Page 29 of Hold You Close
“Not much to say. My mom and dad are dead. I’m living in Uncle Ian’s funhouse, which is what Mom called it, and I just wish I could go back in time.”
That one sentence holds so much weight. “You know you’re not alone, right? I’m here, your uncle is here, and we love you.”
Looking at Morgan hurts a little. We used to joke that she was her mother’s clone. They have the same eyes, hair color, and the dimple on her chin. More than that, she sees the world the way her mother did.
She scoots over on the bed, and I lie down next to her.
“I just wish things were different.”
“I know, and I wish I could go back in time and change it for you.” There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to ease her pain.
“It sucks.”
It really does. “It’ll get better, honey. Day by day, hour by hour, we’ll all get through it.”
“Do you promise?” she asks.
I take her hand in mine, and I swear I’m sixteen again.
* * *
“Why do you even like my brother?” Sabrina asks.
“Umm, because he’s cute.”
Seriously, everyone likes Ian. He’s funny, hot, and really smart. He’s the total package, but more than that, he looks at me like I’m special. I know I’m his little sister’s annoying best friend, but when she’s not around, I’m just London. Can’t he see that?
“He’s gross.”
“Maybe to you.” To my sixteen-year-old self, he’s perfect.
Sabrina flops down on the pillow and turns toward me. “Promise me,” she says, then stops.
“Promise you what?”
“Promise you’ll always be my best friend. Even if he’s a jerkface and is mean.”
I roll over and wait for her to laugh, but she doesn’t. “You’re serious?”
She nods. “Do you promise?”
I don’t know why she thinks anything would ever happen. Ian likes girls who are pretty, skinny, and don’t have braces on. I’m definitely not his type. He’s with Jamie Hardgrave who is the captain of the cheerleading squad, homecoming queen, and pretty much every teenage boy’s fantasy. “I promise because I will never be with Ian.”
Sabrina rolls back over. “I bet you one day he’ll try to date you and then you’ll be all, ‘oh Ian . . .’” She clutches her chest. “I love you, Ian, even if you’re an idiot.”
I nearly choke on my laughter. “You’re so stupid.”
“I’m serious, London. Watch.”
She says that like it’s a bad thing, when it’s everything I want. “Whatever.”
“You’re my best friend in the world,” Sabrina says.
“And you’re mine.”
“At least if you guys get married, we’d be sisters.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t get ahead of yourself! It’s never going to happen, anyway. He’s going to marry Jamie and have two kids and a dog.”
