Page 142 of A Little Broken

“Because you’re cute when your feathers are ruffled.” His smile stretches wider. “And I’m offering you the card because I know how much you like to piss people off.”

My forehead wrinkles as I grip the edge of the door, trying to piece together what he’s throwing down, but I’m coming up empty. How much I like to piss people off? What does that haveto do with anything? They wrote an article making me look bad. That’s that.

Isn’t it?

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“I’m saying you should take the power back. Go fucking wild. Give them something to talk about.” He dips forward, his lips hovering over mine. “I dare you.”

40

TATUM

Ifeel like I might throw up. I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not like this call will be a walk in the park, but the physical response to the whole thing? It makes me hate it even more. Forcing myself to push the call button, I wipe my hands against my thighs one at a time, then shift my phone to my opposite ear.

“Hello?” my sister answers.

“Hey,” I murmur.

“Tatum?” Ophelia asks.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Silence greets me, so I check the screen, confirming the call is still connected. It is. Which means I’ve rendered my sister speechless. I’d give her crap for it if I wasn’t as surprised as she is. Don’t get me wrong. I’ve known I’d have to rip this Band-Aid off at one point or another, but actually going through with it? It’s kind of a modern day miracle, and she knows it as well as I do.

“Uh, hey,” Lia finally says. “Hi. How are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“Good, just…hanging out with the girls.”

“Oh.” I gulp. “You can call me later or whatever.”

“No, I’m good,” she rushes out. “I can chat.”

“Okay? Uh.”

Why is this so hard?

“Hoooow’s the wedding planning going?” I press my hand to my forehead, willing the conversation to move forward.

God, I sound so stupid.

At least I waited until Rory was in the shower to call so there isn’t a witness to this stilted conversation.

“It’s good,” Lia answers. “Overwhelming, but good.”

“Awesome. I, uh, I’ve been meaning to call to congratulate you.”

“Yeah?”

I don’t miss the surprise in her voice. It isn’t bitchy or snooty. It’s genuine, only tacking on more guilt for the time I spent avoiding her.

“Yeah.” I chew on the edge of my thumb, then drop it to my lap. “Sorry I didn’t…respond to your texts.”

She doesn’t answer, but the background noise goes quiet. She probably went to another room or something. I’m grateful for it, though. The privacy. It’s not like her friends don’t know about the drama we’ve had as sisters. Nope. I’ve made my feelings crystal clear from the very beginning, and even now, I don’t regret it. Not because my sister deserved my asshole behavior, but I spent years shoving aside my feelings, pretending like they didn’t exist, and where did it get me? Absolutely nowhere. At least Lia knew where I stood when it came to her and Mav, even if it did paint me as the bitch.

“I get it,” Lia finally murmurs. “Why you didn’t respond to any of my texts.”

---