Page 43 of The Perfect Deal
“So did anything happen between you and Joshua?” Sophia stared up at me from my bed, her head resting on the palm of her hand.
Without blinking, I looked back at her for several seconds before a loud sigh exited my body. “Yeah, something happened. A lot of stuff happened, if I’m honest.”
Sitting up abruptly, my sister demanded, “Tell me everything.”
With my suitcase packed and zipped up, I set it on the floor and dropped down next to Sophia, making her bounce a few times. I wasn’t sure exactly how to tell her, so I started with our walk in the woods, how he’d kissed me, then the distance that had settled over us again until I’d made the first move. “I’m not sure what got into me, but I asked him to go swimming with me in the lake at night.”
“Did you go skinny dipping?” Her eyebrows waggled up and down as she grinned at me.
“No.” I watched my sister deflate. “But we did have sex.”
“What?” Sophia sat up so quickly, I was afraid she’d get a headrush. “You did?”
Before I could answer, the doorbell rang. “That’s the sushi.”
“No! Tell me everything!” she insisted, following me out the door as I rushed down the stairs to get our food.
Sophia was forced to stand behind me in the hallway and wait as patiently as she could for me to get the food from the delivery person. I made sure to leave a nice tip. Then, I brought the food into the living room and hurried to the kitchen to get us something to drink. When I returned, she was already eating, of course, but her full mouth didn’t prevent her from asking, “What happened? How was it?”
Pulling my own food from the bag, I began to eat for a few moments, contemplating how to explain it to my sister. Finally, I said, “He invited me to sleep in a bunk in his cabin because of Karrie—the snorer.” Sophia nodded. “So I was in the shower, and I decided I’d already been bold once that night. Why not see what happened if I just went for it? When I got out of the shower, I put on the T-shirt he’d loaned me—and nothing else.”
Sophia’s eyes bulged. “And?”
“And we did it.” I took a bite of my sushi like it was no big deal.
“And?” Sophia repeated, growing more impatient by the second.
“It was wonderful, even better than I’d always imagined it would be.” The wispy sigh that left my lips was a bit embarrassing. I sounded like a princess in a cartoon movie. “But the next day, he wouldn’t even look at me.”
Sophia dropped the California roll she’d been handling with her chopsticks back into the container. “What?”
“Yep. He wouldn’t talk to me, kept avoiding me. I tried. I really did. I sought him out, tried to strike up a conversation. I figured we still had several days of camp to be a couple before we had to come back to reality and hide from Landon, if that’s what Joshua wanted to do. But he wasn’t having any of it. So I left camp a few days early.” With that, I took a sip of my drink and returned my attention to my food for a moment, letting my sister digest the information—and her large quantity of sushi.
“Well, that fucking sucks,” she finally blurted. “What do you think made him act that way?”
“I’m not sure. Poppy thinks he’s just afraid of hurting Landon. I don’t know. We sort of made up the other night when Poppy and Landon invited us both to dinner to help them plan the beach trip. At least we’re talking again. Anyway, I’m tired of talking about me. Tell me about college.” I managed an encouraging smile, praying she’d just let it go.
It took her a moment. I could see she was still having trouble accepting what I’d told her, and I couldn’t blame her because it was hard for me to process as well. Eventually, Sophia started talking about college, how her classes were going this summer, her professors, and a few guys that she’d met at a party. “I’m not sure Landon would like Devon,” she said, shaking her head. “He gives off Grady vibes for sure, but I think he’s genuine. Not that I’m thinking of bringing him home.”
Alarmed, I reminded her, “Dating Grady was the worst mistake of my life. If you think this Devon guy is anything like him, sis, run for the hills.”
She shook her head. “He’s just got that confidence about him that can sometimes be irritating. It’s not like I think he’s just trying to get into my pants for shits and giggles.”
It still hurt to hear anyone talk about what Grady had done to me, but I let it go since my sister wasn’t trying to be rude. “Be careful,” I told her. “If you end up in a situation where Landon feels like he could’ve protected you from an asshole, but failed, he’ll start dictating who you can date, too. It’s no fun.” I thought for a moment before I muttered, “Sometimes I think he’s ruining my life.”
She stared at me for a moment, and I realized I’d said some things I’d never really admitted to her before—or maybe even to myself. “Do you think he’s still oblivious to the situation between you and Joshua? Surely, he has to see it. A sightless person could see it at this point.”
I shook my head. “He doesn’t see it. For that matter, I don’t think he wants to see it, even with Poppy encouraging him. It’s just as well, though. With the wedding coming up, we don’t need to add any drama to the situation.”
She nodded, but she was still having trouble understanding how our older brother could be so controlling and overprotective.
We didn’t get to say more about it though as the door to the garage opened, and Landon came in. “Where are my favorite sisters?” he asked, entering the room with a big smile on his face.
Sophia jumped up and ran over to hug him. I smiled at them, not angry at Landon despite what I’d just said. He was only trying to look out for me, and even though sometimes it felt suffocating, he did it out of love.
Landon grabbed a beer and came into the living room to join us, grabbing the food I’d ordered. “When we’re done with this, we should play Risk,” he said.
Sophia giggled wickedly. “Why? So I can kick your ass?”