“You’re managing to renovate a house yourself?”
“I don’t enjoy the disbelief in your tone right now, but no, not really.”
“What have you accomplished?”
“I painted the nursery.”
“Just painted?”
“Nothing else was wrong with it,” she says defensively.
A shrill grinding sound whines out from the speakers, and I wince. “What are you doing?”
Her breath picks up, and it sounds like she’s jogging before the ear-splitting sound comes to a halt. “Sorry, my mixer is on the fritz. I’ve made four dozen cupcakes today, and I’ve had to mix all of them by hand. I’m going to have to carry Terra with one hand because the other is going to be permanently stuck grasping a whisk.”
“I’m sorry,” I say sympathetically. “Sounds like you’re due for a new one.”
“I would, but a decent one is a good chunk of change. I think it’ll have to wait until I’m more established here.”
I resist the urge to click my tongue at her as our mother does. I pull up to a red light and drum my fingers against the steering wheel. Juliet continues about some of the local townies in her area and how different it feels compared to growing up in a big city like Seattle. I try to focus on how happy she sounds, how I haven’t heard that kind of joy in her voice for way too long, but all I can think of is that damn kiss with Summer. How soft her lips were. The little noises she made when I did something she liked. How badly I wanted to lift her in my arms and wrap those toned legs around my waist. The undeniable fact is that I want to do it all again. I want to do even worse things to her than kiss her in an elevator. Preferably, things that are done behind closed doors.
Juliet is still chatting my ear off, completely unaware of my inner turmoil.
“I kissed her,” I blurt out.
My confession is met with dead silence. It goes on for so long that part of me worries Juliet hung up on me before she clears her throat. “I’m sorry, what?”
I take a deep breath that does nothing to calm the nausea roiling in my stomach. “My student, the one I told you about, I kissed her.”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how?” I ask, exasperated.
“I mean, how did it happen?”
“We got stuck in an elevator.”
There’s a beat of silence before my sister bursts into laughter. “I’m sorry, that’s just really poor luck.”
I grit my teeth. “Trust me, I’m aware.”
She sighs. “Oh, Ash, how’d you let that happen?”
“I wasn’t exactly thinking clearly, now was I?”
“Is it going to happen again?” she asks quietly.
“No,” I respond immediately, even though the idea makes my heart plummet. I know it shouldn’t upset me. It was a mistake that never should’ve happened, but damn if it doesn’t disappoint me thinking about the fact that I’ll never feel her lips on mine again.
“What’s her name?” she whispers.
“Does it matter?” I ask, rubbing a hand down my face.
More quiet, and I can imagine Juliet giving me a sad look and shrugging. “I just wanted to give you the option to say her name to someone where it wouldn’t matter.”
“Summer,” I murmur.
“Pretty,” Juliet muses.
