Until Cece (Happily Ever Alpha World)

I nod and squeeze her hand back, sniffling. “Any more questions?”

She shakes her head. “Nah, I think that’s enough for one night. That and I don’t think I need anymore vodka. You neither. Hopefully unloading all this will help you get a good night’s sleep. And I hope we can keep this communication open between us in the future.”

I bite my lip to hide my guilt. There are so many other things I’m keeping from my sister—my feelings for and what I did with Winston, the fact that I’ve maxed out all my credit cards to pay for all the bills so I don’t have to ask anyone for any more help. Hell, she doesn’t even know I’ve filed for divorce yet. How the hell will I explain that Winston put up the cash for it? Why would any boss pay for their employee’s divorce? But even worse would be having to explain we have feelings for each other, and then telling her that he gave me a loan. It’s just a clusterfuck of a situation I don’t feel like hashing out with anyone right now. So that’ll just have to wait.

All I say is “Me too” and leave it at that.

She smiles at me, and then we spend a few minutes finishing off the pancakes. Mia grabs a bottled water out of the fridge to take to the couch with her, claiming she’s going to watch an episode of Ancient Aliens, while I stand at the counter downing a couple glasses of water before cleaning up our mess. When I go to bed, I do feel a sense of relief for having talked to my sister about my past, getting to vent about Mike. But a weight still lies heavy on my shoulders knowing I’ll have to spill a lot more in the very near future, seeing as Mike is getting served with papers tomorrow.

That thought would’ve normally kept me up all night with a sense of impending doom, but with the vodka easing through my veins, my eyes grow heavy and I fall right to sleep.

14

Cece

Something exciting happened today. Aside from it being a rare day off, in which I spent the morning and afternoon catching up on school work and even getting ahead on some assignments, there was a gentleman caller for my sister at our house.

While I woke up pretty bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for once, Mia was hungover as hell. She attempted to get up this morning, but she looked like death warmed over, so I sent her back to bed and called her boss, Ken, letting him know she was sick and wouldn’t be in today.

Not long after, there was a knock at the front door, and lo and behold one of the most good-looking men I’d ever seen stood on my porch. He was handsome, rugged, covered in tattoos, but still, he didn’t do it for me the way Winston does. Which is a good thing, because he turned out to be Talon Mayson, the man my sister totally had the hots for but was still trying to play it cool.

He brought her food and got her out of bed, and when Ruby and I went to pick the big girls up from their first practice for the school play they both got parts in, the last thing I saw was Talon and Mia getting her dogs Mercury and Retro ready to go on a walk.

Now, hours later, after putting the girls to bed, I signal for Mia to follow me back downstairs. I know she’s probably ready for bed after we binge-watched several episodes of The Goldbergs, but that’s too bad. I want some girl time with my sister after seeing her get all gooey over Talon.

We reach the kitchen, and she takes a seat at the island while I go to the cabinet to grab two cups and fill them both with water from the fridge. After our drinking party for two last night, water is the only thing I feel like swallowing at the moment. The mere thought of more alcohol makes me vomitty.

“So… Talon.” I grin, leaning against the counter across from her and placing the cups between us. She buries her face in her hands, and my grin widens. “I know you told me how hot he was, but I so did not believe you.” She lifts her head at that. “I mean, he even gives my boss Winston a run for his money, and that’s really only because his name is Winston, and no man who looks like him should be named Winston.” My chest fills with heat at the thought of him and what we did, my belly immediately erupting with butterflies, even though there’s a shadow of remorse hanging overhead after finding out he’s married.

“You think Winston is hot?” The shock in her voice lets me know I’ve done a damn good job thus far not letting on to my secret infatuation with my boss. Good, then there’s no way she’d be able to tell I almost slept with him. I can still take that fuck-up to the grave.