Page 56 of Up All Night

I gave him a look that I hoped said,Yeah, remember me? Your date?

He put an arm around the woman. “This is my sister, Demi.”

My eyes widened. Sister? Did he say sister? I hadn’t even known he had a sister. He’d never mentioned her before—not that I could remember, anyway.

Remembering my manners, I hurried and said, “Hi, I’m Halle. I’m a friend of West’s. Well, more like neighbor.” I amended, waving my hand around like I was an air traffic controller, feeling the need to clarify. Why had I thought wild hand gestures would help? Realizing she was actually his sister was throwing me off. “We live in the same building.” I smiled, hoping to reign in any weirdness I had let run loose.

Her eyes lit with recognition. “Oh, you’re the one Cannon was telling me about. He was saying you drove my brother crazy, but now you’re driving him crazy in a different way.” She winked.

West coughed. And coughed some more. “Where is a drink when you need one?” He really did look like he needed something to drink, and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Is that so?” I asked, letting my triumphant grin grow.

West shook his head. “I haven’t said anything like that, just so you know,” he informed me. “Cannon likes putting his nose in places he has no business being, claiming he’s making things more exciting.”

Demi laughed, turning to look at one of the tables. “That’s true. He can definitely be a troublemaker at times.” Following her gaze, there sat Cannon talking to another gentleman.

Speaking of Cannon, that reminded me. He had totally been staring at Demi earlier. And not just looking at her, but, like,looking at her.He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her even though he was at the gala with someone else. And Demi had known exactly where Cannon was. With how many people were here, there was no way I would have been able to find him in the crowd that fast. I wondered what the story was between her and Cannon.

But before I could think any more about it, Demi was talking to me. “I love your dress. The color looks amazing on you.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at her compliment. “Your hair is stunning.” Her hair was styled in an intricate updo with braids and curls and pieces of hair that made a design. It was absolutely beautiful.

“Oh, thank you!” she said excitedly. “I love hair, and I love coming up with new ways to style it.”

“Wait, you did your own hair?” I asked, flabbergasted.

She let out a shy smile, gently touching her hair. “Yeah.”

“She’s always been into hair,” West said. “She used to line up all her dolls and pretend she owned a hair salon.”

“It’s true,” she said with a chuckle. “But let’s not forget you were my most frequent customer.”

Picturing West going to his little sister’s salon to get his hair styled made my heart melt.

“Sometimes I didn’t have a choice.” He gave her a pointed look.

“Oh, whatever. You loved it,” she grinned.

West shook his head but was smiling.

Demi turned back to me. “It was nice to meet you, Halle,” she said with a bright smile. “But I’d better go mingle so dear old Dad doesn’t get his panties in a twist.”

So he was intense with her too, huh?

She turned to leave but stopped. “Oh, and don’t let this guy leave before nine.” She elbowed West in the side, which had him grunting but smiling.

Laughter bubbled out of me. “I can’t make any promises.” I turned to look up at West. He was looking back at me with amusement, almost as though he liked how we were both teasing him. “But I’ll see what I can do.”

He continued to gaze down at me. “Don’t worry, sis. This woman never fails to find ways to keep me up all night.”

18

West

“Ew, West,” Demi said, smacking my arm.

Wait, what? Why was Demi mad at me?

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