Page 45 of Sinful Little Lies

My childhood homeshould bring fun and nostalgic memories. Instead I think of every bad moment I’ve experienced within those walls.

When I was five, my older brothers were teaching me how to swim. I had gotten out of the water to use the bathroom and left my floaties by the pool. When I came back, my floaties were gone. I don’t know how, but I slipped and fell into the pool and couldn’t find my way to the surface. My brother Griffin yanked me out and gave me CPR. If it wasn’t for him, my life would have ended right then and there.

Would’ve saved me a whole lot of fucking trouble, too.

But then you wouldn’t have met Verena, dingbat. And she would’ve been stuck with Leo. You know how that would’ve turned out.

I turn the car off and pull out another preroll to delay the inevitable. V senses my hesitation and brings it to light. “Does your leg always bounce when you’re nervous?”

She’s the first to notice. The first to care. I’ve never spoken about my anxiety and the feelings that override my golden retriever personality most days. My spark was lit when Verena came into my life for good. The anxiety has been almost non-existent. At first, I didn’t think it was possible for another person to do a better job of ridding the anxiety better than good old Mary-Jane, but she continues to prove me wrong.

I don’t want to spill out my whole life’s trauma so I settle on a simple answer for now. “My siblings and I, we don’t really get along the best. I’m sure you’ll see it firsthand tonight, so if that happens, I’m sorry. Greer is the worst one so just stay away from him. Gracie isn’t all that bad and she’s the only girl, so I’m sure your presence will excite her.”

She places her hand over mine and squeezes. “What I’m sure of is you. You’re a great person. Whatever sibling feud you have doesn’t define who you are. I’m pretty certain siblings are supposed to hate each other.” She says with a small laugh.

“What about you and Ronnie?” I ask. “Did you guys ever go at each other?”

Her smile softens and she’s quiet for a moment. “She did steal a few pairs of shoes from me without asking,” she chuckles, “but other than that, no. We didn’t have time to fight about regular sibling things. I was too busy making sure every moment we spent together was centered around things that brought her joy. I wanted her to think of our time together as an escape from all the scary stuff. So I did whatever I could to make that possible.”

Her smile grows as she turns the conversation back towards me. “Anyways, this dinner is going to be great. Your asshole brother will eat the Leosagna and we’ll get a good laugh out of it. Then we’ll be on our merry way, hopefully back to your place, and we’ll get stoned off our asses.” She nudges me and winks, “Before the night ends, you can fuck me while you still have that pretty little earring on.”

How can I not get a fucking boner when she says shit like that?

I spark the roll and we smoke to calm my nerves before heading inside.

“My boy!”Dad shouts, rounding the kitchen. He beelines to Verena and I, sweeping me into a bearhug. “Is this your someone special?” He whispers before pulling back.

With a tight-lipped smile, I nod. “Dad, this is Verena. Verena, this is my dad, Greg.”

Her smile brightens the entire house and my nerves relax. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Greg. Your home is beautiful.”

“Thank you! We’re excited to have you for dinner tonight. Grimm, your siblings are in the den. Go introduce her while Graciela and I finish setting the table. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for you all!”

Nodding, I grab V’s hand and lead her to the den. “There’s a lot of us, seven to be exact. We’ve all got names that start with Gr, so if it takes you a while to commit all the names and faces to memory, just know we won’t judge you. Well, I won’t.” I say with a shrug.

We round the corner and walk down the hall. Laughter and chatter echoes throughout the hallway. My stomach churns and I pray to whoever is controlling our simulation that the night goes smoothly and Verena doesn’t backtrack on her feelings toward me, or us.

Stopping at the door frame, all eyes turn in our direction and there’s not a friendly face in sight. Each one of my brothers are scattered around the room. Griffin, the oldest, sits on a leather couch, a glass of whiskey already in hand.

The twins, Graylin and Grayson, wrestle each other across the rug like football pricks at a highschool house party. Graham is nowhere to be seen, which irritates me because he’s the only one besides Gracie that I can tolerate being in the same room with.

My eyes sweep across the room and spot him in a lone chair, with his ankle propped on his knee. Greer stares at us, more specifically, Verena.Mylittle monster.

I’ll make a nice fat burger and grill this motherfucker if he so much as breathes in her direction.

“Gracie’s in the kitchen with Dad so you’ll meet her in a bit. These are my brothers.” I point to each one and give her their names. “Graham is somewhere nearby, hopefully.”

No one has noticed our presence besides Greer. His voice booms throughout the den, quieting everyone and turning their focus towards us. “Hey, lookie here! Little Grimmy brought home some fresh meat. It’s a lot more exciting to see you when you come home with presents.”

The twins cackle and it amazes me that there’s a six year difference between myself and them. You’d think I’m twenty years older with the way they behave and bicker with one another. As much as they butt heads, they’re inseparable. They live together, play on the same hockey team, professionally, and even shared the same girl for a hot minute.

Griffin stands and strides over to us. He scoops up Verena’s hand and introduces himself. “Griffin, nice to meet you. Your name?”

Verena smiles and replies, “Verena.”

Griffin’s lips tip into a smile.I’ve literally never seen him smile before.

“Verena. Beautiful. A respectful name.” He compliments.

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