8. Mila
Mila
Dear Diary,
Sometimes I hate my brother. I know that’s not a nice thing to say, but he can be such a jerk.
I was in the kitchen talking to Ryker, and I am pretty sure Ryker was going to go in for a kiss, when guess who comes in and tells me to scat and go to my room—like he owns the kitchen or something?
I think he’s jealous because Ryker and I really get on.
He’s such a jerk. And selfish. I don’t know how Parker and I have the same parents.
He’s the spawn of the devil. Maybe his real name is Damien, and he’s the Antichrist come to make my life a misery.
Hopefully, that’s not blasphemy! I would ask Nonno, but he would just tell me I need to go to church with him every weekend.
And while I am a Christian, I really don’t like going to church every week.
I almost feel bad writing that. Like, God might strike me down at any moment for saying that I sometimes find church boring.
Sigh, now I’m going to go with Nonno on Sunday to make up for some of the sins in the post. See what I mean?
Parker ruins everything. Now I’m going to have to see if I can get Ryker in that same position by the fridge again.
Granted, he might have been reaching for a Coke and not in for a kiss, but a girl can wish, right?
XOXO
Mila
“I’m here.” Parker’s voice was loud and brash as he burst into the bedroom.
“Parker?” I groaned as I opened my eyes to my brother’s grinning, handsome face staring down at me.
“The one and only.”
“I was sleeping,” I murmured and rolled over in the bed.
“Don’t be a brat,” he said and ruffled my hair. “Wake up.”
“Parker.” I rolled over and glared up at him. “Stop.”
“Morning, Parker,” Lara said, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Her hair was straight and silky, and her face looked like perfection. I had no idea what was going on, but that was not how Lara normally looked first thing in the morning.
“Hey, Lara.” He nodded and gave her a quick smile before turning back to me. “Mila, get up now. I need to talk to you.”
“Um. I’m still in bed, jerk face.” I rolled over and closed my eyes. “And I’m going back to sleep now.”
“Get up and put your clothes on.” He pulled the duvet off my body. “Meet me in the kitchen in ten minutes. Or I’ll find another way to get you out of bed.”
“You’re so rude,” I huffed as I sat up and glared at him. I felt like Parker was even more insufferable as we got older. Shouldn’t we have been getting closer? Shouldn’t he have been treating me as an adult now and not a kid?
“Ten minutes, Mila,” he said as he walked to the door and then looked back to face me. “We need to talk about your salary,” he said ominously before walking out of the room.
“Why do I have the feeling that talking about my salary doesn’t mean he wants to talk about how much of a pay raise I’m going to get?” I looked at Lara and frowned.
“He didn’t even notice how silky my hair is.” She made a face. “Or the fact that I’m wearing a strawberry milkshake lipstick that makes my lips fuller and shiny.”
“Strawberry milkshake lipstick?” I leaned forward and stared at her lips. “I’m not going to lie, Lara, but even I wouldn’t have known you had on a strawberry milkshake lipstick. How are we supposed to know that?”
“He would have known if he’d kissed me.” She pouted, lay back down on her bed, and sighed. “But he didn’t even look in my direction, let alone kiss me and try to feel me up.”
“No offense, but I’m glad I wasn’t here to witness my brother feeling you up. That’s not really something I want to see.”
“We’d keep it under the covers,” she said, and I could tell from her tone she was grinning. “I promise you that.”
“Why, thanks. That makes me feel better.” I got out of bed. “I’m not showering,” I said and looked through my bag of clothes. “I have no time to shower if he wants me in the kitchen in ten minutes.”
“I wish he wanted me in the kitchen in ten minutes. I wish he were bossing me around.” She sighed. “‘Lara, in the kitchen in ten minutes and no panties.’”
“Ew, you do remember he’s my brother, right?” I groaned as I pulled out my hairbrush and brushed my hair. If I were going to look rough, at least my hair could look good. “Do you want to go lie out by the lake this morning?” I asked her. “I can just put on my bikini.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” She grinned and sat up. “I brought a sexy black bikini that I got at Macy’s last weekend.”
“Macy’s?” I asked, surprised. Lara was a budding fashionista who never shopped at Macy’s.
“Yeah, my grandma sent me a hundred-dollar gift card to use.” She made a face. “I was thinking I could get a pair of heels, but they were all so fugly. So I figured what else can I get? None of their jewelry was cute, but I saw this two-piece and tried it on, and the top was made for my bust.”
“Lucky.” I pulled out the bikini that I’d bought at Target. “I can never find swimsuits that fit me well. My boobs are too big, so I always feel like I’m about to pop out.”
