The Sweetest Summer

Chapter Fifty-Five - I Did Something Bad

"Wait, what?!" Collins' voice boomed through the cabin of my new car. I'd only managed to pick her up from LAX five minutes ago, and she was already bugging the shit out of me. I guessed that's what sisters were for. Borrowing your clothes without permission, grating on your nerves, basking in your embarrassments...

"So, he took you to dinner, and then you bought this car, and he still didn't kiss you?!"

I shook my head, merging with traffic toward Collins' new USC apartment in the law district. "Nope." I popped the 'p'. "This sexy car is the only thing I've ridden with Ethan around." I pouted, but still felt invigorated running my hand over the smooth steering wheel of my new stark white, Lamborghini Urus, with the bright red racing seats. The price tag had been astronomical, but I'd never felt like more of a bad bitch driving it. The feeling alone was worth the hefty check.

"Maybe he's really gay?" Collins ventured and I snickered.

"Or maybe he just doesn't like me."

"Impossible." She squeezed my shoulder once. "Everyone loves you. Eli included."

I switched lanes and tried to pretend like I didn't hear her.

"You should've seen his face every time I brought you up. It was like he had his heart ripped out of his chest, and he needed to poop at the same time."

"Gross." I complained, but my own heart ached at the thought of him still hurting...even if it was at his own expense.

"What?! It's true. Plus that new girlfriend of his is the worst..."

"She is?" I tried to feign only mild interest, but Collins knew me too well.

"Oh yeah. Like seriously clingy and annoying. I think Eli's only with her for one thing."

Ouch.

"I mean, he's not really into her." Collins hurried to clarify, but the damage was already done. My own sick mind was imagining all the ways he was bending her into a pretzel around his trailer. I wondered if he fucked her on his kitchen counter too....

I nearly hit a Semi-truck as I exited, barely seeing it before I swerved.

"Shit!" We both screamed simultaneously, and Collins glared daggers into me as we finally made our exit safely.

"Enough about...him. How was your trip?" I tried to steer the conversation back to friendly ground.

"It was amazing." Collins relented. "Leisha's the best girl I've ever met. When A Dangerous Game finishes filming next month she's going to come to L.A. and stay with me for a while, instead of going on their press junket."

"That's nice."

"Which will be for a few months, in case you were wondering."

"What's a few months?" I asked, trying to decipher the GPS. I was terrible with directions, especially in L.A.

"The press junket for the show. Eli will be going to promote his movie internationally for another six months or so afterwards. Which should put him back in L.A. in a year. Give or take. Just in case you were wondering..."

"I wasn't." I muttered, finding my turn onto Collins' street address.

"Suuuure." She rolled her eyes as I looked for a parking space to kick her out of my car. "I know you, sis. You're biding your time, waiting for him to get back. Everything else is just filler at this point."

"That's not true." I pushed the button for the car to parallel park for me, and turned to face my sister. As she got older, we began to look so much more alike. Our full lips, and tanned skin were almost mirror images, not to mention that our hair was now the same long length. The only difference was her cat-like hazel eyes. The ones she'd inherited from our father.