A shoulder lifts. “I told him I wanted to ask the doc about vaginal discharge.”
I blanch as Leighton laughs, high fiving my sister.
“Dylan can’t find out I know,” she warns, eyeing the two of us. “He’s set on it being a surprise. It’s the only reason I agreed in the first place, but you know me. I hate surprises.”
“You love surprises,” both Lenny and I say at the same time. We share a smile.
Mia glares. “Not when it comes to the fucking watermelon that I have to push out of my vagina.”
Oh my God. “Can we go back to you laughing over the gay lover rumors?” I beg, noting her serial killer look. “You’re starting to scare me.”
Leighton shifts slowly, looking at me with arched brows. “What am I missing here?” Her voice is skeptical, but there’s interest burning in her hazel gray eyes that makes me roll mine.
“I’m sure my lovely sister will be—”
“Look!” Mia exclaims, happy again. I swear, her mood swings are giving me whiplash. She shoves the phone in Lenny’s face, who takes it without hesitation and begins skimming the article in front of her.
Then…
The traitor laughs her ass off.
“You’re supposed to be on my side!” I bellow, grabbing the phone and turning off the screen. The website that posted it found two different shots of Garrick and I at the 2012 MTV Music Awards wearing the same designer, with a caption that says, “Coincidence?”
Yes. Yes, it was. If I’d known that the Aussie asshole was going to wear the same designer as me, I would have found something else to go in.
Mia’s wiping tears from under her eyes as she shakes her head, waving her fingers at me to give her back the phone. I’m not sure I trust her with it. When she smacks me with a pillow, the traitor beside me steals it away and passes it to Mia when I’m too distracted getting ready to do a counterattack with the scratchy designer monstrosity only Mom could have bought.
I look around at the thought, nose scrunching. “Where’s Mom?”
Mia rolls her eyes. “Out with Rob. They’re back on again.”
My mother’s insistence on never marrying again has left her years-long relationship with Robert Handler rocky. They fight about it all the time, but she always wins. It isn’t like I don’t understand her reluctance. Harry messed her up. She doesn’t trust men. But she deserves to be happy, even if that means letting Rob put a ring on her finger.
Sighing, I lean back. “One day she’s going to break, and Rob will get his way.”
“You know how she feels,” Mia chides.
“She’s letting Harry win.”
“She’s finally living her life the way she wants to, Kyler. Maybe you should take a page from her book and do what you want.” Her tone is pointed, and when I meet her eyes, her brows go up in challenge.
“I just want her to be happy.”
“Some people are happy without wearing a wedding ring. We can both agree she’s been better without Dad.” Before I can retort, she adds, “And some people are better with that sort of relationship. It depends on how bad they want it.”
She’s been throwing things like that at me for weeks, and I never give in. A few minutes later, Mia is passing us scripts with different lines highlighted. She knows it’s best to let things drop when I get like this, so I accept the paper and skim over the lines.
My lips twitch when I realize she assigned me the lead role to play, since she’s auditioning for a secondary one—apparently a friend of my character’s.
“Uh…Mia?” The caution in Leighton’s voice pulls me from the sheets in front of me and up at her. She’s frowning, her eyes bouncing between the script on her lap and my sister. “Are you sure you want us to do this scene?”
“Why?” I ask, trying to figure out what she’s reading that’s making her uncertain.
When she bites her lips, I know it’s something I’m going to curse Mia out for. But when her cheeks turn pink? I start reading through the other parts until I get to the one she’s referring to.
“Er…” I rub the back of my neck. “Mia?”
She sighs dramatically. “You guys promised! I don’t get to choose which scene I do during auditions. They selected that one to make sure there’s chemistry between my character and the leads. So—” She claps twice. “Chop, chop, children. Get into character.”