“So talk to him. What’s the big deal? You’ve wanted to know why, here is your opportunity.”

Mekena groaned. “I kissed him last night.”

Avery’s gasp filled the line as Mekena rolled her eyes again. “You little minx! Get it, girl! Did it go down?”

“What in the world? No! I kissed him, and he told me we couldn’t do that because I was drunk,” she said, and the regret still stung a little.

“Of course he did, he wouldn’t do that to you. He didn’t want you to regret it.”

“I know, but I accused him of not wanting me, and then I did this thing where I cried that he didn’t want to fuck me or kiss me. And I asked why I wasn’t enough.”

Her voice trailed off as Avery gasped again. “You didn’t!”

“I did, it was pathetic and, I swear, so dramatic.”

“Ew, that blows balls.”

“Big donkey ones.”

“Agreed, so y’all are talking tonight?”

“Yeah, after the rehearsal.”

“Cool.”

“Though, I don’t know what we could have to talk about. It’s all pretty much in your face what happened.”

“I think you’ll think differently once y’all talk.”

Mekena paused. “Wait, what? You know what he wants to talk to me about?” Avery hissed out a curse, and Mekena waited. “Don’t hold out on me, Sinclair.”

Avery laughed. “Shit, yeah, I do, but I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause I promised Jace.”

“You suck!”

“I know, but really, I think you’ll want to hear it all. From him.”

Shaking her head, Mekena pulled onto her parents’ road. “I asked him what his endgame was. He said whatever I want.”

“So the ball is in your court?”

“Or better yet, the puck is in my zone.”

“Exactly,” Avery laughed. “Do you think you can forgive him?”

“I don’t know,” she said truthfully. “And as pathetic as I sound, I sort of want to. I miss him.”

“I know.”

“Am I dumb for that?”

“I don’t know,” Avery said honestly. “To me, Markus has turned out to be great, but he didn’t do to me what he did to you.”

It worried her. She didn’t want to be that girl who forgave and forgot the actions of a cheating bastard. She had always heard once a cheater, always a cheater, but that didn’t seem right with Markus. Was she blinded by her love for him? Was she that girl?

“I’m scared, Avery,” she whispered, her heart aching in her chest.

“I know, but I guess…just follow your heart.”

“It leads to him, though.”

“Then what else can you do?”

“Run?”

“You’ve done that. God put y’all together this week for a reason. Maybe roll with it?”

Mekena smiled. “Or I could run.”

“Yeah, but do you really want to do that?”

“No,” she answered, knowing she wouldn’t.

“I guess there’s only one option.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” she agreed, pulling into her parents’ drive. She sighed in annoyance because she had to park in the back since everyone else was taking up the rest of the driveway. “But hey, I’m here. I’ll see you later.”

“All right, have fun.”

“Yeah, we’ll see how that goes. Bye,” she said, hanging up and then tucking her phone into her purse after parking the car. She checked her makeup before she got out, taking her purse with her. Her heart was beating a little out of control, and she chalked it up to the fact that she was constantly thinking about Markus. Almost two years had passed, and she had done so well to ignore her wandering thoughts. But now…now, she couldn’t ignore them if she tried. He was front and center, and she didn’t know how to handle that. Reaching for the front door, she opened it and then realized why her heart was beating so hard.

Skylar was there.

As her sister’s eyes met hers, narrowing as a grin pulled at her lips, Mekena had half a mind to turn around and leave. But her mother grabbed her, hugging her tightly.

“Hey, baby.”

“Hey, Mom,” she said tightly, glaring at her sister. “Why is she here?”

“She’s staying here and wanted to join us.”

Mekena gave her mother a dubious look. “I don’t want to be anywhere near her.”

“I know, but we want to talk this out.”

Mekena’s face scrunched up. “What? There is nothing to talk about.”

“Sure, there is,” her mother said as her father filled the dining room doorframe.

“Come on, Kennie. I want this over. I want both my babies in the same room together.”

Skylar looked at her, and all Mekena could do was shake her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” he demanded, bringing her into the kitchen and sitting her in the chair across from Skylar. “This is getting old. We want it like old times, when we could all be in the same room.”

Libby came into the room just as Mekena looked over. “I didn’t know this was the plan,” she said, answering Mekena’s unspoken question as to why the hell she hadn’t warned her.

“You could have sent a text.”

“I did.”

Mekena looked at her phone, and there was a message. Fuck. “Well, great.”

“Please, let’s try,” her father said, sitting down and taking both their hands in his. “Look at each other, you’re sisters.”

Mekena looked over at Skylar, and her sister’s face made her skin crawl. “This is a waste of time. I have nothing to say to her.”

“Well, I have a lot to say to you,” Skylar said, and Mekena’s body went rigid with anger. “I’m sorry, Kennie.”

“Don’t call me that,” she demanded, her eyes in slits. “It’s Mekena to you.”

Skylar glared back, her smile dropping. “I did it for you. I couldn’t have you wasting your life on scum. You have to understand that. He wasn’t good enough for you.”

“What bullshit! If that were the case, then you should have let me find that out myself and not sleep with him yourself.”