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“Oh, by the way,” he says calmly, “we’re meeting my sister and her husband here.”
I stop dead in my tracks.
“Your sister?”Like his flesh and blood, the only person from his childhood that he still keeps in his life? The person who probably knows the most about him. I gasp and look down, suddenly insecure about my outfit. Faux leather leggings and a grey wrap sweater seemed fine until a makeshift ‘meet the parents’ was thrown at me. My hair, is it too flat? And then there is my personality. “If I knew I was meeting your sister, I probably would have—”
“Would have what? You look beautiful, as always.”
“I don’t know. Planned better? I want to make a good impression on her. Lord knows she will compare me to the hundreds of other women you’ve been with.”
He chuckles as he opens the door for me, placing one hand on my lower back and ushering me ahead. Right before I cross in front of him, he leans down and whispers, “Actually, you’re the first girl she’s ever met.”
My mouth drops open. I stare up at him, stressed to the max. And he laughs, loving every second of my stress.
“Come on, baby. It’s showtime.”
Ryan takes my hand and leads me through the boisterous crowd to a couple sitting at one of the back tables. The girl, who I’m assuming is his sister, isn’t what I expected at all. She’s short, probably my height, curvy with blonde hair that’s almost platinum. A sleeve of tattoos peeks out of her short-sleeve peplum top and she exudes cool. She is a stark contrast to Ryan who’s tall and dark, but they have the same beautiful brown eyes.
She lets out a squeal and springs out of her seat.“My sweet baby brother!” She gives Ryan a tight hug, her head barely meeting his shoulder.
“Hey, Cor.” He gives a quick pat on the back, and when she doesn’t let go, he grips her arms and tries to push her away. “Alright, alright, you can let me go now.” Ryan’s words sound stern, but I can hear through his grumpiness and how much he loves her. “Hey, Brad.” He reaches to shake the hand of his brother-in-law.
He doesn’t even have time to introduce me before his sister drags me in for a hug.“Lainey, right? I’m Corey.” Definitely friendly, not nearly as guarded as Ryan.“You havenoidea how psyched I am for this. Thatfinallythere is a girl cool enough to melt my brother’s ice-cold heart.”
Ryan rolls his eyes, and I can’t help but laugh. I love her already.
“My little brother, all grown up.” She taps the side of Ryan’s cheek with her hand.
“Knock it off, Corey.”
“You knock it off! You’re thirty-six, pushing thirty-seven, and ain’t getting any younger. I need nieces and nephews, damn it.”
“Jesus Christ.” Ryan rubs his hand over his jaw. I squeeze his hand and lean into him, unable to stop my laughing at this whole situation. He needs her to force him to relax now and then.
“I love seeing someone give him a run for his money,” I say to Corey. “He’s known around work for his attitude, but I see he’s met his match in you.”
“Oh, hell yeah. Lainey, you come sit right here next to me.” She sits down and taps the empty chair next to hers. “Tell me everything.”
Ryan takes off his coat and rolls up the sleeves of his dress shirt. “I’ll go get us some drinks.” Brad takes that opportunity to escape us girls and joins him.
I settle in with Corey. “How often do you visit Chicago? Ryan said you live in Florida?”
“Yup, Ft. Lauderdale. We try to come up every two months to see my mom.”
“Oh?” I raise a brow at her comment. “He mentioned you still keep in touch with her, I didn’t know you saw her that often.”
“So, he’s talked about her?” Her brown eyes gleam. “That’s a big step for him.”
“She’s come up, and he told me a little bit about how things were when you guys were younger. But he said he doesn’t see her, even though she’s still in the city.”
“Yeah …” She sighs, reaching for her straw to stir the ice in her empty glass. “He holds grudges like no other. What we went through sucked, but you can forgive and salvage the relationshipwithout having to change how you feel about it, you know? He needs to man up.”
Even though Corey is his sister and has known him her entire life as opposed to the few months I have, a protective instinct comes over me when she says she needs to man up.
“He told me a little about that night, about what happened … I think it traumatized him more than he lets on.” I avert my eyes, watching Ryan and his brother-in-law gather the drinks from the bar as they turn back toward our table.
“Did he say he’s traumatized from it?” Corey blinks slowly as if she never considered the fact that maybe he saw more than she did. That maybe him physically being in the middle of their fight is an image he can’t shake.
“Not in those words, but he carries a lot of anger inside, and he holds tight to that.”
