Page 38 of Sugarlips
Chloe rolled her eyes and giggled, poking me right back. “Well, they weremyidea.”
I laughed. “Sure, sure. Fair enough. I’m not about to go toe-to-toe with Chloe Dyker.”
“Damn straight!” she laughed.
From across the table, I saw Elaina’s eyes narrow on us, and I blinked, realizing how closely we were standing to each other. My body was angled toward Chloe and her shoulder was almost nestled against my chest.
I coughed and stepped back with a quick glance at Neil who was sitting back in his chair, his arms crossed protectively over his chest.
Elaina took a small nibble of her ice cream cookie sandwich and her nose scrunched with scrutiny. Chloe sent me a nervous glance before saying, “These will be a bit more expensive at $5.99 because it’s two cookies plus the ice cream center.”
While our parents and Addy and Finn nodded in approval, eating their ice cream sandwiches, Elaina’s silence spoke louder than any words could.
“Is there… a problem?” Chloe asked her sister.
Elaina cleared her throat and shrugged. “Nope. It’s just not my cup of tea.”
To my left, Neil snorted, and I quickly spoke to cover up the sound. “Any thoughts on how I could improve the recipe?”
From the way Elaina glared at Neil from across the table, my attempt to cover up his snort did not go too well. “Maybe I just don’t like cookies that much.”
“I’ve seen you take down an entire tube of raw cookie dough in a single sitting,” Chloe snapped, folding her arms.
“Well, it’s no yogurt and almonds,” Neil said, referencing the simple lunch that Elaina ate almost every day. “Maybe if you used frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, she would like it.”
Elaina launched to her feet with such force that I thought for a second she was going to dive across the table and smack Neil... over freakingyogurt. “Maybe it’s okay that I have different preferences than other people. Maybe my sisterrespectsmy boundaries.”
Finn’s brows creased as he looked between them. “Your boundaries about… ice cream?” he asked.
“Yes,” both Neil and Elaina snapped at the same time.
“But maybe those boundaries you set for yourself are actually stifling the thing you really want,” Neil threw back at her.
“How do youknowwhat I want? What if you’re just projecting whatyouwant onto me?”
“You still talking about ice cream?” Addy prodded this time. Except she knew full well that her little question was tossing a single piece of raw meat into a lion’s den.
“Yes!” They both cried once more.
“Okay,” I said carefully. “We’ll take into consideration some sort of frozen yogurt dessert—”
“Don’t bother,” Elaina said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have work I need to finish up.”
“It’s seven-thirty in the evening—” Chloe started, but she was cut off by the sound of Elaina’s footsteps stomping upstairs to her bedroom.
“Me too,” Neil grunted, standing from his chair and heading to the door.
“But you just got here,” I called after him.
The only response was the front door slamming shut behind him.
“Well,” Chloe sighed, “that could have gone better.”
“Are you two done playing matchmaker?” Mom whispered.
“We weren’t,” I said.
Chloe sighed and flopped down into a chair at the table, reaching for a donut. “I’m not sorry,” she said. “They need to talk. If not to each other, then they need to talk to someone about what happened.”
