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“My movies aren’t shitty,” she grumbles, sitting up in bed and blowing her nose. “And I’m sorry. I thought you needed a vacation.”
“I mean, I did.” I huff, blowing a strand of hair away from my face and sliding into bed to sit next to her. “But then Donovan was there.”
“And?” She raises her brows and this little smirk works its way across her face.
“And what? Did you set that up on purpose?” When she doesn’t respond and that smirk gets bigger, I gasp. “You did. You fucking asshole. When I told you that I didn’t want to see your brother, you told me not to worry. That he was on the other side of the country. He wasn’t, was he?”
“He might have been in California in the spring.”
“Dammit, Nat.”
“I’m sorry.” She turns her head and coughs. It sounds painful and even though I want to be mad, I find myself passing her a bottle of water and pressing the back of my hand to her forehead. “Don’t worry, the fever went away yesterday.” She sinks back down in bed and pulls one of the many blankets to her shoulders. “I thought you and Donovan needed to work out some unfinished business.”
I stiffen next to her, but when I remain silent, she continues.
“Look, I’m not an idiot. I know something happened between you when we were teenagers. You used to have stars in your eyes whenever you looked his way and if you weren’t looking at him, he was looking at you. It was gross. But then one day you both stopped staring at each other. And then you’d practically foam at the mouth whenever I’d mention him.”
“Maybe we did have some unresolved issues, but I’d have rather kept them and him buried.”
“What happened?”
“He’s your brother. I don’t think you want to know.”
“I’m an adult. So you had sex. Was that it?”
I slide down in bed, rest my head on her pillow, and pull the blankets up to my chin too. “No. The idiot made me like him. He was sweet, supported me, encouraged me. His event planner had a family thing, so we wound up planning the entire summer bash together. Then your mom showed up.”
“Oh no. What did she say?”
“She said girls like me are only with guys like him for money. And then proceeded to tell him that the party would be a disaster if I was involved in the planning. I’m not surprised she said any of that, but he just sat there. He didn’t say a single word in my defense. Not a single one.”
Natalie turns to face me, studying me for several minutes before she begins to laugh, which turns into a coughing fit. “You love him.”
“Wait. What?” I shoot up in bed and turn to stare at her.
“You do.” She takes a healthy sip of water and lies back down. “I should’ve known.”
I glare at her, trying to come up with some sort of denial. It’s right there on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to tell her she’s wrong. There’s something about it that makes me feel dirty.
Damn Donovan Fitzroy. He’s definitely making me feel all the things.
I’m momentarily saved when Hudson comes in brandishing a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches. He whispers something to Natalie and hands her the sandwiches with a smile and a pat on the back.
As soon as he leaves, I lean over, resting my head on her shoulder. “Speaking of being in love with people… When are you planning on telling Hudson you’re smitten?”
“Shut up.” Her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink, and she slaps my hand as I reach for a grilled cheese. “That’s different.”
“Sure it is.”
“It is. Now what are you going to do about my brother?”
“Nothing.” I sigh. “Absolutely nothing. He knew I was going to be heading back here this weekend. I just left a day and a half early. We never talked about what would happen when I left, so I assume he had no intention of extending things. We’re not meant to be, Nat. We never were.”
“I love you two, but you’re both idiots.”
“Shut up and turn on a shitty movie. I’m not leaving until you’re all better. Unless you’re ready to tell Hudson that you want him to come and snuggle with you.”
That earns me a pillow to the face, and we dissolve into giggles. She queues up a movie, and it’s not terrible, but before it starts, she turns to me and gives me a sad smile.
