Page 98 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

The girls exchange amused glances and cut across the kitchen to sit at the dining table.

“You guys can do whatever you want, but if this all goes to shit, please don’t make it awkward by refusing to see each other,” Kelsea requests.

“Yeah. Kelsea and I are going to stay friends regardless. Just so we’re clear,” Sierra adds.

Man, I hadn’t even thought about that. The possibility never even crossed my mind, but now that they mention it, itwouldbe awkward having to keep seeing him in the event that this all goes up in flames.

“Noted,” TJ assures them.

“Well, then. Now that we’re all on the same page, could you guys unload the dishwasher while we finish up?” I change the subject.

The girls argue a little but end up complying. It isn’t long before TJ and his sister start to bicker, and Sierra and I chime in. Oli joins us a few minutes later, more than happy to talk shit with the girls while I set the table.

This is weird.

All five of us sharing this harmless little banter.

It’s almost like we’re some sort of reconstituted family for a minute there.

And it scares me.

Because I could get used to this.

We all grab a seat at the table to eat breakfast a few minutes later. We’re about to dig in when Sierra says, “Do we have any ice cream?”

I immediately know why she’s asking. It’s another one of our dad’s traditions. Pancakes and ice cream.Don’t ask.

“We don’t, I’m sorry.”

“We can’t eat pancakes without ice cream.” I can tell her emotions are beginning to rise to the surface, her eyes becoming misty.

This is bringing back a lot of memories.

“I can go get ice cream,” TJ offers.

Normally, I’d tell him not to bother, but the look on Sierra’s face is tugging at my heartstrings.

I rise to my feet. “Let’s go get ice cream.”

I knockon Sierra’s opened bedroom door. “Hey, could I talk to you for a second?”

Color drains from her face at my question, but she doesn’t send me away, giving a small nod. She’s lying in bed, rereading one of her favorite romance novels.

She must’ve known that I’d want to revisit what she said in the ambulance. It just took a little while longer because we had company.

TJ took his sister home a little after five. After we dropped by the grocery store to get ice cream, we spent most of the afternoon playing board games—except for when the cops showed up for more questioning.

Oh, and after we finished devouring our ice-cream-covered pancakes this morning, TJ opened the freezer to put the ice cream away.

There was no room, so he had to reorganize the freezer, and it turns out…

My dad’s watch was hiding in there.

Oli looked like he was about to cry when TJ pulled it out.

The verdict? Oli’s sleepwalking again. He used to do it often growing up, but I thought that was over. It hadn’t happened since we found his favorite action figure in the microwave one morning when he was ten.

I enter Sierra’s room and take a seat on the edge of her bed. “I wanted to talk about what you said in the ambulance.”

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