Page 58 of Secrets on Ice

“Us too,” Issy adds.

“And us, but maybe in six months.” Harper laughs.

“What have you done?” I ask my sister.

She just smiles at me as she continues the tour with the boys.

By eleven, the party has shaken out its first wave. Felix took Harper home hours ago, one hand on her back like she might tip over, while she told him the whole way to the elevator that she's pregnant, not made of glass. Pierre and Issy lasted until ten before disappearing with the excuse that they’re still jet-lagged from their honeymoon. And Fish and Collette just left, too, since they're flying up to Maine tomorrow to start setting up for the wedding, though not before Fish gave one more toast, this time to himself, and Collette dragged him out the door mid-sentence.

Which leaves the diehards. Somebody handed Cassidy control of the music an hour ago, a decision we will all pay for, and now the three girls are dancing in the middle of my living room. Cassidy is teaching Jo some routine from a music video that came out when we were in high school, Jo is taking it seriously, and Ember is between them with a cocktail in one hand, barefoot on the expensive rug, singing every word with total confidence. And out of nowhere, I'm seventeen again. Standing in the hallway at Mom and Dad's on my way to the kitchen, stopped dead outside Cassidy's bedroom door because the two of them were in there doing this exact routine. They were having a sleepover, the music was way too loud, and they were using hairbrushes for microphones. I must have stood there a full minute admiring Em before Cass spotted me and threw a pillow at my head.

The memory sucker-punches me. Weird, I haven't thought about that in years.

The boys are lined up along the kitchen island like spectators at practice. Emmett, Bouch, Evan, and Nelly are watching the show with their beers, and it's Bouch who makes the mistake of saying it out loud.

"Your sisters are fun."

"Very fun," Nelly agrees.

Emmett sets his beer down on the island with a clink that has a lot of authority in it. "Let's have a conversation."

Oh shit.

Emmett points his finger at three of them, one at a time. "My sister is off-limits. Whatever thought was forming behind your eyes just now, unform it," he warns.

"And the one currently teaching your girlfriend choreography is mine," I add. "Same rules, do not touch. They have both been through enough.”

"Nobody was thinking anything," Bouch protests.

"You're always thinking something," I tell him.

"They just got out of marriages," Emmett says, and his voice drops out of captain mode into something quieter. "They came here to start over, not to get tangled up with anyone in this room. Everyone clear?"

"Crystal,” Evan says.

"Clear." Bouch nods.

“No touching, got it,” Nelly adds. “I have a question though …” Emmett and I glare at our goalie. "I was only going to ask if they'd help with my apartment," Nelly asks, looking afraid. “My family will be coming over at Christmas for the first time and I … I would like my home to look nice.”

"That's allowed," I tell him as the girls are looking for work.

He gives me a smile.

Across the room, the song changes, and Ember throws her head back and laughs at something Cassidy says, and in that moment, something stirs in me.

Now is not the time.

It's almost one by the time I see everyone out. When I turn around, the girls have disappeared, and the apartment is silent for the first time all night. I grab a garbage bag and do a lap. Bottles, napkins, a plate of something that used to be dip. One of the girls kicked a heel under the coffee table. I collect the glasses, load the dishwasher, and wipe down the island. Nelly's candle is still burning on the mantel, and I blow it out. He was right, everybody does like vanilla. I straighten the rug, put the couch cushions back, and turn the lamps off one by one until the living room goes dark around me.

I’m exhausted, and I head down the hallway to bed, but when I push open my door, I freeze.

What the fuck?!

Ember is asleep in my bed, on top of the covers, still in her dress, star fished diagonally across the whole mattress. Her hair is everywhere, and she is snoring, very quietly. What is she doing in my bedroom? I’m confused.

"Em." I keep my voice low. "You're in the wrong room."

Nothing.