“Get your own man meat, Vee!” Amelia slapped her sister’s hand, the one that had already snaked across my chest in a bold move for someone barely legal.
I knew better than to get between Amelia and any of her sisters. I’d done that once, and I’d learned my lesson. Our freshman year of high school, Amelia wanted me to teach her how to ride a skateboard so she could—in her words—be a cool skater girl. Esme heard the commotion, came outside, and asked me to show her too. Amelia, not one to ever share the spotlight, which was an uphill battle with four sisters, told her to take a flying leap. I couldn’t handle the tears in Esme’s eyes, so I promised her I would teach her. Amelia frowned, but didn’t say anything about me going against her wishes. As soon as my back was to her on my skateboard, she shoved me so hard I went flying into her dad’s police cruiser, denting the door. With visions of being handcuffed and taken to jail, I had to go into her house and tell him what I’d done, scared the whole time he’d forbid me from being friends with Amelia. I didn’t tell him it was Amelia’s fault, which was the only reason Amelia forgave me. Pretty sure that was the day the chief began to keep an eye on me like I was trouble. After that incident, I stayed far away from sister arguments.
Vee scoffed, moving away from me with a look that could kill aimed at Amelia. “Fine. Lukas is looking extra yummy tonight. I’ll go find friendlier pastures.” With a huff, she was gone, making a beeline for poor, unsuspecting Lukas. Vee was gorgeous, as were all the Waldo sisters, but she was also crafty. She hid behind a dumb-blonde façade when she was anything but.
“At first, I thought it was pretty cool to have our own wild peacock, but have you seen how much those things poop?” Finnie’s comment caught my attention.
Amelia stiffened next to me, her head popping off my shoulder. “Hey, wait! I think I saw that peacock at Lenora’s wedding!”
“Really, where?” Lenora leaned forward, intrigued that they’d had a peacock guest.
“He was outside, just coming out of the line of trees. He scared the shit out of me when he spread his feathers.”
Everyone laughed, imagining Amelia scared of a peacock.
“You know they’re a symbol of integrity and the beauty we can achieve when we show our true colors. It’s an honor when they fan their tail feathers at you.” Charlie, a new friend of ours, was a woodworker who leaned heavily into the hippie lifestyle.
“I don’t know, that seems like a lot of woo-woo nonsense. No offense, Charlie,” Amelia answered.
“Why do people always do that? They say something offensive and tack on the ‘no offense’ like that makes it all good.” Lucy ripped into Amelia, which had me sitting up straighter. I knew Lucy was just teasing, but it still made me mad.
“People say it when they want to speak the truth, but also care about other people’s feelings,” I added, my jaw tight.
“I actually add the opposite to my sentences. I say ‘offense meant’ and everybody just laughs. You might try going with that one instead.” Bain smirked and I imagined he probably did piss off a lot of people with his penchant for speaking baldly. He could be a grumpy son of a bitch, but everybody loved him.
Rip joined the circle without a word, sitting down on the other side of Amelia. The rest of the crew kept debating the merits of speaking the truth even when it wasn’t received well and also the ethics of pushing out a wild peacock from your land. I shook my head and chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Amelia asked in a low voice meant just for me.
I looked down at her, seeing the ways her face had changed over the years. “When did we get old? We used to sit around this fire and talk about cars, who was dating who, and what pranks we hadn’t gotten caught for yet. Not wildlife conservation and the merits of choosing our words carefully.”
She laughed with me. “I guess things have changed. We’ve changed. Sometimes it happens so slowly we don’t even recognize it until something wakes us up. Which is why I’m glad I started my phoenix tattoo. All that shit with Daire woke me up, and as weird as it is to say, I’m grateful for it.”
The mention of that asshole made my blood boil, but I could see she was over him. Truly and completely. And if that’s what it took to wake her up to how a man should treat her—namely me—then I was begrudgingly grateful too. My Amelia always had a hard head. It took drastic measures to get her to change her mind about something.
I ran my hand up and down her back, happy to have her by my side again. The whole year without her had been torture. She made me come alive in a way I couldn’t replicate without her. I’d tried. Trust me. But it was like I wasn’t a complete human without her. Like the most essential part of me was missing when she was gone.
“I’m happy to have you back, Lia.” It was all I could get past my lips without spilling everything I felt inside. I still planned to make my move tonight, but it wouldn’t be in front of every single one of our friends and all her sisters.
“Speaking of happy, did my picture do the trick to distract you last night?” She nudged me, wisps of dark hair flying around her face in the ocean breeze and making me want to tuck it behind her ear.
A surge of lust so great I almost had to adjust myself coursed through my body. “Um, yeah. That definitely worked.”
She grinned,
