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“Same old. Just me, my bestie and the boys. You see? So predictable.” She snickers. “But FYI, I don’t have a harem.”
“No?”
“No. Sydney does. And they follow at their own risk.”
Right… “You’re careful, yeah?”
“Always, Mom,” Gigi mutters.
“Augusta Claire. Mind your manners.”
“Using my middle name? Now you’re being plain cruel.”
It’s my turn to snicker.
“Listen…” Something in her voice changes. She clears her throat. “Speaking of Mom… she told me about Ross.”
I freeze, my fingers clenching in the scratchy fabric of the curtain. “What did she say?”
“That he’s been through some bad times. And told you he totally deserves it—which he does, Tati—but that you were concerned and emotional and insisted on talking to him—”
“So what? Why is talking to him such a bad thing? And—emotional? Really?”
“Come on, Tati. You know you are, these days. Nothing wrong with it.”
Right. “It’s not just what Mom told me, you know. He’s been on my mind lately. Remember how Merc got Adam’s real address from Ross and helped us find him?”
“The psycho who kidnapped you? Yeah, I remember. Merc beat it out of Ross, Tati. They didn’t chat. And the reason they were thrown together that time was that Merc went and punched Ross in the first place.”
I wince. “True, okay. But later Merc said they’d been hanging out in jail until they were allowed to leave.”
“Your point being?”
“That… that I want to talk to Merc. Is he there?”
Gigi sighs dramatically. “Seriously now? I call you like the best-ever sister I am to check on you and plead with you on my knees to forget about our half-brother, and you want to talk to Merc? I’m wounded.”
“No, you’re not, Gigi. Put him on. And…” I let the curtain drop, covering the window. “Thank you.”
She laughs. “Love you, sis. Here’s our pain in the ass little brother. Mercury Tyson! Ow.” There’s some more yelling, and something crashes, making me flinch.
“Tati,” he says breathlessly in the phone. “What’s up?”
“What’s going on over there? What just broke?”
“Oh, just… nothing. Don’t worry about it.” He laughs. “Ow. Gigi, stop it.”
I huff, shaking my head. Kids. “How you doing, Merc?”
“Same as I was when you left this morning. Lost in contemplation of life’s mysteries and pro—”
“Merc.”
“Okay, I just came back from classes. Seriously, what’s going on? Gigi said you wanted to talk to me. Are you okay? Is the baby—?”
“Fine, just…” I rub at my forehead and tell myself I shouldn’t get so annoyed that they ask all the time. “Just wanted to ask about that time you were in a jail cell with Ross.”
Silence comes from the other end of the line.
