I heard him sigh. “Pregnancy is a hard thing.”
I chuckled, “You don’t say.”
“I’m serious. All her mood swings affect me and I don’t know what it is, but I can’t stand anyone looking at her when she is pregnant with my child—”
“You’ve been reading too many fantasy romances—”
I could hear him grin when he replied, “Maybe. Zayed asked me to try one and I’m stuck now.” Zayed was the Sheikh of Azmia and his good friend. “Anyway, how was the date?”
“Date?” I pinched the bridge of my nose and remembered how last night went when I had arrived in San Diego. The expensive wine, dessert and a hotel room. “It went well, I suppose. A one-night stand. But it doesn’t matter, I need to tell you something—”
“Was it that bad?” He asked from the other line, something shuffling.
“Hayden,” I said and he knew it was serious when I said his name. I turned off the stove and leaned back on the island. “I am at your house and you won’t believe who showed up at the door.”
“Addison in a trench coat?”
Hearing the name of my ex made me lose my appetite. If she had appeared like that, which she would never have, I would have locked the door on her face.
“She would never do that.” I sighed. “It was your sister with a suitcase. She was crying. I believe something happened with her bo—”
“Is she okay? Should I come back—wait, let me check the ticket—”
“Hayden, she is twenty-one. She can take care of herself… and I am here, too.”
He didn’t reply for a few moments. I held my breath.
“Yes, I trust you, of course,” he sighed. I clenched my hand in a fist. Another reason for hating myself to even have a hint of attraction towards his sister. “I will see if I can come back, but I need you to talk to her, Aiden.”
“Of course, I will talk with her—”
“No, Aiden,” he paused. “I meant, as a therapist.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know how it was when mom left. Whenweleft. She hasn’t been herself since she went to university. With Zara here, she lost her close best friend, and I have been trying to talk to her, see her, but I need your help. If you can, I want you to talk to her, give her a few therapy sessions. If not you, someone else.”
I knew what he meant. Her mom had divorced her father and left. Her father couldn’t cope up with the sudden loss and ignored both of his children. Hayden was a senior in high school, but Ivy was barely six years old and had no one. They both had tried to bond with each other, but she never had a parent figure in her life and it may have affected her.
I clenched the phone in my hand and said, “I will take care of her. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“Thank you. I will call Ivy tonight. See you soon.”
“You too,” I replied, ending the call. Staring at the cooked spaghetti, I let out a sigh, raking my hand through my hair.
His phone call was a living reminder that I should not think about—
“Did you cook this for me?”
Ivy was wearing the same fucking hoodie that I had given her on her prom night.It’s not going to lick itself, it said in bold white letters. I wondered if she knew what it meant. Hayden would punch me if he knew I had given that hoodie to his sister. His little sister, who was wearing just the hoodie, the hem reaching her creamy thighs.
I licked my lips, turning my back to her, and tried hard not to wonder if she was wearing anything underneath that hoodie.
“You should eat it before it gets cold,” I said, serving the hot spaghetti in red sauce. I kept the plate on the table and pulled out a chair for her, motioning her to sit, my nose filling with the sweet floral scent of her shampoo.
“Who were you talking to?” She asked, twirling the fork around the pasta and eating it. “Was it Hayden?”
I told her about his call, about Zara and how he would call her soon and that she should stay in the house for a while until the university classes start again and she has to go back to dorm. After asking about her business school, I brought up the main point I wanted to discuss with her.