Page 72 of Her Older Sheikh

What if this is it?

I've been hell-bent distracting myself so I can have a normal life, when all along I should've been focused on my sister and keeping an eye out for any signs of her cancer returning?

My head starts to pound, but I do my best to ignore the pain.

"Io?" My voice sounds shaky even to my ears. "Are you okay?"

Io only laughs. "Don't you try changing the subject." Her voice turns expectant. "Tell me then. Is it true? Andie says you've starteddating."

Why are we talking about 'dating' when she'sdying?

"I can't believe my little sister is all grown up now," my sister exclaims. "And I know this is going to sound stupid, but I just have to ask."

My heart beats triple time.

Here it is.

She probably wants to know when she can meet this nonexistent guy I'm dating, and it's because her cancer is back, and—-

"It's not Nik, is it?"

Her words work like a slap in the face, and the sheer grossness of it has me emerging from my shock.

"Oh my God, Io. EEEEW!"

"I just want to be sure," my sister protests sheepishly. "You know what happened to Daria's friend—-"

"Please excuse me while I throw up—-"

"So it's really not Nik?"

"Gross, Io! Just gross!" My skin crawls at just hearing his name uttered in this context.

"I'm sorry," Io apologizes with a laugh. "I just really had to ask—-"

"Can we stop talking about this for now?" I'm desperately in need for a change of subject to preserve my sanity. "Let's talk about you, Greece, or anything else under the sun—-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. And I'm doing really great here, if that's what you're asking, and—-oh, has Nik said anything about our house?"

"Nothing yet," I lie without hesitation, "but I'm sure he'll let me know when it's safe to go back."

"Keep me posted on that, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

I hear Io cough as she says good night, but she's already hung up before I can ask her if she's okay.

Shit, shit, shit.

Chuck comes back with my order, and I thank him in a daze.

You're paranoid. Just paranoid.

But pain is already squeezing the sides of my temple, and my lungs are struggling to function yet again.

Calm down, calm down.

After everything she's been through, my sister knows better than to hide anything about her illness.

---