Page 5 of Tripped Up

The two of us on one team? The league wouldn’t survive it. It’s bad enough we’re in the same division.

As much as I regret volunteering to take her car shopping, I know Bex wants me to look out for her, and the last thing either of us wants is for her to be swindled by some smooth-talking car salesman. She’s too sweet, too pure. She doesn’t see the bad in anyone.

Except me.

As I pull up outside her apartment building, Elsy and Bex are waiting at the curb with a small suitcase. I pop the trunk and Bex stows her luggage before getting into the back seat.

“Are you expecting me to chauffeur you around?” I tease my sister as Elsy gets in the front.

“I get carsick,” the blond beauty says. Her voice is quiet, but cold. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all. Do you need a bag?”

The smell of jasmine tickles my nose when she shakes her head. Instantly, it takes me back to that night, her scent on my pillow comforting me long after she was gone.

“I brought my own. I’m usually fine as long as I sit in the front and don’t read or play on my phone.”

“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” I increase the air conditioning on her side of the car. The cool air always helps when I’m feeling nauseous.

And fuck, the mere sight of her in my front seat makes me queasy. She’s wearing a simple blue sundress that flutters around her thighs. A hint of white lace peeks out before she settles her dress around her.

Is she wearing a garter? Fuck. Elsy wearing nothing but garters and little lace panties… My cock throbs and I cough to clear my throat.

No. It wouldn’t be that. Her legs are bare. She’s not wearing stockings for the garters to hook to. And it’s much too low on her legs to be her panties. So what is it?

The glimpse of lace taunts me as we drive across town to the airport. The late-September humidity slams into me when I step out of the car to grab Bex’s suitcase and give my sister a hug.

“Take care of yourself,” I tell her gruffly, swallowing down any emotion.

She laughs and rolls her eyes. “I’m almost thirty. I’m a grown fucking adult.”

“Yeah, well, you’re still my baby sister.”

Bex pokes me in the ribs, which makes me twitch.

“Stop it,” I hiss, batting her hand away. She knows all my ticklish spots and abuses them frequently.

“Take care of Elsy,” she says. “She could use some support right now.”

With a nod, I glance over my shoulder at the woman who has my dick in a chokehold. “I will.”

“And hey,” she whispers. “Maybe she’ll warm up to you.”

“Go get on your plane, Rebecca Lynn,” I tell her, playfully shoving her.

She doesn’t go inside the airport, though. She turns to Elsy and wraps her in a hug, whispering in her ear.

Elsy’s mouth is pinched into a frown, her eyes downcast as Bex talks to her. As she nods, her blond ponytail sways in the wind. My sister says something that makes her giggle and Elsy wipes at her eyes.

“I’m going to miss you,” Elsy says.

“I’ll come visit whenever I can,” Bex promises. “And we’ll FaceTime, like, all the time. You’ll barely even miss me.”

Elsy’s lip trembles. It takes everything in me not to shove my sister aside and wrap her into a hug until she never wants to cry again. I hate that she’s hurting. And I hate that my trying to comfort her will only make her feel worse.

“I don’t want you to go,” she whispers, her voice raw. “Everyone leaves. I⁠—”

Bex curses under her breath and hugs her again. “Oh, sweetie.”