Maid To Be

t w e l v e

So sue me for being good friends with your friends

And running into you at the place that we met

For being something you can't forget

So sue me ?

**

?? five weeks later ??

It's been well over a month since the incident with Brandon took place, and the Rodriguez household has yet to recover.

Kyle has been spending all of his time down at the office, trying to find another company to partner with since the deal with Richard fell through at the last second.

After he heard that Brandon wasn't cut loose from Richard's company, Kyle pulled the contract off the table and hasn't looked back since.

I would say that he was right to make that decision, but at the moment, I'm not so sure.

He's been a hell of a lot snappier since he cut ties with Richard, and his attitude hasn't been aimed solely at me.

Just yesterday, he nearly flipped the kitchen table over after he received a call saying that one of his star employees quit after three years of working for him.

And then there was the incident that happened this morning, when Julianna offered Kyle a thermos of coffee to take with him to the office. He ended up grabbing the cup from her with an excessive amount of force, leading Julianna to smack him upside the head.

To say that he's been pissy would be an understatement.

All week I've been trying my best to stay out of his way—at least until he's settled down a bit.

"Lilac, honey?"

The sound of Julianna calling my name caused me to lower my hand from its raised position.

"Yes?" I replied loud enough for her to hear me.

"Come and get your lunch!"

I set my rag down on the windowsill with a sigh.

This new safety system that Kyle implemented was beginning to test my limits.

His new rule states that Julianna is now required to watch me eat at least three times a day.

If I don't, she's supposed to report me.

"You need to be physically fit to carry out this job," Kyle lectured me at breakfast the morning after the incident with Brandon occurred. "Otherwise I'll have no choice but to replace you."

Now, I understand that this job requires me to be on my feet and active almost 99% of the day, but forcing Julianna to watch me eat is a bit extreme.

But, then again, this is Kyle that we're talking about.

"What will we be having today?" I asked upon entering the kitchen.

I slid onto one of the barstools and watched from afar as Julianna reached into the oven and produced a steaming pan of what looked to be some sort of pasta.

"Ravioli," she announced with a grin. "A personal favorite of mine."

"You and me both," I laughed.

After setting the pan down on the stovetop, she proceeded to put some pasta on a plate. She then added a piece of sourdough bread on the side before she handed me my food.

"Are you going to eat all of this?" she asked while placing her hands on her hips.

I shot her a dazzling grin. "Yes, ma'am."

Satisfied with my answer, Julianna began to fix her plate, letting loose an unflattering snort after I muttered, "God, I feel like a baby," under my breath.

We ate lunch together as we do on most days, and I found myself opening up to Julianna about my childhood after she inquired about my family.

Once we finished eating, we agreed that we would tackle the dishes now rather than waiting until later.

To make things easier for Julianna, I took on the role of washing, leaving her in charge of drying and putting the dishes away. We completed our tasks in silence since we both became lost in thought the minute we stepped up to the sink.

"What was your husband like?" I was the first one to speak up as this question has been floating around in my mind for the past couple of weeks.

"He was the most compassionate man I've ever met," she said softly, "and there wasn't anything that he wouldn't do for his family."

She paused, taking a moment to clear her throat before she continued. "He used to tell me all the time that he couldn't wait for us to have kids of our own."

My heart sank at her words.

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose your significant other.

The pain and heartbreak that she must've gone through, and is, without a doubt, still going through to this very day.

"We hadn't been married more than six months when he passed."

I looked up from the pot in my hands so that we could make direct eye contact. "I'm so sorry."

Julianna shot me a weak smile as she gently waved me off with the flick of her wrist. "It's a way of life, dear. Although many of us try to outrun it, death eventually catches up with us all—rich folk included."

I reached out to flip on the sink.

"He's the one who taught me how to cook, you know?" she revealed after I passed her the freshly-washed pot.

"I can only imagine what his food must've tasted like then because yours is amazing," I gushed.

Julianna opened her mouth to respond, only to close it after the sound of the doorbell ringing echoed throughout the house.

"You go on ahead," she said, tipping her head in the direction of the archway. "I'll finish up here."

I quickly rinsed and dried my hands before I took off down the hall.

There wasn't anybody on schedule to be here today, which is why a frown settled onto my face as I opened the door.

"Oh my God, Lilac?!" A surprised Kassandra greeted me on the other side of the door, and I was a bit taken aback after she rushed to pull me into a bone-crushing hug.

