Page 7 of Wilde About You

"It's actually quite a simple and brilliant plan. See, Charlotte is Team Colin. She even has a picture of you snowboarding on her locker door. She just copied and pasted it from the internet or something."

"Well, Charlotte just scored a few points."

Rio had huffing down to an art. "You're so conceited."

"Well, I have a team, so it's kind of hard not to be. Just how many girls are on Team Colin?"

"At the risk of making your head even bigger, there are six on Team Colin and five on Team Ronan."

"Ha, take that Ro," I said.

"That's only because I had to break the news that RoRo is taken now, so a few of his team jumped shipped and moved to either Team Colin or Team Nate."

"Team Nate, hmm, do I want to ask?" My youngest brother was a budding rock star and had a massive fan club. He'd been top dog since the day he was born.

She clucked her tongue again. "It'll only hurt your feelings. After all, it's Nate."

"Right. I'm getting hungry. A Taco Man burrito is calling my name. What do you want me to do? And no, I won't send a shirtless picture to your little friend, or a text, for that matter. There will be no communication given."

"Duh, I'm not stupid. I just need you to give me a lift to the park. My friend Brenda and I are going roller blading. And if you happen to jump out of the truck to, I don't know, hand me the helmet I left behind or something that would be awesome. Shirt still optional."

"No, it's not optional. Fine. I'll drive you. What time should I pick you up?"

"An hour?" she asked hopefully.

"I guess so. You owe me some blueberry pancakes."

"Yep, I'll make you a whole stack. Oh, and Brenda is Team Colin, too, so she might be kind of ridiculous and giggly on the drive to the park. Just ignore her. And thanks. You're my favorite uncle."

I laughed. "Yeah, I could swear I heard you tell Ro that just the other day."

"Well, today, you're at the top of the list. I've got to get ready. Bye."

I rested back again. Rio's dad, Jameson, was second born. He was always the moodier, quieter Wilde brother. He spent years pining for his best friend's sister. She was dating someone else, and Jameson never considered himself worthy of someone like Indiana Nash. Then Indi just sort of fell back into his life. The chemistry was rough at first until they realized they were always meant to be. Indi became an instant mom to Rio, and my niece adored her. She was exactly the woman Rio needed after her own shitty mom all but abandoned her.

The door opened and Ronan stepped inside.

I laughed. "Tough night? You look like someone chewed you up and spit you out."

"Fuck, have you ever been in the same room with twelve four-year-olds hyped up on cake and punch?"

"Nope and I don't plan to ever find myself in that situation," I told him as he trudged through the room.

"Just wait until you find the one. Your life will turn upside down, too, and I will be there to laugh at you just like you're doing now." His bedroom door closed, and if I knew my brother, and I certainly did, he'd fall face down on the bed and sleep for the next five hours.

I got up from the couch. My knee was feeling better. I was ready for my acting role at the park. Ronan's words crept into my head as I brushed my teeth "wait until you find the one." Just couldn't imagine that ever happening to me but then crazier shit had happened. After all, Zander was in a solid, one-woman relationship. That was really some bonkers shit.

five

. . .

Sadie

Ilooked up from my phone. A text with a skull and crossbones emoji had popped through from an unknown number. I stared at it for a long time. The emoji itself was kind of kid-like, light-hearted and fun looking, like a cartoon, but the meaning couldn't have been more grave. I blocked the unknown number … again, but it seemed I was going to have to ditch my phone. I turned it off and set it down on Gigi's wobbly kitchen table. Noah was a longshoreman, so he was up and out the door before the sun rose. I wondered how he could handle such a taxing, dangerous job after only a few hours' sleep, and it was definitely only a few hours.

I sipped my coffee that was now cold enough to be considered bitter water, but it helped the headache I'd developed overnight. It might have been the clamor of lovemaking in the next room or just the stress of knowing I was being hunted by a heavyweight fighting champ, but I woke up with my temples throbbing and the top of my head ready to split open.

A key wiggled in the door. I jumped to my feet, glanced around and snatched up a mean looking potato peeler. I held it like a sword and my coffee cup like the world's most ineffective shield. The door opened. I sighed and dropped back down onto the chair. The resulting plop made my head throb more. I reached up and rubbed my temples. "I think we're going full migraine here."