I could ignore it, let it go to voicemail, and text her later with some excuse. But Audrey’s the persistent type, and she’d just keep calling until I answered. Plus, she’s my sister. Even if things are complicated with Marshall right now, I don’t want to hurt her feelings.
I wipe my palm on my pants, take a deep breath, and hit accept.
“Hey, Peanut,” I say as her face appears on the screen.
“G!” Her smile is wide, freckles more prominent across her nose from the summer sun. Her hair is twisted up in a messy bun, a few strands falling around her face. At sixteen, she’s growing out of her awkward phase but still has that teenage lankiness that makes her look like a colt finding its legs. “How’s Italy?”
I swallow, forcing myself to smile. “It’s good. I’ve mostly been working, though.”
“But you’re not stuck at the house all day, are you? You’ve got to be getting out sometimes.”
“Yeah. Marshall and I went into Como a few nights ago.” The words are out before I can think better of them, and the memory of that night flashes through my mind.
“Ugh, I love Como. Please tell me you got gelato.”
“We didn’t, but I promise I’ll take you, and we’ll stuff our faces.”
“Yay! Sounds awesome. How’s Marshall, by the way? Dad says he’s working on the garden.”
My throat tightens. “He’s… good. The garden’s coming along.”
“I bet he’s got an awesome tan by now. He always gets so dark when he’s outside all day.”
I choke a little. “Yeah. He’s pretty tan.” He’s also got callused hands and a hard-on that could cut glass, and he tasted like salt and skin when I went down on him. I clear my throat. “What’s new with you? Did you get your learner’s permit?”
Audrey rolls her eyes dramatically. “Yes, but Dad won’t let me drive the Range Rover. It’s so unfair.”
“He said you backed into a mailbox.”
“One mailbox,” she says, holding up a finger. “One time. And it wasn’t even a nice mailbox. It was all rusty.”
I laugh despite myself. “Good luck persuading Dad to let you take his favorite car again.”
“I’ll just have to buy my own,” she says with the casual confidence of someone who’s never had to worry about money. Not that I blame her for that. It’s how we were all raised.
“How’s your summer job going? The ice cream shop, right?”
“It’s going,” she says, dropping the dramatics for a moment. “I made a hundred and twelve dollars in tips today. The other girls were so jealous.”
I smile. It’s not about the money. Our family has plenty of that. It’s the principle. Dad and Claire are big on Audrey learning to make her own way, to understand the value of work and money, even if she’ll never actually need to worry about either. It’s a lesson I appreciate now, even if I rolled my eyes at it when I was her age.
“That’s awesome, Peanut. What are you going to buy with all that cash?”
“I’m saving up for the Italy trip,” she says, her face lighting up again. “I can’t wait to come there. It’s going to be so cool to have both my brothers together for a family vacation. We haven’t all been in the same place for, like, forever.”
The words stop me cold. Both her brothers. A family vacation. The reality of what I’ve been doing comes back, worse than before. What have I done? Marshall is my stepbrother. We share Audrey. Our parents are married. This isn’t just crossing a line. It’s obliterating it.
I’m so caught up in the spiral of my thoughts that I miss Audrey’s next question. Her face is expectant on the screen, waiting for my response to whatever she just said.
“Sorry, what?”
She rolls her eyes again, but she’s smiling. “I said, where’s Marshall? I want to say hi to him too.”
My heart sinks.
“He’s… around. Probably in his room or something.”
“Go find him!” Audrey says. “I want to see you both.”