How is it that, out of all the Rodriguez children, I got stuck working for the least entertaining one?

"It's good to see you too, Kassandra," I laughed, melting into her embrace.

She pulled back from our hug, holding me at arm's length so that she could get a good look at me.

"Please, call me Kass," she insisted cheerfully. "And I just knew you'd be the one to get the job!"

"Really?" There was no mistaking the shock in my voice. "The odds of my getting it truly were slim to none."

Kassandra tossed her head back as a hearty laugh spilled out of her freshly glossed lips.

"Oh, honey," she began, giggling to herself, "if it's one thing I know. . . it's my brother's taste in women."

My eyebrows furrowed together at her comment, but before I could ask her what she meant by it, she turned around to haul the rest of her suitcases inside.

Once all five of her bags were sitting by the door, she shut the barrier using the heel of her stiletto before she placed a perfectly manicured hand on her hip.

"Auntie!" she yelled out unexpectedly.

For a person her size, she's sure got a set of lungs on her. "I hope you didn't forget about me while I was gone!"

Not even a fraction of a second passed before Julianna's response came floating down the hall.

"Is that mon autre moitiée?!" she exclaimed while rushing into the room to join us.

I stepped out of the way so that the two of them could hug, and I tried my best to ignore the wave of emptiness that washed over me.

My mother used to hug me like that. Before shit hit the fan and she turned into a complete stranger.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Julianna breathed after she finally pulled away from her niece.

Kassandra cocked an eyebrow as if to say, "You really don't know?"

"The monthly brunch is tomorrow," she revealed after Julianna proved to draw a blank. "And I figured that I'd sleep over here since it's Kyle's turn to host."

"Shit," Julianna swore. "Today sure is the 23rd."

This time it was my turn to raise a brow. "I'm sorry, tomorrow is the monthly what?"

Kass turned to address me with a smile. "Each month, specifically the fourth Saturday of said month, our family hosts a brunch with all of our closest family and friends."

She laughed at my horrified expression.

"Relax, honey. It won't be nearly as bad as you think it'll be." Her words of reassurance made me nod my head slowly.

Wait.

"You mean I'm invited?" I stammered in disbelief.

Julianna and Kassandra exchanged an amused look.

"Sweetie, you became a part of this family the day you told Kyle where to shove it," Julianna declared with a giggle. "Of course you're invited!"

"Now come on," she ordered gently, "I've got a bottle of wine with our names on it."

"What about your suitcases?" I asked, directing my question towards Kass.

She scoffed, waving the luggage off before she turned to follow her aunt down the hall. "I'll have Kyle and Justin bring them up to my room."

She then paused in place, whipping her head around to look at me as she smiled to herself.

"Ahhh," she sighed in contentment, "the perks of being the oldest."

I shook my head at her antics before I quickly followed after her and Julianna.

??————-　?　————-??

three hours later

"Paris was useless since she broke one of her nails trying to open a can of Diet Coke, so I ended up having to do it all by myself," Kassandra narrated through her fit of laughter.

Julianna choked on her wine that she'd made the mistake of drinking just seconds before Kassandra unveiled the final part of her story.

"So you mean to tell me that you changed a tire all by yourself?" she questioned after she regained her composure.

Kassandra nodded her head proudly as she took a tentative sip of her D'Autrefois Rose de Pinot Noir.

Since I'm not really comfortable with the idea of me drinking just yet, Julianna was kind enough to pour me some Welch's Sparkling Red Grape Juice so that I could still feel included in their mid-afternoon wine session.

"I can't take all of the credit, though," Kass admitted. "The tutorial that I watched on YouTube was very helpful, unlike Paris."

She was currently in the middle of telling us the story of how she and Paris Hilton became stranded on the side of the road in France after they had been on a day-long road trip to visit the countryside of Provence.

My interest lay, not in the fact that she had to change a tire, but in how she'd been road-tripping with Paris Hilton in France.

The immense amount of fame that the Rodriguez family holds truly hasn't hit me yet, and it's crazy to think how an extraordinary thing such as this is just another Wednesday for them.

"Well, next time you see Paris, tell her that I said hello," Julianna insisted. "It's been way too long since I last saw that girl."

Kassandra made a promise to do so before she opened her mouth to say something else, only to be interrupted by the arrival of two very expressive twins.

