Page 134 of In Plain Sight

“Tell us? Like about Christmas, or about them?”

Jade shrugged. “No clue, maybe both?”

I chewed on the corner of my lips, my head racing. It had been weeks since Jade saw the ring, and I’d barely spoken to Mom in the past few months. That wasn’t typical for us, but I’d been so wrapped up in my own crap I hadn’t noticed her texts and calls to check in had all but stopped.

The only time she pulled away from us was when she was trying to protect us.

Jade shrugged helplessly. “I hate seeing her like this, but I don’t know what to do.”

“I think I need to talk to her,” I said after a few beats.

“You do?”

I nodded. “I need to tell her about me, and about Zander. I can’t keep it a secret from her anymore. I have no idea how I’m going to do it, but I’ll talk to her about Eddie too. Let her know it’s okay and that we just want her to be happy.”

Jade nodded. “I think that’s the best way. You know she won’t take it well from me.”

I snort-laughed. Jade and our mother were so much alike that they sometimes had trouble communicating. Jade also didn’t do well under pressure, so she was liable to just blurt out accusations and forget the part about telling Mom it was okay and that we wanted her to be happy.

“I think you need to go after Zander.” She got to her feet.

“Yeah.” I stood and scrubbed a hand through my hair. “I definitely need to.”

“Can I just say that your boyfriend is hot?”

I pulled a face. “Ew. Not something I need to hear my little sister say.”

“What?” she asked innocently. “I’m just saying. He’s gorgeous. How the fuck didyoubag a ten like him?”

“Must be my sparkling personality,” I deadpanned.

She laughed. “Must be.”

I followed her to my front door, making sure to grab my keys so I could lock up behind us.

After saying goodbye to her in the parking lot, I jogged down the path and knocked on Zander’s door.

He pulled it open immediately. “Is everything okay?”

My heart melted a little at his concern. He was always thinking about me, always taking care of me in little ways.

“Yeah.” I came into the house.

Before the door had even closed behind me, I stepped into Zander’s arms and hugged him tight. “I told her about us.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “How did it go?”

“As good as I figured it would.” I blew out a breath, finally relaxing since Jade had interrupted us. “She already knew.”

“She did?” He hugged me tighter.

“Yeah. Apparently she saw me and Danny kissing when we didn’t know she was home. She never said anything because she was waiting for me to tell her.”

“Jesus. I didn’t see that one coming.”

“Me either.” I rested my cheek on his strong shoulder. “Now I need to tell my mom.”

He rubbed his hand over my back in soothing circles. “Are you okay? This is a lot of telling people in a really short time.”

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