Page 32 of Keep Me

A disgruntled sigh escapes at the sound of heels.

“Killian,” Anna calls.

I could escape to the garden. Busy myself with the roses or tend to the bees, but she’s too quick. I’m barely out of my chair when she enters.

“Oh, there you are,” she says in a rigid tone.

“Here I am,” I reply.

“Where is Sylvie?” She glances around the room as if my wife and I would just be sitting together like a regular couple.

“How the fuck should I know?”

Anna rolls her eyes as she proceeds farther into the sitting room, dropping her purse on the table.

“How are things going with you two?” she asks.

I shrug. “Barely see each other really.”

She lets out a frustrated-sounding sigh. I briefly wonder whatit might be like if my sister wasn’t perpetually disappointed in me. If, for one moment, she could just see things the way I do.

“You’ve been married for a month now, and no one has seen you together. The honeymoon period is over. So it’s time for you and Sylvie to make a public appearance.”

“Fuck that,” I groan, making my way to the bar for a shot.

“It’s barely past noon, Killian. Must you really start drinking already?”

“What else would you like me to do, Anna?” I reply before immediately regretting it. I just gave her an opening to meddle even more.

“Help me plan this outing for you and Sylvie,” she implores.

“I don’t want to go on some stupid fucking outing. What is the point?”

“So people can see you together, and our aunts and uncles believe in this marriage, Killian. Take her to a rugby match. Post some photos online. That would make them happy,” she says. I reply only with a deep sigh. Her heels click softly as she inches toward me. “When was the last time you went to a rugby match?” she asks delicately. “Or a football game?”

Her voice carries that worried tone that grates on my nerves. I hate that she worries over me. Especially when I’m perfectly fine here.

“I’m throwing a party,” I reply.

In my periphery, I see her shaking her head. “No, Killian. No parties.”

“Not that kind of party,” I mutter lowly. “I’ll just invite some of my old mates to stay at the house. A dinner party. Nothing too wild.”

It’s mostly true. My mates and I are still capable of havingnormalparties. Things might have gotten out of hand in the past, and word might have gotten around as to just how out of hand, but it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

“Your uni mates? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asks.

I set the bottle of whisky down without pouring myself a glass. Anna wants to see I’m changing, and if that’s what I have to do to keep my house, I’ll do it.

“Most of them are married now with kids.” I turn toward her with an air of confidence I have to constantly force with my sister. Or else she’ll walk all over me. “If we’re going to do this, Anna, we’re going to do it my way.”

She relaxes her features and lets out a sigh. “Fine.”

We’re interrupted by the sound of the front door closing again. That familiar echo of boots on the hardwood causes the corner of my mouth to twitch. Instead of going up the stairs toward her room, Sylvie makes her way down the long hallway to the sitting room at the end, where my sister and I are currently standing.

When she enters the room, she’s gazing down at her phone with her earbuds in. When she looks up, she flinches, clearly surprised by the two of us standing here, watching her.

“Oh, hey,” she says nonchalantly to Anna and me.

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