Page 36 of Sugarlips
I shook my head. “Nope. They’re both too damn stubborn.” I turned to look at Liam. “Wait, you didn’t know they weren’t talking?”
Liam shook his head. “My brother and I aren’t like you and Elaina. We don’t really huddle up and share our feelings all that much.”
“Huh.” I couldn’t imagine having a sibling I didn’t talk to every day. Even before Elaina moved in with me, we literally communicated daily—whether by a text or Instagram message. Or even just a random gif. It made me suddenly sad for Liam and Neil.
“You know,” Liam said, “Maybe we could arrange something where they have to both come?”
It was my turn to screw my face together. “Like a setup? Elaina will see right through that.” So would Neil, for that matter.
“If they see through it, then we didn’t do our jobs well enough.”
“Maybe…” I was doubtful, though.
“You know what we should do? A family sampling! I could bake up some ideas for the soft opening and we could have our friends and family do a taste test. Tell us which ones they think are best and what a fair price is.”
“That’s a great idea!” I grabbed his hand before I could stop myself. I stiffened at the feel of his palm against mine and then immediately relaxed as his fingers curled around mine, linking our hands.
“Well, come on Dyker. Let’s get baking.”
12
Liam
My family has been eating my baked goods for almost my entire life…
So why was I so damn nervous as they sat around the table, staring back at Chloe and me, waiting to taste the samples for our food truck? My mom, Finn, and Addy were all here—and so were Chloe’s mother and father. But conveniently missing from what was supposed to be a Neil-Elaina setup… were Neil and Elaina.
Chloe gave me a nervous look, tapping her fingers against her phone, while I did the same, texting Neil to ask him where the hell he was as our parents cordially made small talk.
“Dude,” Finn said, “He’s not coming. I told you, he gave me some excuse about needing to stay behind to do some work at the bakery.”
Sure enough, seconds after Finn spoke, a text chimed in my phone from Neil stating exactly that.
Of everyone in the family, I really wanted your opinion on these baked goods the most,I texted back. Guilt was always a good last resort.
I could feel Chloe peering over my shoulder and I rolled my eyes. “Want me to hand the phone to you so you can read my texts better?”
“Nah,” she said casually, “Just tilt it a little. There’s a glare.”
I snorted a laugh and shook my head at her shameless candor. This girl. This fucking girl.
I sighed and tucked my phone into my pocket as the front door swung open and Elaina came waltzing into Chloe’s and, for the time being, her home. She seemed startled, blinking in surprise at the massive amount of people sitting in her kitchen when she finally said. “Oh, shit. I totally forgot the taste test was tonight.”
“I’ve been texting you,” Chloe said.
Elaina grimaced. “I’m sorry… I had my phone on silent.”
She hung an expensive looking bag on the coat rack near the door and crossed quickly into the kitchen, sliding into the empty chair next to her mom.
Chloe nodded. “So,” she said, clapping her hands together. “As you all know, we are starting our food truck! The Dump Truck—catering junk food to people who’ve just been dumped!”
Addy’s face screwed into a frown, sending her forehead into a fit of wrinkles. I rolled my eyes at my consistently pessimistic sister. Not that I could blame her… I was the same damn way. It was one of the few ways you could tell we were twins. “What?” I snapped at her.
“The Dump Truck?” she repeated. “It sounds like you run a sanitation service, not a food truck. It’s not exactly appetizing.”
Chloe’s mom clicked her tongue. “She’s got a point, sweetie.”
For the first time since we hatched this plan, I saw Chloe’s vibrato stutter. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, and the lines of her throat tightened. “Well, we didn’t call you here to critique thenameof the food truck. But we will take that into consideration.”
