Page 67 of Good Luck Charm for the Wolf

I mumble something noncommittal, turning back to the mural and pretending to be very, very invested in making sure the basecoat is thick, and I have a fan blowing directly on it, so it dries before I start re-outlining the basics of the scene.

Sure, I am an artist who is usually all about my work.

But not today.

And it doesn’t matter. Because my sister?

She doesn’t buy it.

MJ never buys it.

“I’m going to open the doors, so we get some circulation,” I tell her, and am on it.

“Okay, but we are going to have a conversation, young lady. And I brought back up, so don’t get any ideas about skipping out,” MJ says, right before Carina walks in too.

She is already pulling off her borrowed sweatshirt—I know it is Horace’s because it comes down to her knees and has some nerdy algorithm written across the chest—and giving me that look.

The big sister knows you’re spiraling look.

I groan. I am not in the mood.

“Seriously? Did you guys hold a sad sister summit and decide I needed an intervention?”

“Yes,” MJ says cheerfully.

“Absolutely.”

Carina leans against the counter, crossing her arms in that big sister way that makes me want to confess all my sins from birth onward.

“So.” MJ slurps her coffee. “Are we going to pretend you didn’t cry your face off in the group chat at midnight, or what?”

“Oh my God, you are the worst sisters,” I hiss, mortified.

“What?” MJ says, completely unrepentant.

“It’s okay to cry, Dina, but you’re our baby sister. You don’t get to suffer alone. Spill it,” Carina adds, and shoots MJ a dirty look.

I sigh, dropping the roller and paint brush onto the tray, I sink my tired ass into one of the nearby chairs.

I’ve gone through the entire gamut of emotions overnight and now? My whole body feels heavy and wrung out.

“I just, I really thought this was it, you know?” I whisper, voice cracking more than I want it to.

“Oh, honey.”

“It’s true. And I know I’m naïve. But I actually believed in it this time. I didn’t second guess. I didn’t wait for the other shoe to drop. I just jumped right in because it felt so good. He felt so good. Like it was fated. But I guess we don’t all get one of those, huh?”

I’m trying for humor, but it comes out sad. Just plain sad.

MJ sits next to me and nudges my shoulder gently.

“Guess this is the first big Date to Mate fail, huh?”

I snort, tears burning my eyes.

“Yeah. Apparently, even magic matchmaking apps don’t guarantee anything.”

“Well, duh. I coulda told you that after my last Tinder faux pas.” MJ rolls her eyes and chortles.

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