It's honestly uncanny how much they look alike.

The only difference between them now is that one twin bore the widest smile I've ever seen, while the other wore a frown that puts the late Grumpy Cat to shame.

Kassandra let out a squeal at the sight of her brothers, and I watched as she darted out of her seat to greet them.

"Hi, my loves!" she exclaimed while wrapping them up into a hug.

Justin didn't hesitate to hug her back, whereas Kyle remained frozen in place, his arms hanging loosely at his sides.

Kassandra swiftly pulled away from the two and she wasted zero time calling Kyle out on his standoffish behavior.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Kass, I just talked to you on the phone a couple of hours ago," he muttered, swerving around her to go and stand near the island.

In light of his reply, Kass shot Justin a questioning glance, which he responded to with a swift shake of his head. He then moved over to Julianna, greeting her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Kassandra slowly returned to her seat, and we all gradually became immersed in a conversation while Kyle stood off to the side, scrolling through whatever it was that he was looking at on his phone.

"So, Lilac," Justin remarked with a grin, "did Kass tell you about our family brunch tomorrow?"

Kyle's gaze immediately snapped up from his phone.

"That's tomorrow?" he repeated stupidly.

"Oh, good," Julianna sighed, blowing out a short breath of relief. "He forgot about it too."

Kyle shoved his phone in his pocket before he turned to face us.

"I'm canceling it," he announced without warning.

The rich sound of Kassandra's laughter filled the air, and the noise caused my body to grow tense as it became clear to me that a fight was about to break out between the two of them.

I would know since I used to laugh like that when I was seconds away from treating the fuck out of Tyler.

"You're joking," she finally managed to say.

Kyle pushed off the counter, signaling that he was about to leave the room.

"Does it look like I'm joking, Kassandra?" His tone was icier than the watch he wore around his wrist.

Justin and Julianna spared a glance at one another as Kass jabbed a freshly painted acrylic nail in his direction.

"First of all, watch your tone," she snapped, daring him to try her again. "And second of all, who in the hell is relaying this message over to mother? Because I'll let you know right now that it's sure as hell not going to be me."

"I'll tell her," Kyle bit back with an unwavering amount of sass. "And if she has a problem with it, then I'll gladly remind her whose house this is."

He then spun around on his heel and exited the room without another word.

Silence stretched across the kitchen as Julianna continued to sip her wine while Justin looked to be knee-deep in thought. I, on the other hand, remained quiet for the sole reason that none of this was any of my business.

"Kass . . ." Justin eventually spoke up. "You know he didn't mean it—"

"No." She stood up from her chair, effectively cutting him off. "I'm not going to let him cancel our plans for no good reason. I skipped out on fashion week preparations for this, so you better believe that this brunch is happening."

With that, she stormed out of the kitchen, following in the direction that Kyle had gone.

Julianna ran a finger around the mouth of her wine glass, laughing quietly to herself. "With the way they argue, you'd think that they were the twins."

"Right?" Justin was quick to agree.

"Are you staying the night too?" I asked, finally breaking my silent streak.

He shrugged. "I could."

The hesitation in his voice was clear as day, which is why I decided to bribe him.

"I'll make you cupcakes," I threw in slyly.

His eyes grew wide at my offer.

"Deal," he accepted immediately.

Julianna shook her head at us as she pushed away from the table.

"Children is what you are," she murmured loud enough for us to hear.

Justin and I began to snicker at her apparent disapproval, prompting her to roll her eyes playfully.

"Well, I'm going to get started on dinner, and then I'll leave you all to have your little sleepover," she announced while heading over to the sink.

Justin gazed at his aunt longingly.

"Join us," he pleaded.

Julianna waved him off. "I've got a date with Leonardo DiCaprio tonight, so no, I don't think that I will."

A grin slipped onto my face as I instantly understood what she meant by this. "What movie?"

She shot me a knowing look. "Special screening of his new movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

I tilted my head. "Isn't Brad Pitt in that too?"

She pursed her lips. "Is he?"

I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that he is."

She contemplated my words for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, as I said, I have a date with Leo tonight, so I'll pass."

My mouth fell open at her exceedingly dodgy statement.

"Hey!" I argued. "Brad is cute!"

Julianna frowned, making it clear that she disagreed with me.

"Ehh," she said. "Leo is cuter."

Justin and I both gasped at the same time, and I couldn't stop the laugh that came tumbling out of my mouth at our synchronized response.

