Page 43 of Up In Flames
“Without telling me?” she screeches.
“I’m telling you now.”
“What if he’d tried to take advantage of you? I remember him from that bar bathroom, Tay. The man isnotsmall.”
Thinking of Knox makes me warm all over. Thinking about how easily I fit on his lap makes a goofy grin spread across my face, and I waggle my eyebrows.
“I know.” Livvy rolls her eyes, and I start getting annoyed. “When did you turn into one of those people who assume I can’t defend myself?”
“I just worry about you.”
I touch her shoulder and make her look at me. “Are you going to turn this into a big deal?”
Livvy usually hates to argue. Especially with me. She huffs out a sigh and switches to my other foot.
“I guess I just don’t get how you could have that much in common with a guy twenty years older than you. Like, when you’re thirty, he’ll be?—”
“Fifty, Liv. Fifty. That’s not old. As long as he’s over eighteen and he consents, I have the right to choose who I fuck.”
“Don’t preach at me, Bird. I’ve always had your back.”
I give her the sternest expression I can muster. “Is that so?”
She closes her eyes like I’m testing the limits of her patience. “Okay, so I might have taken Damon’s side thatone time.I just don’t want to see you get heartbroken again.”
“Who’s getting heartbroken? I just want to have a good time and help a sexy, closeted, bear of a man find the rainbow-colored light.” Knowing she’ll be on my side if I tell her how he stood up for me, I add, “And he fired the concrete guys for talking shit about my clothes.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Livvy says before blowing on my toes to dry the polish.
“Well, that’s why I needed you to come over tonight. I’ve been dying to tell someone about him.”
“So, what happened at his house?”
Knowing she’ll absolutely flip her shit if I tell her about the voicemail and phone call with his ex—because let’s be honest, she already thinks this is a train wreck—I go with, “We just talked.”
She laughs. “Yeeeeeahhhh, right.”
“There was one kiss, but I swear, that’s all. This feels different, Liv,” I finally tell her. “I can’t really explain it, but I’m actually sort of dreading Monday when I have to go back to work.”
My sister, like me, is very expressive with her face, and I laugh when her eyes go wide.
“Taylor Jordan Landry! Youneverdread going to work! Ohmygod, this is more serious than I thought,” she says, placing the back of her hand across her forehead.
I can’t help but laugh at her theatrics before getting serious again. “He’s a good man dealing with some heavy stuff. I just want to be a bright spot for him, you know?”
Livvy pats my hand. “I know, Tay. You’re the brightest bright spot anyone could hope for. You’re basically the sun.”
I narrow my eyes. “I honestly can’t tell. Are you making fun of me right now?”
“Shockingly, no,” she says before changing the subject. “Oh! Are we still on for jet skis tomorrow?”
“Absolutely,” I confirm right as my phone goes off with a text alert.
I grab for it so fast, Livvy says, “Oooh, is that him?”
I flash my phone at her so she can see the name, but not the message, and then quickly turn it back to my face so I can read Knox’s words.
Knox
