Sinclair’s standing beside her car, trailing her fingers up Denver’s tie with a flirty smile as he watches her with a serious expression.
“Thanks for offering to give us a ride,” Jude says, causing Sinclair to break Denver’s intense eye contact.
“You’re welcome.” My sister grins. “Lenny wanted an outing.”
My eyes flick to her white crystal-coated car and I bite back my smile. It’s totally her. Completely impractical.But her.
“I thought you said it just came out of the workshop?” I say, frowning at a scrape above the rear wheel where a slash of crystals has been destroyed.
Denver’s eyes flick in my direction but Sinclair pulls his face to hers and kisses him.
“Princess,” he growls softly, keeping his face close to hers. “There’s another one?”
“Slade means that tiny bump you saw already. It’s all good, Brute.” She pats his chest and throws him a wide smile.
He presses his lips together, his jaw tightening.
She kisses him again. “Love you,” she whispers against his mouth.
He exhales and his shoulders loosen. He catches me watching him and shakes his head, his jaw softening. He knows as well as I do, my baby sister has him wrapped around her pinkie.
And the dude loves it.
My father was totally onto something with them both.
Jude and I climb into the rear seat and Denver waits for Sinclair to slide into the driver’s side before closing her door and striding around to get in the passenger seat.
My sister’s two dogs scrabble from the far side of the rear seat and into Jude’s lap, both vying for space. She laughs and strokes them both before Monty chooses to sit on me instead.
“It’s ‘cause you’re where he likes to sit,” Sinclair explains. “He likes to see out of the window or he gets sick.”
Monty stares at me, then licks my face.
“Hold it in, Bro. Please,” I say, rubbing him behind his tufted ear.
Sinclair pulls out into the traffic without checking her mirror and a car horn blares angrily behind us.
“Oops.” She turns to her side window and waves to a guy that’s cut around us. “Sorry,” she says, even though he can’t hear her. She gives him a little wave and the guy rolls down his window to get a better look at her, his face splitting into a grin.
“No problem, Sinclair,” he calls, driving past.
“People are so friendly here. I don’t get the whole ‘driving in Manhattan is stressful’.”
She looks at Denver and he tightens his grip on her thigh. “Course not, Princess. Eyes on the road now, though.”
“But you’re so handsome it’s hard not to look.” She wrinkles her nose at him, trying to be cute as she teases him.
Whatever look he has on his face, she giggles and turns her attention back to the road ahead.
“You’re going to have a great time tonight,” she says, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “Jude’s picked well.”
“Has she?” I turn to Jude, loving the way she’s smiling at my sister. The two of them and Tate have been hanging out more. I thought it would have taken ages to get to this, if we ever did. But once the truth came out, it’s like we’ve all finally been able to breathe again.
And now all everyone wants is some normality. And happiness.
We just want to live.
“Sin and Tate helped arrange it,” Jude says, reaching for my hand with her free one, still stroking Mabel, the younger of my sister’s dogs, with the other.
