Page 26 of Always Mine

Zoey: Noted. Love you.

There’s a quick knock on my door, then Cece walks in looking way too happy.

Me: Oop. Ce just walked in. Love you too. Talk later.

“Hey,” my sister says, plopping into the chair opposite mine.

“Hi. Was that George I saw dropping you off this morning?”

Her eyes go wide. “Just gonna go right for it, huh? Yeah. What about it?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Is there something going on between you two?”

“What? No!” she snaps.

“Ce. I know you had—have?—a crush on him, but Mikey—”

“Mikey’s the one who called him. My car wouldn’t start this morning. Mikey was gonna come look at it, but I needed a ride here. Since George has to drive right by my apartment on the way in, Mikey asked him to pick me up on the way. And don’t worry, nothing happened between us. It’s clear that Mikey yet again gave him thedon’t-touch-my-sisterspeech.” She leans forward, then throws herself against the back of the chair.

“So, you still have a thing for him?”

She rolls her eyes. “If you must know, yes.”

“Then why don’t you do something about it?” I ask.

She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Were you or were you not just very concerned that Mikey would be pissed—”

I hold my hand up. “I was worried you were sneaking around and lying to him. No, Mikey wouldn’t be thrilled if something happened between you two, but he doesn’t get to make that call. You’re an adult,” I say firmly. “And you need to live your life how you want to live it, not how anyone else thinks you should.”

She blinks a couple of times, then walks over and kisses my cheek. “Thanks, Luke.”

I nod. “Of course, Ce.”

“Okay, well, uh, I’ll let you get back to your sketches. Thanks for the advice.”

“You know I’m always here.”

She gives me a little wave and walks out the door.

Once she’s gone, I turn back to my sketchpad, finishing up some details on a design for a kraken that one of my regulars asked for. He’s got a large empty spot on his back, and I’m hoping this will do it justice.

After finishing the sketch, I’m about to get up for coffee when my phone goes off.

Mikey: Hey, bro, wanna come over for dinner tonight?

I squint at my screen, then flip over to my conversation with Zoey.

Me: My brother just asked me to come over for dinner tonight.

Zoey: Convenient. I just got an invite from Trish. Shall we attend?

Me: Sure. It’s been a while since they’ve tried to set us up.

Zoey: Can we make out in the den again? That was hot.

Me: We can do more than that…

Zoey: Mm. Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep.

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