Stella: Because you’re hurting for sisters?
Me: Sane sisters, yes. I am hurting for those.
Emery: Whatever. We all know Ally isn’t interested in you. You’re a big ole loser.
Stella: And you play Dungeons & Dragons. No girl wants a man like that. That’s probably why Jasmine was sleeping with a girl.
Dad: Girls, really? Be nice. Good to have you home, son. See you soon. Love you.
Me: Stella, you will die alone with your makeup. And Emery, you better hope Mom and Dad save up enough money to sell you to someone so he can deal with you. Love you too, Mom and Dad.
Aiden: Damn, are y’all on your periods? Welcome home, bro. Sorry I didn’t answer. Busy. See you soon.
Right after that text, Stella and Emery each send me the middle finger emoji, and I snicker as I tuck my phone into my pocket.
“My sisters are on a whole other level.”
Ally meets my gaze and rolls her eyes. “What else is new? Did I tell you that Stella was at Maxim’s house when Posey showed up?”
For the love of Pete. It’s always been Posey, Ally, and me. We were the group out of all the Assassins kids that hung out the most. Posey is the daughter of the famous Shea Adler, the legendary hockey defensemen, and she’s also Ally’s cousin in a chosen kind of way. Her sister, Shelli, is engaged to Aiden. Posey, we love her—though, again, I feel my girl best friends have the worst taste in dudes. She chased after this fuckface that didn’t love her and got her heart broken when he told her so. I’ll give it to her; it was the kind of thing she’d never do, chasing a guy like that, but I wish it had been a guy who would be good to her. Stella being there… Yeah, I’d expect that. The guys love her, and she loves the attention.
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Yup, Stella was there, and apparently they had been in a relationship for a while, she and Maxim.”
I never liked Maxim. He was the billet boy for the Adlers and acted like he couldn’t speak English, but I think he could. He would fake like he couldn’t to get girls into bed. I played Call of Duty with him once, and he cussed really well in English. He isn’t even that good of a hockey player. Not sure what Stella saw in him. She wants that hard-core, badass kind of player.
She tiptoes that line of puck bunny real close, but she actually knows the game.
“Really?”
“It was bad. I thought Posey would hate Stella, but I guess they patched things up. Stella broke up with Maxim when she found out he was stringing Posey along too, so that was cool of her.”
“My sister is a good girl. She just doesn’t have any impulse contr
ol.”
“Well, in her defense, she does have ADHD.”
I nod. “This is true. Impulse control isn’t a part of her chemical makeup.”
“Nope, and I’m just glad that she doesn’t suffer from anxiety or depression because ADHD can cause—”
“My brain hurts. I don’t want to talk about my sister’s ADHD.” I meet her grin. She’s a damn genius, Ally is, and the things she wants to do in the sports psychology field are downright amazing, but my sister is the last thing I want to talk about. “I know you’re all super smart, and that class, the one about chemical makeup and how it’s not just genetics that plays into who you are, tickles your pickle, but I’m exhausted and hungry.”
She laughs. “Aw, you listen when I talk.”
I scoff. “Like you give me the option not to.”
“True,” she agrees, and then she says, “Truth?”
“Truth.”
“You sure?”
“Hit me with it.”
She smiles with guilt swirling in her green depths. “I don’t want to eat at Brooks House.”