“What?No.God, no. I never would have done that to Ryle.” I’m a little offended by her question, but then again I’m not. Ryle’s reaction would naturally make anyone question what led to that kind of reaction.
Allysa’s eyes are swimming in puzzlement. “I still don’t get it. If you weren’t actively cheating on him with the guy, why does Ryle hate him?”
I release an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve asked myself that a million times, Allysa.”
She makes an annoyed face only siblings could reservefor each other. “I never wanted to ask because I thought you were ashamed that you cheated on my brother and just didn’t want to tell me.”
“I haven’t even kissed Atlas since I was sixteen. Ryle just couldn’t handle that my past sometimes crept into my present, in an absolutely platonic way.”
“Wait. You haven’t kissed Atlas since you were sixteen?” She latched on to the absolute wrong point of this conversation. “Not even on your date last week?”
“We’re taking it slow. And that’s fine by me. The slower we take things, the more time it gives me before I have to break it to your brother.”
“I think you should just rip off the Band-Aid.” She points at my phone on the counter. “Text Ryle right now and tell him you’re dating Atlas. He’ll get over it; he doesn’t have a choice.”
“This is something I need to tell him in person.”
“You’re too considerate.”
“You’re too naïve. If you think Ryle is going toget over it, you don’t know your brother very well.”
“I’ve never claimed to.” Allysa sighs and drops her chin into her hand. “Marshall told me he told you I cheated on him.”
I am so glad she’s changing the subject. “Yeah, that was a shock.”
“Drunken mistake. I was nineteen; nothing counts before you turn twenty-one.”
I laugh. “Is that right?”
“Yep.” She hops on the counter and starts swinging her legs. “Tell me more about Atlas. Tell me like I’m your best friend and not your ex-husband’s sister.”
And we’re back to this conversation. That was a quick break. “You sure this isn’t awkward for you?”
“Why, because Ryle is my brother? No, not awkward at all. He should have been nicer to you, and then you wouldn’t have to date Greek gods.” She wiggles her eyebrows with a grin. “So, what’s he like? He seems mysterious.”
“He’s not, really. Not to me.” I can feel the smile wanting to spread across my face, so I let it. “He’s so easy to talk to. And he’s kind. He’sMarshallkind, but not as outgoing. He’s more reserved. He works a lot, and I have Emmy all the time, so it’s been hard to make time for anything together. Plus, he just found out he has a little brother this week, so his life is kind of chaotic right now. Texts and phone calls are our primary source of communication, so that sucks.”
“Is that why you keep checking your phone?”
I can feel my cheeks warm when she says that. I hate that she’s noticed. I’ve tried my best to be inconspicuous with this. I don’t want anyone to know how often Atlas and I text, or how often Ithinkabout texting him, or how often I thinkabouthim.
Maybe I’m scared to talk about it with Allysa because I don’t want to allow myself to be happy about Atlas until I know Ryle isn’t going to be furious over Atlas.
I receive a text right in the middle of that thought, and it takes everything in me to fight my smile when I look at my phone and read it.
“Is that him?” Allysa asks.
I nod.
“What’s he saying?”
“He asked me if I want him to bring me lunch.”
“Yes,” Allysa says emphatically. “Tell him you’re starving, and so is your friend.”
I laugh and then reply to Atlas with,Could you bring lunch for two today? My coworker gets jealous when you bring me food.
He immediately replies with,Be there in an hour.