Zoe
“You made it!” Keely’s so happy I showed up, and after a quick glance around the trashed living room, I can tell the party’s already been going for hours.
Chaz and his friends are destroying my sister’s apartment and nothing about them being here feels right. Especially when Chaz winks at me from the other side of the room while his arm is slung around some girl’s shoulder.
“I can’t stay long.”
Keely rolls her eyes and grabs my hand. “You can never stay,” she says as she pulls me through the crowd and into the kitchen. Every kind of liquor imaginable is lined up on the table. If she weren’t so cheerful, I’d think something was wrong.
I debate telling her I don’t want the shot glass full of amber liquid she hands me. That is until she narrows her eyes and challenges me to give it back. “One shot. Then I have to go.”
“Why? What could be more fun than this?”
“Dylan’s waiting for me outside.”
“He didn’t want to come in?” For the briefest of seconds, she looks disappointed. Even a little hurt. But my sister is one of the best actresses I know. What little emotion she let slip through the cracks, she locks up.
“We had dinner, and he was helping me with some stuff. And well, he wasn’t sure you’d be okay with him being here. He thought he should wait outside.” I hate that I can’t tell my own sister my living arrangements have been solved and I’m moving in with Dylan. The longer I wait to tell her, the more it’ll bother her.
But tonight doesn’t seem like the right time or place to tell her. I need Keely sober and as rational as possible when I drop the bomb.
“Whatever,” she says, downing the first shot and chasing it with a second. “So, is the rumor true?”
“What rumor?”
Before she has a chance to answer me, she’s distracted with a set of lips sucking on her neck. She tilts her head back far enough to smile at him. Whoever he is, she likes him. “He’s great, isn’t he?” Her words are directed at me but all of her attention stays focused on him.
“Seems great.” He’s nice to look at, but he’s a little too rough around the edges—another bad boy who’ll break her heart and waste her time.
“Anyway,” she says after he kisses her one last time. “I hear you’re moving in with Dylan.”
Considering I only found out a couple hours ago, I’m not sure who told her. “How do you know? We only made the plans today.”
I search Keely’s eyes for any sign of jealousy, but only see support and a little curiosity. If she’s bothered, she’s hiding it well.
“Dylan told me,” she admits as she lines up two more shot glasses, filling them to the brim. That explains the drinking.
“Dylan told you?” She pushes one glass in front of me and keeps the other for herself. I stare at it, my heart racing as I wait for her to answer me.
“Yep. So, where’s the house?”
“It’s on Locust. Not far from his place.”
“That’s good. Should make moving easier.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Why would I be mad? I’m moving back home. You two are staying. It makes sense.”
Keely has never been the practical twin. She points out flaws for every plan I come up with, and I can’t figure out why she’s not lecturing me. “When did Dylan tell you?”
“Tonight. He was making dinner, lobster or something. At first I thought he was on a date because you despise lobster. But then he went into this whole speech about not wanting you to feel guilty, or to be the guy who comes between us. He made it clear the move was his doing and not yours.”
“He said all that?”
“Yep,” she says as she pops the p. “Did you really think he wouldn’t figure out your housing situation?”
“What do you mean by that?” I can take care of myself and survive without Dylan.
“All I’m saying is, Dylan wants you. I saw it when we were together, and I see it even more now that we’re not.”
How much could she have seen in fourteen days? I’ve picked up on some things, too, but I wouldn’t say he wants to date me, date me. Maybe hook up, but long-term? That’s scary territory. Neither of us have been in a serious relationship before.
“We’re friends, Keely. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“You’re finally the crazy twin, but whatever, Zoe. It is what it is, and you’ll see for yourself once you’re living together.”
“Please don’t make this a big deal.”
It is a big deal. Living with Dylan is a monumental change, an epic twist I didn’t see coming. But I can’t tell Keely that. She could tell Dylan how scared I am, and then it might never happen.
She grabs the two shots still sitting on the table and downs them both. I hope she slows down or I’ll never be able to leave. And this party isn’t my scene.
“Just be out of Dylan’s bed by eleven o’clock tomorrow morning. I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“For what? I’m not going shopping again. And I don’t share a bed with Dylan.”
With her hands resting on my shoulders, she says, “I admit I thought he was gay for about five minutes, but I was angry. I see the way he looks at you, Zoe. When you two get around to doing it, I want you prepared. Something tells me it’ll happen sooner rather than later. You and Dylan can only dance around your sexual tension for so long before someone caves.”
She’d be drowning in satisfaction if she knew I have his clothes on underneath my long coat, and that my clothes are still at his house. “You’re being ridiculous.”
“I’m honest. And since you’re so determined to skip the flings we discussed, and jump into the serious, I’m taking you someplace special tomorrow. I’d be a bad sister if I didn’t do this for you.”
“I’m not going to the sex shop again. Once was more than enough. And not that I’ll need them, but I still have that box of condoms in my closet.”
“We’ll save the sex shop for a rainy day,” she says with an obnoxious smirk.
Before I can argue, she’s already with her new guy, rubbing all over him like he’s a scratch-and-sniff sticker.
Keely’s so unpredictable, we could be doing just about anything tomorrow. That thought leaves me with sweaty palms and a racing heart.
Maybe I’m the one who’s going to have her head in a trash can tonight.