My teeth grind together so hard my jaw aches. “It doesn’t matter.”
“When?”
She knows fucking when. “Twelve years ago.”
“Exactly. And Jade isn’t looking for what you have to offer.”
Funny. She seemed pretty into “what I have to offer” last night. Better keep that to myself, though. “You don’t speak for her.”
“Well, I do now,” Hayley argues. “Because I’m invoking King’s Code.”
What. The. Hell?
In thirty years, I’ve only invoked King’s Code once: when I told Hayley I would disown her if she started dating one of my old high school “friends.” Not because I didn’t want to see her happy, but because Johnny McDonald was a complete and total asshole. The one time he’d visited me in college, he’d shown me pictures of his girlfriend’s tits. That’s right. Hisgirlfriend’s—a girl he claimed to love.
I haven’t been in love in a long-ass time, but there’s no way in hell I would let some other guy see naked photos of the girl I’m sleeping with. And if Johnny dated my baby sister and showed pics of her to anyone else, I would have been obligated to kill him, and then I would have ended up in jail, and our parents would have been devastated, and it would’ve been a whole thing.
That situation had warranted King’s Code.
This one, however, does not.
Ella’s back on the slide, but when she waves at me this time, I can’t even bring myself to lift my arm.
“Did you hear me, Dylan?” Hayley snaps.
“I heard you.” Kinda hard not to when she’s basically shouting.
She grumbles something under her breath and then says, “I’ve gotta go.”
Before I can say goodbye, the line goes dead.
I grip my phone with both hands, somehow resisting the urge to chuck the damn thing across the playground.
King’s fucking Code.
Our family code leaves no wiggle room in situations like this. My sisters have invoked it way more often than I ever have. The purpose has always been to keep each other safe.
This doesn’t feel like Hayley is trying to keep me safe, though—or Jade for that matter. This feels like my sister throwing a tantrum because her best friend wants to play with someone else.
None of it would bother me if Jade wasn’t the only person in this town—apart from my sisters—who I look forward to seeing. That’s not a profession of love by any means, but it’s something. Normally, after spending a few hours with a woman, I’m ready to bolt.
That’s not the case with Jade.
Every time I run into her, I find myself searching for reasons to linger. Like with the photos at the Italian fair and the stupid wood-chopping competition. Even the mud race. After carrying Alex to the medics, I didn’t need to go back and check on Jade. But I did.
I gave up a foursome to confess my deepest, darkest secrets to the woman, for fuck’s sake.
And now, thanks to my sister, I can’t even go near her.
* * *
By the timewe get back to the apartment, Iris is waiting for us outside, only she isn’t watching Ella and me stroll down Main Street. She’s staring up at the Quinn Brothers sign and tapping her lips like she does when she’s lost in thought.
“Mommy!” Ella squeals and launches herself at my sister.
Iris whirls around and gives Ella the biggest smile. “There’s my girl.” She bends down to scoop up her daughter and squeeze her tight. “How was your day with Uncle Pickle?”
“The best. He let me go down the slide backward!”
