Page 52 of Sugarlips
“Me, too.” And I did. I was really going to miss having Elaina at home with me.
She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Chloe, I’m sorry, but I need to say this. You and Liam look really happy together. If you like him, you should go for it. He’s a good guy. Areallygood guy. I know you like him… and I think he likes you, too.”
I stole a glance at him, framed by the lit window of the food truck. Impressive triceps pushed hard against the seams of his shirt as though a simple flex might cause the stitching to give out entirely. I shook my head, looking back to Elaina. “I don’t know. We’re business partners now. It seems irresponsible to get involved with so much on the line.”
“Just think on it. I don’t want you to end up miserable and alone… like me.”
My heart squeezed at her admission. “If you’re so sad, why don’t youtalkto Neil?”
“I’ve tried!” Elaina cried, a sob breaking through her usually steely exterior. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, composing herself. Then calmer, she restated, “I’ve tried calling him. He won’t talk to me, okay?”
My face softened. “You didn’t tell me that.”
She shrugged, trying to downplay this, but I saw through her façade. “It’s embarrassing. He asked me to marry him. I said no to the proposal, but I didn’t want to break up over it. I just needed more time.” She dropped her face into her palms and I quickly kicked my leg around, shifting to the other side of the bench to hold my sister as she cried. Her head fell to my shoulder, tears soaking through my shirt. “I’m sorry.”
“You already said that.” I rubbed her back as she continued talking through the tears.
“I know. I’m not saying it’ll be easy to see you and Liam as a couple… but with enough time to adjust, Neil and I will learn to deal with it. We’ll have to.”
“Well, brace yourself,” I said. “The whole town is going to think Liam and I are an item after tonight.”
“Because of the news story?”
“That… and we ran into Dan today at Greico’s.”
Elaina’s wet eyes went wide. “Oh…”
“Withher,” I added.
“Uh-oh. What’d you do?”
I winced. “Liam and I pretended to be a couple… to make him jealous.”
“Do youwanthim to be jealous?”
“No… yes.Kind of.” I dropped my face into my hands. “I don’t know, Elaina. Seeing him with her… I just… AmIgoing to be alone forever?”
I felt Elaina’s hand reach across and hold my arm. “You’re not alone. You have Mom, and Dad, and Tanja, and me—”
“Oh yeah?” I asked, dropping my hands to the counter. “Areyougoing to make me come four times in one night?”
Elaina scrunched her nose, looking momentarily stunned. “Jesus. Could Dan make you come four times?”
“No,” I admitted. Most nights, I was lucky to have one orgasm with Dan. “But it would be nice ifsomeonecould.”
“I bet I know someone who could,” Elaina whispered and glanced across the lawn where Liam was walking toward us. The line had dispersed and I noticed that he had put the closed sign up.
I shot to my feet, standing. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he shrugged. “We’re sold out.”
“Of…”
“Of everything.”
“Everything,everything?”
He nodded, his goofy grin growing. “We did it,” he said. “Or rather… you did it. You practically did everything for this Chloe. All I had to do was bake some stuff and help out behind the counter.”
