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Gigi pulls away enough to pick her soaked shirt off the floor and slip it over her head. “Voyeurism is definitely not my thing, by the way. It would be a little sick if it was. That was just dirty talk.”
I watch her for a long second, trying to decide how to respond. It’s obvious where this is coming from, even if she doesn’t want to acknowledge the truth to herself. Any guilt she feels is entirely misplaced. “I know it’s hard to remember sometimes, but you and Olivia aren’t actually the same person.”
Blue eyes darken like storm clouds as she snaps at me. “I know that.”
Gigi might think that I don’t have eyes in my head, but I’d have to be an idiot not to see what’s been happening over the past few weeks. “Do you? Because you’re also not your sister’s whipping girl. You don’t have to spend the rest of your life putting up with her shit to make things right.”
She tries to pull away, but my grip on her arm stops her. We’re done with running away from the hard conversations.
“You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” she says, glaring at me even as her lip quivers.
“I know that guilt compels us to do a lot of things that aren’t good for us. Whatever messed up stuff is going on your sister’s head is not your burden to bear, especially if she refuses to share anything with you. You’re letting her punish you because you think you deserve it. You don’t.”
When she looks away, I know it’s because she doesn’t want me to see that she’s about to cry. “You don’t understand.”
“I’m probably one of the few people here who does. I brought my only sister halfway across the world because I didn’t want to be alone and I still won’t even tell my friends we’re related. I’ve set up a situation where the only friend she has is the girl with a target on her back. If you don’t think I understand guilt, then you haven’t been paying attention.”
Gigi surprises me by placing a gentle hand on the side of my face, her palm cradling my jaw. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never once heard Felicia complain. She loves her classes and I’ve seen her hanging out with some of the other freshman. She isn’t suffering.”
“Maybe,” I acknowledge. “But if we’re not making mistakes, then we’re not really living.”
I rise from the chair and pull on my clothes. Hazy sunlight is just starting to be visible between the tall buildings, which means I haven’t slept in almost twenty-four hours. When I’m dressed enough not to have security called on us, I hold my hand out to her.
She pulls the key ring off her wrist and holds it out to me with a smirk. “You’re lucky this didn’t get sucked down the pool drain.”
“You’re lucky that I haven’t taken you over my knee and paddled your ass. God knows you’ve earned it.”
“Voyeurism and a punishment kink?” She raises a mocking eyebrow, but dances out of the way when I grab for her. “We’re learning all sorts of things about ourselves tonight.”
“You might regret all this teasing once I’m well rested.”
Her laughs trails after me as I unlock the door and call the elevator. She leans into me as we ride down, probably just as tired as I am. It isn’t a question that both of us will probably sleep until noon.
The elevator doors open on Gigi’s floor.
“Do you smell smoke?”
I’m about to ask her if she came so hard that it gave her a stroke, but then I smell it too. An acrid stench rises in the air, stronger as we step out into the hallway.
“What the hell—”
Before I even finish the sentence, an ear-splitting siren goes off. Fire alarm. It could be from something as minor as a guest falling asleep while smoking a cigarette or as serious as a gas leak in the kitchen that’s about to bring the whole building down around us.
“I need to get Felicia.” I shout over the sound of the siren.
But Gigi has clapped her hands over her ears and can’t hear a word I’m saying. Wild-eyed people are already streaming out of their hotel rooms in various states of undress, though I see more than a few women in pajamas carrying their purses. Fire or not, some things just can’t be left behind.
We have to fight through the crowd to reach the door because everyone else is moving in the opposite direction.
Unlocking the door with my keycard, I ignore Gigi’s askance look. If she thinks that after-hours access to the pool deck is the only illicit perk I managed to get, then she hasn’t been paying attention. She stays on my heels as I charge toward the smaller bedroom.
It’s empty.
“She must have already evacuated,” Gigi shouts over the siren. “We should go.”
I let her pull me out of the room even though I can’t fight a sudden feeling of anxiety.
It’s easy to forget how much you have to lose until something reminds you.
