Page 126 of The Daddy’s Girl

“You’re lucky you got an ounce of her time. She’s very busy, you know.” Phoenix rolls her eyes, popping a pink chewy candy into her mouth. She must be pretty tipsy because I’ve never seen her open up like this before.

“When was the last time you saw her?” I ask.

“Saw her?” she asks with astonishment. “Last Christmas, I think. She’s off, traipsing the world for her perfect Instagram page, with her perfect boyfriend, for her perfect followers.”

Oh no. I’ve struck a nerve.

Looking back down at my phone, I click on Austin’s profile and scroll through. And Phoenix is right. The feed is stunning, and Austin is stunning.

But my throat burns because the idea of not speaking to Julian makes me want to bawl. I couldn’t do it. Siblings are like soulmates, someone born into the same family, the same world. Shared memories and childhoods.

Sure, he drives me nuts and we used to fight like animals when we were little, but he’s a part of me I couldn’t replace.

My gaze lifts slowly to Phoenix. “Are you close to Weston?”

Struck by the question, she turns toward me. “Yeah, a little, I guess. He’s always so busy too, though. Always working or dating or hanging out with his friends.” At that, she gestures to me, and I feel a twinge of guilt for never inviting her.

Phoenix really has made herself the outsider, and I never noticed it until now.

“Did something happen between you and Austin?”

She tosses the bag of candy on the table and drapes herself across the couch with her head on the armrest and her feet toward me.

For a while, she doesn’t say anything, and I worry I’ve gone too deep and she’s about to cry. I’ll feel like a jerk if that’s the case. Instead, she gets a wistful look on her face.

“Before I came out here, we were inseparable. Me, her, and Liam. Just the three of us. Even when they started dating and I had to watch them making out all the time.” She screws up her face in disgust. “But then…” Her voice drifts off, and I wait for her to explain. Instead, she shrugs. “We haven’t been the same since.”

“That’s not your fault,” I say, tilting my head.

“I know. She started building her brand online and went off to see the world, but when she stopped talking to me, I knew I must have messed up. Because I left, I guess. But how can she be mad at me for following my dreams when that’s exactly what she’s doing?”

Getting quiet, I rest my head against the back of the couch and think about Matis. It’s not quite the same, but if he takes this club in London, will a part of me resent him for that? Will a part of him resent me if I ask him to stay?

How do we follow our own dreams and protect the ones we love at the same time?

I love myself as much as I love Matis.

When I glance up at Phoenix again, I notice her eyes are closed and the empty bottle in her hand is about to fall to the floor. Standing up, I grab the bottle and place it on the table. Then I pull the blanket from behind the couch and drape it over her legs.

As I quietly let myself out of Phoenix’s apartment, I order a car to pick me up, since I know my parents and Matis worry about me alone in the city at night.

While I wait to be picked up, I think about Phoenix and how everything I thought I knew about her was wrong. And I think about how she came to Paris, mostly alone, leaving behind the people she loved most.

Now look at her. She’s sitting alone in her apartment, wishing things were different.

Pulling open my phone, I call Matis. He answers after only one ring.

“Bonsoir, mon trésor,” he mumbles into the phone. He sounds tired.

“I’m getting a car and going home,” I say quietly.

“Good girl. The Métro isn’t safe alone at this time of night.”

“I know,” I reply even though I hate that he’s right. “Have you given thought to the club in London?”

He pauses a moment. “Amelia, I don’t know.”

“But…you want it.”