Page 43 of Let’s Be Real

“I think I can handle my sister.”

“I mean with anything.” I let go of her and carded my fingers through the side of my hair. “After all that, we’re friends now, aren’t we?”

“Sure, Nate.” She patted my chest. “We can be friends.”

I didn’t feel great about leaving Samantha alone with Kelly, but that was what I did.

My phone was waiting for me, glowing with notifications. I swiped them away and drove home.

This weekend had been fun. A nice time-out from life. But now, it was time to get back to what was real.

Chapter Sixteen

Samantha

Kelly woke up from a nap filled with vim and vigor. When she wasn’t bouncing off the walls, she vacillated between asking me thousands of questions about my house, Nate, my job, and ranting about Josh and Scarlet.

While I was glad she wasn’t a weeping mess, I was exhausted. The last time we’d spent more than an hour or two together had been before I’d left for college. We didn’t know each other, and to be honest, never had. But there was a tie that couldn’t be denied.

Kelly might’ve said she’d come to me because no one would think to look for her here, but I hoped a small part was because I was her big sister. If the situations were reversed, I hoped I could have gone to her.

That didn’t matter much, but I was pleased she’d known she could come to me.

After spending hours with her, however, I couldn’t take another minute. It was my night off, but I needed a break. Leaving her tucked on my couch with takeout and Netflix, I went to the club.

Tonight was swingers night. With no show happening on the stage, the tables and chairs had been pushed back to create a dance floor. I’d arrived early enough; most of our guests hadn’t retreated to private rooms yet. Duos and trios mingled and danced, some talking and laughing, others getting previews of what they’d get to have later.

Adrian was in his office, frowning at his computer.

“Hey, buddy,” I said as I sauntered in, taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

He was startled when he looked up. “Isn’t it Saturday?”

“It is. How are you feeling?”

“Fine, fine.” He brushed my question off, still annoyed he’d been sick at all. “What are you doing here?”

“The wedding didn’t happen.” I crossed my legs and leaned forward, my elbow on my knee. “I have a runaway bride in my house.”

He blew out a long breath before focusing on me. “You took Smelly in?”

“She was desperate. Her fiancé was cheating with her maid of honor. She obviously couldn’t marry him.” I turned my hand over. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Laugh in her bitchy face. I would have.”

“I know you would have, but I’m nicer than you.”

He rocked back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. “That may be, but you’re also a pushover. Smelly doesn’t deserve an ounce of your compassion. You know that.”

I shrugged. “That’s up to me to decide, isn’t it?”

He didn’t like it, but he knew I was right. And as much as he would have liked for me to agree with him, it wasn’t going to happen. I got to dole out compassion wherever I saw fit.

“Fine.” He worked his jaw for a minute, taking his aggression out on his molars. “How was your weekend with Nate? It seemed like you were having a good time.”

“Well…” I didn’t keep things from Adrian. That wasn’t how we worked. But I also didn’t know how he was going to react. Probably something I should have thought about before sleeping with his brother, but that ship had sailed. “We really did have a lot of fun. The alpine slide, the ropes course—he even made the rehearsal dinner bearable. He’s different than I thought.”

“How so?”