Again At Home (Wildflower #5)

Thirteen Years Ago

SULLY

Only minutes away from beating my brothers’ asses in Monopoly, and the shrill ring of our old doorbell interrupted me.

It was the height of another Minnesota summer, and Mom told us not to answer the door when she was gone at work, not unless Blake was home.

He’d graduated from high school last year, so apparently, that made him responsible, though the number of hair gel bottles he went through said otherwise.

What he actually was was an environmental disaster.

Blake wasn’t home, but I sprang to my feet before Theo or Noah could stop me, scattering Monopoly pieces across the sunroom floor as I raced to the front of the house and peeked out the window.

It was just a girl, by herself.

Well, not just a girl.

She was, without a doubt, the prettiest girl I’d ever seen. Like holy—

“Sully!” Theo called from the sunroom, just as I heard footsteps that I knew were Noah’s.

My pulse ticked, matching the beat of my brother’s march. I scowled. My older brothers always got everything they wanted, and always before me.

But not today.

I whipped open the front door before Noah could get there and then stepped outside, nearly knocking the girl over in the process.

She stumbled back, her brown eyes flashing with surprise, and I mumbled an apology while slamming the door behind me and holding the knob in hopes that I might fend off my brother.

“Hi!”

The short syllable came out breathless and certainly not suave, not how Noah or Theo probably would have said it. But she smiled.

Oh my God, I made her smile.

Or maybe she was just smiling to be polite.

Whatever, it was amazing. Her face lit up in a way that I didn’t know was humanly possible. Like a Christmas tree or a Lite-Brite or a—

“Hi! I’m Eleanor Summers,” she said.

“Eleanor,” I repeated, testing how it felt in my mouth. I didn’t know anyone else named Eleanor.

“Well, Ellie.” A blush appeared on her cheeks. Why did I want to touch it? “I don’t know why I said Eleanor. Everyone calls me Ellie, and—”

“I like Eleanor,” I cut in, too impatient. Fuck, I was always too impatient. “I like Ellie, too, but Eleanor is—” I cleared my throat. “I’m Sullivan Sawyer London.” She cracked a smile, like she knew what I was doing. “Everyone calls me Sully, though.”

I felt a tug on the doorknob, but I leaned forward, taking all my weight with me so Noah couldn’t open the door.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Eleanor’s smile was mind-blowing. “Sully. Or Sullivan. Or Sawyer.”

“No one calls me Sawyer,” I said thoughtfully.

“I like Sawyer.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She nodded resolutely and then pointed across the street, tossing her long, black hair over her shoulder.

“I just moved in, over there. Our moms met at some back-to-school thing, and I guess your mom mentioned you have a sister who goes to the high school I’m starting at?

She thought I should introduce myself. And I—” She shrugged.

“It’s probably weird that I just showed up, but I was…

bored, I suppose. I don’t have any siblings. ”

“I can relate,” I said.

“You can?”

“Oh, yeah. I don’t know why my mom said that to your mom. I’m definitely an only child. No sister, definitely no brothers or—”

“Shut up.” Noah’s laughter filtered through the door. “No, you’re not!”

I heaved a sigh. “Okay, fine, I’m not.” Eleanor giggled. “Unfortunately. But my sister’s at college in the cities today.”

“Oh.”

The girl looked a little crestfallen, and I realized my mistake.

“No, like, she’s still in high school, but she takes college classes in her free time. I’m telling you, she’s, like, really boring.”

Eleanor’s grin reappeared. “Well, if you think she wouldn’t mind taking a freshman under her wing next year, tell her I stopped by. Okay?”

“Sure,” I said and then racked my brain to try to think of anything else I could say to get her to stay.

I wished I were already in high school so I could offer to take her under my wing.

But I wasn’t. And for once in my life, words failed me.

Soon, I was watching her walk away, sticking her hands in the back pockets of her jean shorts.

Damn.

“Would you take a hint?” I grunted, giving my older brother a light shove as I walked back into the house.

Noah threw his head back and laughed. “I take it you’re calling dibs on the new neighbor girl?”

“She’s not some object you can just claim, Noah.”

“Of course not.” Noah nodded along. “Sounds like we’re in the same grade, though. Maybe I should go introduce myself.”

“Maybe you should go fuck off.”

Noah snickered as he walked away, but I didn’t care.

When you’re the youngest kid out of five, you rarely have firsts that the others don’t.

But I met Eleanor Summers first.

I met Eleanor Summers first, and I no longer cared about being last at anything else.