Page 31 of Careless

Okay. Maybe Francine isn’t as sane as I originally thought, but she’s not a complete psycho. She has a big heart. I’ve seen it.

“Oh my god. Harley Quinn. I get it. I was wondering why they were referring to my brother as Mr. J. Now, I get it. You do give off the whole pre-acid bath vibe,” I joke. “Where did you see Colin?” She specifically mentioned seeing him today, and I remember her leaving the house before Donatello last night.

“Finn took her to his house,” Nyla says in a sultry tone, hinting at some carnal reasoning.

“Wait. I think I'm missing something. The last time wetalked,you said you wanted nothing more to do with my brother.” It’s true. We haven’t had a real conversation since Finn asked me to give her a ride home from school. She was giving some realI hate him,but also want to kiss himvibes. I knew she wouldn’t be mad at him for long.

She opens her mouth to respond, but nothing comes out, embarrassment clear across her face. I’ve never seen her so speechless.

Nyla doesn’t have that same ailment, though. “He changed sweet Francine's mind with a little cunnilingus.”

Francine gasps as her face pales. “Nyla!”

“It's true. You and Finn were pretty hot and heavy when I interrupted you at the beach. I could feel the sexual energy coming off you two from outside of the tent.”

I’m barely holding in my laughter. It’s clear Nyla loves torturing Francine with embarrassment.

“She's his sister,” Francine hisses as the redness in her cheeks reaches her scalp. Poor thing.

“So? It's not like she doesn't know about her brother's... promiscuities,” Nyla utters.

Finally, the laugh barrels through me, a sound I haven’t made in weeks, and it feels so good. In this moment, I’m back to the girl I was before everything went to shit.

“It's okay. I grew up around the Five Families. They're all crass, and I'm very well aware of how much my brother gets around.”

I have the mental scars to prove it. I will never forget the one time I walked in on him. I couldn’t look at Finn for weeks. If I go the rest of my life without seeing him like that again, I will die a happy woman.

“He definitely wormed his way into Francine's bed.” The words roll right off of Willow’s tongue and my eyes widen.

Did they have sex?

I know Francine and my brother have been… something, and she told me she and her ex never went that far.

Does Finn know? Does he know she gave him her virginity?

My eyes fall on Francine as I sit down at the table, and she looks absolutely mortified.

“Oh. My. God.”

“It’s not a big deal,” she tries to deflect, but I know the truth. It is a big deal.

Virginity is such a big deal for girls like us. I still feel the burn of shame that I didn’t give mine to someone I love. I wanted to give it to Rian, but I knew I would never get the opportunity.

And the sadness returns. That didn’t last long.

“Yeah, it's never a big deal when you let the guy you'reexclusivewith pop your cherry,” Nyla teases before her and Willow laughs at my expense.

That one word catches my attention like a moth to a bonfire.

“You're… exclusive… with Finn?”

My sadness ebbs just a smidge at this news. This is incredible. I really am happy for my brother and Francine is good for him, but I know this also means he’s going against the pact he has with Rian. I had the feeling Rian would’ve done the same with me, but I’ve also noticed a tension between Finn and Rian lately. Rian is not happy with my brother, and I can’t help the feeling that it’s because of me. I’m the one hurting their friendship, but Finn seems oblivious to the changes happening.

“Uh, yeah. We had a whole discussion about it officially this afternoon.”

I bring my attention back to Francine and decide to celebrate this win. It’s small, but maybe at some point my brother will be so happy in his Francine bubble that he won’t care what I’m doing. At least, that’s my working theory.

“Oh my god! That's amazing! My brother has never been exclusive with anyone, like ever. You're practically my sister now.” I pull her into a hug and she relaxes like she was worried about what I would think of this new development. I couldn’t think of a better girl for my brother. “Just don't tell Rian you guys are exclusive. He will flip his shit,” I warn, but she rolls her eyes.

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