The Hero Next Time: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 4)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Sunny, Summer, 1991

Sunny never predicted Bishan would turn around his using her as a chaperone, when he and Tej were dating, and force him to cover for her when she was doing her own bit of dating in secret.

In fact, he had two secrets to keep. One was that she was taking karate while on campus at UBC, something Mom would never approve of had she known about it. She paid for the lessons herself with the proceeds from her part-time job at McDonald's, so Mom never knew about it because she and Dad never had to pay for it.

The other secret was that she was dating a white boy.

Bishan had met Jordan in her karate class, and the two of them had hit it off immediately, pairing off for sparring, grappling and throwing, and all that bodily contact must have stirred things in Bishan that Sunny chose not to think about, because within months they were already sleeping together.

The only thing he could ask his twenty-year-old sister without dying of embarrassment was, "Are you at least being safe? I did make a promise to protect you when I was five, so I should at least make sure you're protecting yourself."

Bishan, unconcerned with propriety, rolled her eyes and said, "Jordan has condoms. Believe me, the last thing I want is a baby or an STD."

"You're of age, now, if you want to go to the doctor and get a prescription for the pill yourself."

"Are you kidding? And risk Mom and Dad discovering my prescription in my purse?"

It was the same objection Tej raised when he brought it up with her. All he could do was hope and pray that the condoms were protection enough, and if worse came to worse and she got pregnant, then he would do the honourable thing. They were already very close to getting married, anyway. He only had a year of Law School to complete, and then he could go after articling positions. Tej had her Bachelor of Business Administration degree, and she was taking courses to get her real estate agent certification. They discussed marriage often, now; both agreed it was the next logical step. It was important, though, that at least one of them have an income before they start their lives together. Not that they needed to worry about rent or a mortgage; they were living in his parents' house after they married. But they did want to at least feel like grown-ups in a marriage, and not like two kids playing house, like he remembered playing with Rachel when they were kids. It was odd that kids played at being married even before they knew what sex was, and when they grew up it was the reverse.

"I want to meet this Jordan fellow," he said. "Why don't you bring him out with Tej and me, and we can have a double date."

"Ugh. Are you serious?"

"Deadly. Unless you want to bring me on your dates from now on."

Bishan looked suitably horrified and gave in.

They all met at the Milestones restaurant on 4th avenue on the way to the university. It was the place where they were least likely to run into any family.

Sunny never predicted this man was going to be his little sister's first love. He'd never pondered what her type might be, nor would he have ever thought to ask; for all he knew, she might have been attracted to women (her hero worship of Lauren had made him wonder from time to time.) If he had pondered, though, Jordan would not be on his list. They looked like pieces from two different puzzles, but maybe that was just an innate prejudice on his part, or maybe he was just being overprotective as her big brother.

True, he was striking. Tall, brown haired, with eyes of the most haunting blue. If they ever had kids they would be pretty. That was assuming they'd marry, which was not a foregone conclusion if his parents had anything to say about it; they would definitely have to elope if they were going to pull it off. A civil ceremony at City Hall, most likely, with the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scripture, nowhere in sight.