Page 55 of It Should Have Been Me

“More than that, Cat. You’re telling me how amazing your life is with JP and yet you were willing to jeopardize it by jumping into bed with your ex. Do you think you might still be in love with Scott?”

The question throws me for a second and I stumble a bit. “No.”

“You hesitated.”

“I didn’t. I—”

“Helloooo, beautiful people,” Tommy sings, tossing his arm around Connor’s neck. “How are you doing, Conman? I haven’t seen you inages.”

“That’s because I actively try to avoid you,” Connor replies.

Our two best friends have a love-hate relationship, and Isa and I generally don’t get involved in their squabbles. Isa leans on the back of my chair, resting her chin on my head as we watch the two of them.

“Oh, Connor, didn’t the doctor tell you to lay off the bacon? It’s making you salty as fuck.” Tommy twists one of his ginger locks around his finger. “You know, I’m sure you were probably born with dark hair, but the high sodium level in your blood has caused you to lose pigmentation.”

Connor rolls his eyes and slaps his hand away like he’s shooing a fly. “Why do you insist on touching me?”

“I don’t know. You come across as the type who was deprived of affection as a child. I’ll give you all the love you need, Conman.” Tommy grabs his face with both hands and forces him to look up. “So, are you joining us for some lingerie shopping, you beautiful ginger man-child?”

“Nope, I think I’ll pass. I’m gonna go play some games.” He turns to me and winks. “And then I’m gonna watchStar Warswith my girlfriend.”

Tommy shakes his head in disappointment. “How do you get laid, Connor? Like...ever? How do you even have a girlfriend?”

“Magic thumbs.” Connor smirks, moving his thumbs in circles on an imaginary controller. “You guys have a good one. Cat, I’m free on Saturday again if you want to come over.”

“Sure. I’m going to the spa with my mom and Isa, but I’ll come by after.”

I wait for him to leave before I pay the bill and walk into the mall with Isa and Tommy. We head up the escalators to the Victoria's Secret store on the second floor.

“What colors are we looking for, IzzyB?” Tommy asks, scanning the array of bras on display.

“I don’t know.” Isa moves around him to look through the underwear on the next rack. “I’m not sure if I should be a bit racy with red or more demure with a dusty pink. That is my wedding color, after all.”

“Dusty pink and demure? For your wedding night? Babe, who are you trying to fool when we all know you were made for these streets? No. What you need is something that screams:This is where the ho’s at.”

Isa rolls her eyes but still follows him across the store to the more scandalous selections.

“Hey, wasn’t Dana supposed to join us?” Tommy asks, flicking through the lace teddies.

“She was,” Isa replies, “but she canceled at the last minute. She said she doesn’t want to see what kind of lingerie turns her brother on, so she decided to bail on us and hang out with Dylan and Ney-ney.”

If there is one aspect of Isa’s life that I am fully aware of, it’s her relationship with Neymar. He’s about seven or eight months old and my sister is obsessed with him. She speaks about him with so much love and adoration that anyone would swear it was her child. Neymar’s mother is a teenager who ran away from home to escape her abusive father, and Dylan’s parents were kind enough to take her in after she asked them for a job to work at their restaurant.

Isa bends over backward to help in whatever way she can. She’s even roped me into babysitting with her tonight because Neymar’s mom is working the late shift and doesn’t have anyone to look after him. While I’m not keen on getting drooled on, I relented because I want to spend as much time as I can with my sister before I have to leave again.

“Why don’t I ever get the option of canceling and just chilling with the boys?” Tommy complains.

“It’s the unfortunate burden you carry as my best friend.” She selects a pink and white teddy from the rack and presses it against herself. “What about this one?”

He rejects it with a shake of his head. “Not sexy enough.”

We spend the next twenty minutes debating on what to buy before Isa settles on a red one-piece, which is basically just lace and string sewn together. After we check out, Isa drives me back to her place.

“De Lorenzo, are you here?” she calls out as soon as we walk in the front door.

“In the living room,” he calls back.

My sister hears a little gurgle and almost explodes with excitement. “I can’t wait for you to meet him,” she says, grabbing my wrist to lead me to the living room.

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