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This time, she doesn’t.
I turn and walk toward the exit. Behind me, Spencer says my name.
I keep walking. When the studio doors close behind me, he doesn’t follow.
“Okay, hear me out.” Kira points her chopsticks at me from across the coffee table. “Arson is excessive. I’ve reflected on it.”
I pause with a spring roll halfway to my mouth. “That’s reassuring.”
“I’ve grown as a person.”
I give my sister a look. “In the last thirty seconds?”
“Personal growth doesn’t follow a schedule.”
I snort into my drink.
Three days ago I ended a four-year relationship. Right now I’m sitting cross-legged on Kira’s cream-colored couch, surrounded by enough Chinese takeout containers to feed a small village and listening to my sister plan hypothetical crimes.
Oddly enough, I feel better than I have in months.
Kira shovels noodles into her mouth and continues talking before she’s fully swallowed. “I think we’re overlooking vandalism.”
“We’re absolutely overlooking vandalism.”
“A tasteful amount of vandalism.”
“There’s no such thing.”
She waves a hand. “Rich people call it performance art.”
The couch beneath me probably costs more than my first car, and the apartment isn’t much better. Every surface looks like it belongs in a design magazine, right down to the decorative pillows arranged so perfectly that I suspect they have their own decorative pillows.
Meanwhile, Kira is sitting barefoot beside me in an oversized university sweatshirt with soy sauce on one sleeve. I’ve never understood how she manages to look effortlessly stylish and completely chaotic at the same time.
“I missed you,” I tell her.
She freezes mid-bite, presses a hand to her chest, and stares at me. “Oh, wow.”
“What?”
“You’re expressing feelings voluntarily.”
I offer her a one-shouldered shrug. “I always express feelings.”
“Sure. Eventually. Usually after extensive excavation work.”
I throw a napkin at her.
Without looking up, she catches it and drops it onto the coffee table. “Still got it.”
“You’re unbearable.”
“You adore me.”
Unfortunately, she has evidence to support that claim.
Kira grins and steals one of my dumplings. I don’t even try to stop her, which should probably qualify as a medical emergency.