Page 6 of Flipping the Script
“I got here as soon as I could.” Jesse handed the bag he was carrying to his brother. “Why did you need these? You look fine.”
Adam extended the bag to me. “They’re not for me.”
I looked at the bag, my expression probably the same as it would be if someone offered me a sack of dog shit. “What’s in it?”
“A tie and dress shoes.” Adam wiggled the bag at me.
“I’m good, thanks.”
The black, long-sleeved shirt I had on wasn’t the most practical choice for an outdoor party in June, but it covered my tattoos and saved me from being stared at like I was a circus performer, so I’d gone with it.
I’d also skipped a tie and finished the outfit off with a pair of black Converse because I knew it would piss my parents off.
“Just put them on.” Hannah made begging hands at me. “Please.”
“Put what on?” I took the bag. As much as I pretended my sister didn’t have me wrapped around her little finger, she did, and she knew it. I peeked into it to find a pair of dress shoes and an ice-blue tie with little swirls of silver embroidered on it. “Yeah, I’m good. These aren’t my style.” I tried to give them to Hannah.
“Pretty please.” She gave me the puppy eyes again. “I’m too stressed out to deal with Mom’s passive-aggressive crap right now. Do you have any idea how many times she’s bitched about what you’re wearing to me? My blood pressure is spiking again just thinking about it.”
“Fine.” I pulled out the tie and put the bag on the ground so I could put it on. “But only because you asked.”
“Thank you.” She beamed a big smile at me.
“What size are your feet?” Jesse asked as I flipped up the collar of my black dress shirt. “We wouldn’t want them to look like clown shoes if they’re too big.”
I shot him some side-eye. “I wear an eleven.”
“Really?” Jesse pulled off his aviator sunglasses and glanced down at my feet. “They look so tiny.” He met my eyes with a smirk-smile that set my nerves on edge, and not in a good way.
“Not everyone can be blessed with platypus feet,” I said, keeping my tone light and playful as I finished knotting the tie.
“Platypus feet? That’s an oddly specific reference.” Jesse slipped his sunglasses back on.
Some of the tension in my shoulders melted away. I’d forgotten how magnetic his eyes were and how intense his stare could be.
I much preferred looking at him when he had his sunglasses on.
“Too specific for you? How about not everyone has duck feet?”
“Did you know that platypuses, or is it platypusi?” Adam’s eyes rounded as Hannah and I snickered. “I really hope that’s not the plural of platypus, but anyway, did you know they have a spike on their back legs they use to stab predators and inject them with venom?”
“Venom?” Jesse asked. “Platypuses are venomous?”
“Apparently.” Adam nodded. “I saw a video about it the other day on TikTok and went on a deep dive. Nature is crazy.”
I kicked off one of my sneakers and shoved my foot into a dress shoe. It was a bit loose, but they’d do.
“I have no idea what happened.” Hannah looked between us with a grin. “One minute we’re talking about shoes, and the next we’re learning that platypuses are venomous.” She fixed her gaze on something over my shoulder, her smile falling. “Ugh.”
“What?” I started to turn around.
“Don’t look!” she hissed. “It’s Aunt Meredith.”
I winced and spun right back around. Our mother’s older sister was my least favorite relative, and that said a lot. Nothing Hannah or I did was ever good enough, and she had no concept of boundaries.
The last family event I’d attended was our father’s fiftieth birthday, and I’d stayed for less than an hour because Aunt Meredith had cornered me and spent twenty minutes berating me for ruining my family’s plans and not taking over the family business like I was supposed to.
“I’ll intercept her,” Hannah said, pasting a fake smile on her face and waving exaggeratedly. “Please don’t leave.” She shot me a pleading look.