"You take that back," he demanded.

My laughter only intensified after Julianna blew him a kiss before uttering the word, "Nope."

Kassandra suddenly re-entered the kitchen with a confused look on her face as she took in the scene before her: Me, dying of laughter, while Justin and Julianna stared each other down from opposite ends of the kitchen.

"What's going on here?"

"Auntie J said that Leo is cuter than Brad," Justin replied without breaking his glare.

Kassandra merely scoffed at his statement. "That's because he is."

Julianna slung her right arm over her niece's shoulder and pulled her close.

"And that's why you're my favorite," she cooed, nuzzling her face into the crook of Kassandra's neck.

Justin sprang up from his chair, gasping dramatically.

"This is how you're going to treat me?" he cried. "After everything that I've done for you?"

Julianna pressed her lips together as she slowly lifted her head from Kass's shoulder.

"You have two seconds to get out of my sight before I drag your ass over here and force you to help me with dinner." She paused, allowing time for her gaze to settle on me. "You, too, Lilac."

Before I could even begin to process her threat, Justin had already looped his arm through mine and was tugging me towards the hallway.

"Nevermind!" he called out over his shoulder. "You're right, just like you always are!"

Together we stumbled down the hall, laughing our heads off.

"Suck up," I teased after we came to a stop in the family room.

Justin let go of my arm and flopped down on the couch.

"Gotta think ahead," he hummed, staring up at me through his ridiculously thick lashes, "with the holidays coming up and all."

I plopped down on the arm of the couch with a frown. "Christmas is four months away."

Justin grabbed a decorative pillow to tuck behind his head, and I watched him struggle for a bit to get comfortable.

"It's never too early to start kissing up, especially when you have a track record like mine," he retorted.

I scoffed at his words.

"You're a Saint," I told him.

A smirk settled onto his face as he arched a brow in amusement. "I'm a sinner and you know it."

I opened my mouth to protest when I suddenly remembered the story that he told me a couple of weeks ago about the trip that he and a few of his friends took to Mexico during their freshman year of college.

"Right," he said after he caught sight of my hesitation, "and the situation that you're thinking of isn't even the tip of the iceberg."

I twisted my body around so that I could nudge his leg with my sock-covered toe. "I don't even want to know what else you've done."

He took pride in my displeasure, leading me to roll my eyes in annoyance.

"Why don't we pick a movie to watch while we wait for dinner," I suggested.

Justin quickly removed his legs from the couch so that I could sit next to him. "Sure, what movie?"

I paused for a minute to think, only to discover that my idea bank had run dry.

"What about a Marvel movie?" he proposed after seeing that I'd managed to come up with absolutely nothing.

I nodded my head in approval. "Infinity War?"

Justin bobbed his head in agreement, which made me happy since Infinity War is my favorite installment in the Avengers series.

"We should probably change clothes before we start," I pointed out after glancing down at our apparel.

I still had on my uniform, and he was still wearing his work attire, which consisted of a pair of slacks and a plain white button-up.

Even though my workday technically wasn't over for another forty-five minutes, I didn't think that Kyle would mind me getting off early since I managed to get a head start on my tasks this morning.

"I'll tell Kass," Justin volunteered before we went our separate ways.

Once I made it to my room, I exchanged my uniform for a pair of light grey joggers and a plain white t-shirt that stopped just a few centimeters above my belly button.

Since Kyle likes to keep this house colder than the Arctic, I decided to grab an off-white cardigan to put on over my shirt before I reached down to grab my gray Dakota moccasins that I bought from the Ugg store a couple of weeks back.

After taking a quick trip to the bathroom, I threw my hair up into a ponytail before I exited my room to head back downstairs.

Justin ended up beating me back down as I walked into the family room to find him stretched out on the couch wearing a plain white t-shirt and a pair of black Nike sweatshorts.

He was scrolling through Instagram and didn't seem to notice me standing over him until Kass bounded into the room with a cylinder-shaped jar in her hand.

She had swapped out her travel clothes for a pair of plain black leggings and a cropped gray sweatshirt that had the word 'Harvard' printed across the front of it.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the jar in her hand.

She shot me a wicked grin. "Face masks."

Justin scrunched his face up at her words, whereas I clapped my hands together excitedly.

"Those are a bitch to take off, Kassandra," he grunted without looking up from his phone.

