30. Luke
CHAPTER 30
Luke
Leaning on the doorjamb, my focus immediately goes to the two giant suitcases and the duffel bag Gigi is desperately trying to zip shut. “Gi, you do know we have a washing machine at home, right?” I tease, trying to hide my smirk under my baseball cap.
“I know, I know,” she answers, finally succeeding with the zipper. Gigi paces around the room, packing her things one by one inside her backpack. “But I haven’t been back in a while, and I don’t like half of these clothes anymore. I might just leave them at home.” She opens one of her suitcases and pulls out a few T-shirts with prints on them. “I thought about selling them online or throwing them away, but I thought maybe Becca might want them. She’s still too small for them now, but maybe in a year or two, you know?”
Chuckling, I bounce myself off the door and help her refold the shirts. “You’re rambling.”
“I’m sorry,” she says, grimacing. “I do that sometimes.”
“You haven’t done it in a while.” Giving her a kiss on the head, I pull her closer by the waist, trying to remember the last time she was like this—a ball of excited energy. This used to be her standard setting. It still was when she arrived on campus a year ago.
“Are you annoyed?” There is uncertainty infused in her tone.
Old me, the one who didn’t spend every waking second thinking about this girl, would answer yes to this question without hesitation. Gigi was everything I wasn’t. A part of me wonders now whether I was just jealous of her, that she was so carefree because life hadn’t dealt her a bad hand.
“Don’t be stupid,” I tell her the truth. “You never annoy me.”
We both laugh. Life is funny like that. One day I hate her for invading my life, the next she has me wrapped around her pinky finger. Aside from Becca, nobody has had this much control over me. Thinking of Becca makes me remember how much I loathed her when she was born. Maybe I have a pattern.
“Let me pee, and then we can go.” Gigi lets go of me and I use the time to check my phone. One message from Kai, one message from a group chat with all of the scholarship recipients courtesy of the Daedalus Foundation, and one more from Dad.
Dad
Bianca told me you and Gigi are coming home today. I’ll be back Sunday next week. Doing a Highlights of the Midwest Tour right now.
Most days, I still don’t know what to say to him. He seems to be sober, from the limited interactions I have when I’m home. Even if I wanted to and went back to Kinsdale Springs more often, I still would not see a lot of Dad. Not that I want to. I’ve seen more of him than other sons have their fathers. I’ve seen him telling me everything was my fault, I’ve seen him buck naked covered in his own puke, and I’ve seen him sobbing to a picture of his dead wife.
Ok. See you then.
He’s always out driving multi-day tours now that Becca is older and he has Bianca. At least according to Becca, he’s good to her. That’s enough for me not to cut him out completely out of my life.
“You ready?” Gigi’s voice has me lifting my head up.
“Of course.”
“How are we going to play this?” Gigi asks me, half an hour into the drive.
“Play what?”
“Breaking the news.”
“I haven’t really thought about it.” There’s no YouTube video teaching you how to tell your family that you’re dating your stepsister. “My dad isn’t home, though. Do you think we should wait until he’s back?”
“When will he be back?”
“Sunday next week.”
“That’s kind of perfect,” Gigi says. “Maybe we can tell Andrew’s parents first.”
It’s not a bad idea, to be honest. Knowing Bianca and my dad, I don’t think they will care so much that we’re together. Bianca might be a loose cannon on this one, but Dad won’t give a shit. Besides, my aunt and uncle’s stamp of approval is more important to me than the two of them. They have been there ever since my mom died. Aunt Judith went to more PTA meetings for me and Becca than Dad ever did when I was still living at home.
Taking her hand in mine, I feel the coat of wetness on her palm. “You nervous?”
“Yeah, I am,” she admits. “I think you’re a little crazy to think everything will work out for us so easily.”
I feel my back go rigid at her words. “Hey, Gi. If you’re having second thoughts and you don’t want to do this?—”
“Oh, shut up.” She doesn’t let me finish. “I love being with you. You know I’m all in. I just hope for your sake everything will work out fine.” She loves being with you . She’s all in . Her words cause a ripple of heat to buzz through my core. This must be what it feels like. To not be someone’s second choice.
When I see the sign Kinsdale Springs on the side of the road, I say a silent prayer. But not to God, I haven’t done that in years.
Hey, Andrew, if you can listen to me, ask the big man to make sure everything goes smoothly, yeah? I’ll forgive you for leaving if you do this for me.