Page 17 of Roses in Summer

I look at the ceiling, dismissing my sister’s words. My parents are throwing a going away party for him before he leaves, plus Ava comes home for Sunday dinner once a month with Greyson, so we see each other regularly.

“Do it for our country, Sera. ‘The red, the white, the blue,’” she sings, taunting me with an off-key rendition of “Do It for Our Country.”

“Whoever let you watchGrease 2should be banished to hell.”

“Now that you mention it, our redheaded wonder is familiar with hell.” Ava pauses to yell, “C, Sera said you need to go back to hell.” She laughs before continuing in a lower voice, “Back to the topic at hand. You are coming on Saturday. Lincoln doesn’t care.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat at the mention of Lincoln. Our month and a half of friendship comes crashing back at his name, and I shut my eyes, willing away the discomfort.

“I didn’t say Lincoln was the reason I didn’t want to come.”

“Okay, then Mitch isn’t invited.”

“Ava.” I sigh. “Mitch isn’t the reason either.”

“Okay, then it’s you. I’ve made the decision. I hereby declare Seraphina Rose will be in attendance on Saturday for a barbecue.”

I can’t help the laugh that spills out of me. “You’re impossible, Ava.”

I can hear the smile in her voice when she replies, “And that’s why you love me. Speaking of Mitchy, how is he?”

Twisting my lips, I consider how best to answer. The last thing I want to do is talk about Mitch. “He’s fine,” I offer because, really, what else can I say?

“Okay then.”

“And how’s Greyson?”

“Well, I thought you’d never ask.” I hear the sound of ice clinking before she continues, “He got an apadravya piercing a few weeks ago.”

I furrow my brows, turning the word over in my mind until knowledge strikes me. “Ava… is that what I think it is?”

“If you think it’s a piercing that goes straight through the tip of his dick, then yes.”

I let out a cough, choking on her words. “Jesus Christ, why would you tell me that? Aren’t you with CeCe and Serena right now? They don’t need to know that.”

“Sera, save us,” CeCe calls from the background, and my sister shushes her words.

“Don’t be such prudes. Anyway, the guys are picking us up soon. I need to finish getting ready before we head out tonight. Make sure you bring B and Rafe with you when you come this weekend. Leave Mitch at home though?”

“Ava,” I groan.

“Fine, fine. Bring that little dickhead. But Sera, if he says anything I don’t like, I’m going to make Greyson beat his ass.”

“You’re really enticing me to come, I have to say.”

“Stop bitching. Now, I really have to go. Love you, bye.” She hangs up without waiting for my reply and wreaks havoc on her friends, her boyfriend, or whichever small community they’re visiting today.

I love my sister, both of my sisters, but sometimes they’re overpowering.

Sighing, I drop my head against my headboard and look to my ceiling as though it will show me what to do.

Unsurprisingly, it’s as blank as the plaster above my bed.

The last time I saw Lincoln, I had a bite on my neck from the best kiss I’ve ever received. But every time I see Mitch, I want to vomit. My skin becomes cold, my pulse quickens in dread, and I feel an overwhelming sense of unease that won’t seem to go away.

—

“Fin, sit on my lap.”

---