“You’re the lucky one.” She gestured to my boobs. “I’d die to have thirty-four Cs.”
“Um, so would I.” I laughed. “I’m a thirty-eight D.”
“Oh, wow.” She looked surprised.
“And when I say D, I mean double D.” I laughed again and then groaned as I realized I only had about five minutes left to make it to the kitchen before Parker marched back to my room and started acting like some sort of tyrant.
He could be so annoying sometimes, but I knew better than to call him out.
Especially now, and especially about money.
“Close your eyes.” I giggled as I pulled my pajamas off and turned around.
I quickly pulled my bikini top over my breasts and struggled to position the material over my chest. “Argh! This top seemed to be full coverage when I was in the store.”
“It looks hot,” Lara said as she opened her eyes again. “You should be proud to show off your body. Every guy at the lake will be staring at you.”
“Yeah, they will. They’ll be trying to catch a glance of nip.” I finally got the girls in their place. “And nip is dirty, not sexy. Only skanks have their nipples showing.”
“True.” Lara nodded in agreement. “If they can see areola, they are seeing too much.”
“Should I change?” I frowned. “And look at my belly. Ugh, it’s hanging out like I’m pregnant.”
“Mila, please.” Lara rolled her eyes. “You’re far from pregnant.”
“Only because I haven’t had sex in months.”
“That’s true.” She giggled and then stopped when she saw my face. “Seriously, though, you look fine. There are millions of women who wish they had your body.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, and then looked at my watch. “Okay, I’ll be back. I’m sure Parker is in the kitchen waiting for me with a cup of coffee in his hand and a frown on his face.”
“Tell him I love him and want him in my bed tonight,” Lara said as I made my way out of the room.
“Okay,” I joked as I walked through the door.
“Don’t you dare tell him that, Mila,” she shrieked as I closed the door behind me.
The corridor was quiet as I walked toward the kitchen.
I wondered if Barbie and Ryker were up yet.
I also wondered what had gone on last night.
I didn’t think much would have gone on, but Ryker had seemed a bit horny based on his comments.
Oh, my! His comments had kept me up all night.
All I’d been able to think about was him holding me up and sliding into me.
Even as I walked to the kitchen, I could feel the heat in my cheeks.
Oh, what was Ryker doing to me? It was like he knew I’d come here with an agenda, and he was trying to one-up me.
“There you are,” Parker said as I walked into the kitchen. His face was flushed with anger, and I frowned. Why was he flushed? He’d just gotten here. Was he already working himself up to go off on me?
“Morning, Mila,” Ryker said from behind the fridge while he grabbed a carton of milk.
“Morning,” I said, looking back at Parker, whose jaw was tense. “You’re up early.”
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,” he said with a grin.
“You didn’t go to bed early,” I said, and rolled my eyes. “You making coffee?”
“Parker put it on. It’ll be ready in a minute,” Ryker said, and I saw Parker clenching his fists. What had gone on between them?
“So, what do you want, Parker?” I said, walking up to him and glaring. “I thought this was a vacation. I didn’t think I needed to deal with my boss on my vacation.”
“Funny, Mila,” he said, not smiling. “You need to be smarter about how you spend money. I can’t believe you seriously called me and asked me for a raise.”
“I was joking,” I lied.
“No, you weren’t.” He shook his head and sighed. “What’s going on, Mila? Why did you need the money?”
“Do we have to have this conversation in front of Ryker?” I raised my eyebrows and lifted my chin in Ryker’s direction. “I like my private business to stay my business.”
“I’m like family, Mila,” Ryker said as he walked over with a mug and handed it to me. “Parker can say anything in front of me.”
“Exactly!” Parker said loudly. “Remember, you’re like her brother.” He looked over at Ryker, who just walked away.
“Well, he’s not my brother, and I like my business to stay my business.” I made a face. “And I don’t want to ruin my trip by talking about money.”
“You know the business isn’t doing well, Mila,” Parker said gruffly. “We need to be careful.”
“I didn’t know we were doing badly.” I paused. “Are we in trouble, Parker? Like serious trouble?” Why was he acting like the world was going to end? My paycheck wasn’t even that high. Certainly not high enough to be causing this much stress.
“We need to be careful.” Parker nodded. “Things aren’t great right now. Dad is trying to figure out the best plan of action.” He sighed.
“But…?”Maybe this was more serious than I’d thought.
“But Nonno is challenging him.” Parker looked away from me. “Nonno doesn’t like Dad’s plan.”
“What?” I could not believe what I was hearing. “But Nonno lets Dad run the company. He trusts Dad, doesn’t he?”