Page 80 of Regrets

“Hey, sis.”

Her face lights up, and she wraps her arms around my neck tightly. “Oh my God, Lincoln! You’re here! You’re actually in California.”

I hug her back, having missed her more than I realized. “Yeah, I figured it was time.”

She shoves me away playfully, but I don’t miss the tears in her eyes. “Yeah, asshole. Two years is a long time. Where have you been?”

“You’re the one that moved away.”

“We go back to Kansas to visit. You’re never there.”

I couldn’t be, and Lola knows it.

“Lola, who’s here?” We both turn as P walks down the stairs, and I smile up at her. I was worried she’d be totally different, some posh, fake version of herself. But I’m smiling like an idiot because she’s still looks like herself with her brown hair pulled up on her head in a messy bun, dressed in a tank top and sweat shorts.

She stops on the bottom step, just staring at me. “Linc?’

“Hey, P.” It’s awkward, but it’s also not. As she rushes to me and her arms wrap around my waist, pulling my body to hers, it feels like no time has passed.

“You’re really here?”

“That’s exactly what I said,” Lola laughs as I hug Penelope to my body, already not wanting to let her go.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Lola wipes a tear away from her face and clears her throat. “How long are you staying?”

“A couple of days.”

P smiles up at me, still not having let me go. “We have two guest rooms to choose from.”

“I’ll probably just stay in a hotel.”

Lola waves that off, and P releases me as my sister gestures for me to come inside. “No way. We haven’t seen you for two years, Lincoln. You’re staying here.”

P smiles happily. “Definitely. You’re not going to find a better decorated hotel. Although we do offer our services to them.”

I look around the sophisticated home. “Seems like you guys are doing pretty well for yourselves.”

They both are beaming with pride now as Lola waves her hand in an effort to get me to follow her and take the tour of their home. “We have. It’s taken a lot of work, and unfortunately, using my last name, but our interior design firm has really taken off. We even have some celebrity clients.”

I had no doubt they would be successful. “That’s great.” I turn to P. “You finish your courses?”

“Not quite yet, but getting there. We’ve been swamped.”

“Good problem to have.”

We walk into their modern kitchen, and I see the view of their backyard, which is a sandy beach with the ocean right there.

P joins my side as I stare out the glass wall of their kitchen. “I liked the lake, but this is something else.”

I lean into her ear, keeping my voice as quiet as I can. “You’ll have to show me later because right now I’m Team Lake.”

She swallows, her slender neck quivering with the action. And I think her mind is going right where mine is, to when I fucked her in the lake. “We’ll certainly have to do that.”

She’s still mine.

“Are you two going to make me uncomfortable the entire time Lincoln is here?”

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