Page 15 of On the Ropes
“You okay there?” I teased.
“Totally,” she said, drawing out every syllable. Then she cocked her head with a giant big-sister smirk. “I’m sitting here, thinking it’s real clever that Tabitha Tyler believes she can control once-in-a-lifetime, stars-in-your-eyes, soul-mate love.”
I mimicked her expression, trying not to laugh. “Oh yeah? Watch me.”
She started to giggle but then reached for my hand again. “I’m sorry, I’m being a brat. I want you to know that you can talk to me about messy love stuff. Or heart stuff. Or getting hurt stuff. Not ’cause I’m desperate to shove you into a relationship. But those feelings…” She swallowed hard, and my own throat started to tighten. “I understand why you might have them. I have them too.”
This was the closest I’d ever come to blurting out all the things I never shared. The secrets, the shame, the locked-away memories that lurked like that storm cloud on sunny days.
“I want you to feel safe and comfortable and happy. Not just for dating but for your own heart, which is the most important. Although if you ever get married, I’m prepared to be the best maid of honor the world has ever known.”
I covered her hand with mine. “Thank you for saying that. I’m deliriously happy with my life right now. With my career and traveling and having flings with sexy people. But five years from now? I hope I’m married and having a ton of kiddos.”
Alexis brightened. “Cousins for Juliet?”
“Tons. Hundreds, even.”
She leaned across the table and gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “That sounds pretty awesome to me.”
“I got it all figured out up here,” I said, tapping my temple. “You don’t have to worry. I do feel like I need to worry about you. That’s why I texted Eric ten minutes ago to walk you home.”
My brother-in-law appeared just then, strolling up to us with his usual charming smile. “Good evening, ladies. I’m looking for my soul mate—have you seen her? About this tall and so pretty I still get nervous around her?”
I yearned for my camera. I never filmed stories about Philly, my family, or anything too personal. Because moments like this—witnessing the unfiltered, joyful affection on my sister’s face as she admired her husband—were the moments I wanted to document and keep only for myself. A bright spark to tuck away inside my heart, to gaze at when I needed a reminder that true love did exist.
Alexis reached forward and grabbed his hands. “Eric, Tabitha made me do shots. I swear it.”
My jaw dropped. I tossed a napkin at her face. “Made you? You little sneak.”
Her smile changed from simper to mischief. “Okay, it was at least half my idea.”
“Everyone thinks I’m the fun one, but Alexis Tyler is the original real deal.”
“Oh yeah,” Eric said. “We were wild in college, staying up late in the library, getting wasted on coffee and microwave popcorn, working on mock lesson plans.”
He helped my sister stand and tucked her against his side.
“Where’s our brilliant daughter?” she asked.
“Valerie was still up and was happy to keep an eye on her for a few minutes so I could come collect my delightfully inebriated wife,” he said.
“Smart thinking,” she said. Then she blew me a kiss.
“I love you forever,” I said.
“Hard same, sis.” She ducked under Eric’s arm, then turned back to me. “And have fun with whoever you take home.”
I laughed. “Do you think you’re whispering right now?”
She held a finger up to her lips with bright eyes and red cheeks. I watched them walk back down the street with a soft tug in my sternum I had no business having. My time here was set. And homesickness was an old friend of mine while on the road, but I fought it with my family’s nonstop communication. If I was missing my dad, he and Kathleen would hop on a video chat to have virtual dinner with me at a moment’s notice—even if that meant it was late in the evening here.
I had no room to complain. And no reason to ache for this place. Like hot flings and casual sex, it was best not to let myself get in too deep.
Alexis and Eric finally disappeared from my view, and the tug in my chest loosened a little. I opened the camera on my phone and covertly checked my appearance. My eyeliner was smudged from the heat, my cheeks as flushed as my sister’s had been. But my dress was short and I didn’t smell too sweaty, so it would have to do.
I was very briefly home. Newly single. And very much ready to mingle. Talk about the ingredients for a perfect summer fling.
I’d been fifteen when I came out to my sister and told her I was bisexual. A week later, with my permission, she threw me a little coming out party in our backyard, with pizza and cupcakes, for friends and family who wanted to celebrate with me.
