guys from the team and not do something about it. Dustin would literally kill me. No, dismember me. Remove my balls at the slaughterhouse and feed them to the pigs.

I shoot him a quick text to see when he’s coming, but he doesn’t reply before the game begins. Devyn is still wedged between Shane and Garrison, a senior, and I’m on Shane’s other side just waiting for this nightmare to end. A few people go, and none of them land on Devyn, but then it’s Shane’s turn, and just before he reaches out to grab the bottle, I see him wink at her and then again at Garrison.

It happens so fast I almost don’t see it.

But I do.

Shane exchanges a look with Garrison, who nods back. You’d hardly notice if you weren’t looking, but I’m looking. I’ve seen them use this method before…the pair of them. They’ll work together to make the bottle land on whichever girl they want.

It’s not right. Regardless of whether a girl sits down to play and wants a kiss, something feels off about rigging it to land on certain ones. It’s dishonest.

---