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‘Have I told you lately that I love you?”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Nope.”
“Well I do.” As soon as he glanced at the sandwich his stomach gurgled. Kirsten was right; he hadn’t been able to manage anything on the plane. “Thank you for all you’ve done,” he said, putting his mug down to give his sister a hug. “I know Riley will be thankful, too.”
“She’s not in a good way right now.” Kirsten nodded at the door to her living room. “Maybe we should talk in there.” She picked up his sandwich and her own coffee, and he followed her in, sitting down on a cozy chair.
“Take a bite,” she said, pointing at the sandwich. “That way I can talk without you interrupting me all the time.”
“I don’t interrupt.”
She gave him a pointed look. “You just did.”
If she’d been fifteen years younger she’d have stuck her tongue out at him the way she used to. Strange to think how grown up she was now. The age difference between them didn’t seem so important any more. At one point he’d felt more like her father than her brother, thanks to their parents’ messy divorce when Kirsten was seventeen, but now she was a friend more than anything. Somebody he could rely on when life got tough.
“Okay, I won’t interrupt again, I promise.” If she wanted to talk, he’d let her talk.
As soon as he took a bite Kirsten leaned forward. “There’s this guy she’s fallen for at school. His name’s Leo. And apparently she spent the whole trip to LA thinking he was going to ask her out on a date.”
Nate opened his mouth, but she lifted her finger up to quieten him. “Okay, so her friend offers to go and talk to him. Laura I think her name is. So yesterday, after they’ve had their dinner and they’re given some free time, this Laura heads for Leo’s room and leaves Riley on her own in her hotel room. For two hours.” Kirsten raised an eyebrow. “So of course Riley goes looking for her. And when she finds them, this Laura and Leo are kissing like crazy in the recreation room. And Riley’s standing there devastated because pretty much the only friend she has in her new school has betrayed her with the boy she likes.”
Nate sighed. “Not a great friend.”
“Nope. So Riley’s really upset and doesn’t know what to do and tries to call – what’s her name, Ally?”
“Yeah.”
“But Ally doesn’t answer. And there’s no way Riley’s going to sleep in the room she’s sharing with Laura because she’s way too upset to even look at her. She goes to her teacher to ask for help, but the teacher tells her she can’t swap rooms and to be an adult about things.” Kirsten winced. “Great teacher.”
“I guess I’ll be talking to the school, too.”
“Yeah, well this teacher also happened to have her car stolen by your daughter, so I wouldn’t be too angry about it.”
Nate swallowed. “The car’s been returned to her. Unharmed. And the teacher will be recompensed for the inconvenience. I even had the gas topped off.”
Kirsten caught his eye. She was biting her lip. Any minute now she looked as though she was going to burst into laughter. “Riley really messed up this time, didn’t she?”
“She’s going to be grounded for the rest of her life. And possibly after that.”
“The poor kid. Life really sucks for her at the moment.”
“She can join the club.” Nate let his head fall back onto the stuffed armchair, closing his eyes to try and calm himself down. Like Kirsten, he felt the strange need to laugh. Possibly because what he really wanted to do was cry.
“I haven’t got to the best part yet,” Kirsten said. Nate lifted his head to look at her. “You know, the piece where she gets home and finds her dad in bed with some smoking hot blonde who’s been staying with them.” This time she really did laugh. “Oh Nate, you’ve been a bad, bad boy.”
He closed his eyes, trying to block out the regret that was churning in his stomach. “Shut up.”
“Is it serious between the two of you?”
He opened his eyes, taking in Kirsten’s gentle concern. He had no plans to get into this conversation right now. Especially with his sister. “I don’t know. We were having some fun while Riley was away.”
“Not so much fun now though, I bet?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“I thought you were done with relationships after Stephanie. I never thought you’d be back to sowing your wild oats so soon.”
A sudden tiredness washed over him, making every muscle in his body ache. “You know what? I think I might take a nap, too. I’ve been awake since two-thirty this morning.” He stood and stretched his arms, as if to underscore the fact he wasn’t just attempting to evade her questions. Though if he was honest, that was a pretty big reason to close his eyes. “Can I hit your bed for an hour?”
