The Twisted Life Of Julien Rose (Blackmail Book 2)

Moments

I knock lightly on Riley's door after breakfast.

"Come on in!"

I open the door, finding her sitting on her bed. Cory is downstairs with Emerson, showing her some new doll she got.

"Can I ask you a question, Riley?"

She turns her head slightly, cocking her head.

"Yeah. Come on in."

I close the door behind me, lowering myself to Cory's bed.

"We're close as sisters, right?"

She thinks about it for a minute before shrugging.

"Yeah. I guess we were until you cut off all contact with us."

She's blunt. She got that from my dad's side alright. Thanks Delilah.

"I'm sorry for that. I shouldn't have cut off contact with you guys. But I'm here now, and I was wondering if you would like to reconnect again."

"Sure. Can I go first?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

She catches me off guard.

"Why would you ask that?"

"I overheard you on the phone the other night saying something about an ex-girlfriend."

"That answers your question, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, but what happened?"

Nosey, nosey, nosey.

"We just, weren't connecting anymore, so I broke it off."

She nods, absorbing the information. I fire the question back at her, altering it slightly.

"How about you. Got any special girls or guys in mind?"

She blushes furiously, avoiding eye contact as a little smile spreads across her face.

"There is this one boy..."

"Oooo. What's his name?"

She laughs at my childish behavior.

"His name is Xavier."

"Xavier."

I wiggle my eyebrows, making her laugh.

"Tell me more about this Xavier."

"Well, he's in my class and he's really smart. He's got this light brown hair and these dreamy eyes that just make me feel so..."

"Weird?"

"Yeah. Weird."

We both laugh and she stares off into space.

"Sounds like you have your first crush."

"Oh. He's not my first crush. He is my first boyfriend though."

"What?!"

Her words genuinely shock me. She has a huge smile on her face, her finger pressed against her lips.

"Sh! Mom doesn't know yet."

"Since when?"

"Two years ago."

"Two years!?"

She nods and I shake my head in disbelief. Why didn't she tell me about this before I left for college?

"You guys haven't done the dirty yet, have you?"

She cringes at my terminology.

"No. The most we've done is kissed once or twice."

I give her the classic, 'I don't believe you', look. She rolls her eyes, giving in.

"Don't tell Mom."

I make a cross over my heart.

"I won't tell her. Cross my heart."

"Okay, we've come close once but we didn't do anything!"

I bite my lip, amused with my sister's behavior but disappointed at the same time.

"Whatever you do, just be open with Mom. She'll support you and your choices."

"You're referring to Xavier being my boyfriend, not the whole dirty thing, right?"

"To a degree. She'll be fine with the boyfriend thing, but she might not like to hear that her 15 year old daughter almost lost it to a boyfriend she didn't even know of."

"Julien! Riley! Grandma is getting ready to leave!"

I give her a pat on the shoulder before exiting her room and heading downstairs.