Kass stuck her tongue out at the back of his head before she ran around to the front of the couch.

"You went through 20 weeks of FBI training," she said dully. "And I'm sure that that was a bitch to go through, but you made it out alive, didn't you?"

Justin simply rolled his eyes at her comment before he shut off his phone and sat up straight so that she could slather the mask on his face. Once she finished with his, she did mine and then did her own.

All in all, we looked like little pink monsters by the time we turned on the TV to start our movie.

"What are we watching?" Kass asked as we settled back into the couch.

I ended up getting placed at the end, which worked out in my favor since it gave me space to curl up against Justin's side.

My reply was brief. "Infinity War."

We only managed to make it a couple of seconds into the movie before Kassandra asked yet another controversial question.

"Okay, who is the finest Chris to you? Because Hemsworth can come and get this pu—"

"Kassandra Alizé," Justin interrupted her sharply. "Would you please shut the hell up?"

When she didn't respond, he muttered a not-so-quiet "thank you," under his breath, causing me to slap his arm playfully.

We made it through five more minutes of the movie before Julianna called us into the kitchen for dinner.

"Oh, you all look adorable!" she exclaimed when she saw our masks.

We still had to keep them on for another ten minutes, so we figured that we'd take them off after we finished eating.

"Here, somebody give me their phone so that I can take a picture," Julianna instructed while wiping her hands off on her apron.

Justin produced his phone from his pocket before he handed it over to his aunt.

She instantly held it up, shouting at us to strike a pose.

Justin threw his arms around mine and Kassandra's shoulders, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that she had raised two of her fingers in the air to form a peace sign, matching my pose directly.

Julianna took three pictures in total before she handed Justin's phone back to him so that we could look at them. Kass and I huddled together so that we could assess the photos since there was a fifty-fifty chance that they came out decent-looking.

In the first picture, Justin had a goofy grin plastered across his face while Kass and I each held up our matching peace signs.

Kassandra's extensive career in modeling meant that she looked effortlessly attractive, while I, on the other hand, looked like a sixteen-year-old girl at her first high school party.

The second picture was similar to the first, only we all had our middle fingers raised in the air since Kass decided to quote Beyoncé, yelling out 'middle fingers up, put them hands high' just seconds before Julianna took the picture.

The last photo was more of a lack than anything as Kass decided to hop on Justin's back at the last second, catching us all off guard. I was bent over laughing while Justin looked taken aback as Kass smiled brightly at the camera, her arms hanging loosely around his neck.

"I love them all, but the second one is my favorite," I confessed.

"Same," Kass agreed before she moved to go and fix her plate. "Send it in the group chat."

Julianna ended up reheating the chicken and rice that she made yesterday, and even though the meal was relatively simple, it still looked delicious.

"Will one of you tell your brother that dinner is ready?" Julianna asked as she began to gather her belongings.

Justin and Kass glanced at each other before they each rushed to raise a finger to their nose.

"Dammit," Justin swore after he raised his finger half a second later than Kass.

He then set his plate down with a sigh before he went off to locate his brother, who was probably tucked away in his office somewhere.

"Well, I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow morning!" Julianna piped up unenthusiastically.

She had finished collecting her things and was now digging around in her purse, searching for her keys.

Kass took a sip of her water before she asked, "What are you making?"

Julianna let out a snort. "The hell if I know."

I swallowed down a laugh at her response.

"I'll figure it out in the morning," she said before she twirled around on her heel to leave. "Don't stay up too late!"

I twiddled my fingers in the air, waving goodbye to her. I then made my way over to the kitchen table to sit down next to Kass.

"Bye, boys!" we heard her call out to them before she left out.

Justin returned with Kyle a few seconds later, and it was safe to say that he looked a lot happier than he did an hour ago.

"Will you be joining us tonight?" Kass questioned after they fixed their plates and joined us at the table.

Without looking up at her, Kyle began to cut his chicken breast into smaller, more bite-sized pieces.

"No," he answered truthfully.

I glanced down at my food, fighting the urge to roll my eyes at his childish behavior.

"Will you at least let me put a face mask on you?" Kass went on to beg. "Your skin is looking a little dry."

Kyle placed a piece of chicken in his mouth and chewed it thoroughly before asking, "If I say yes, will you leave me alone?"

"Yes." Kassandra's response was immediate.

"Fine." Kyle surprised me by agreeing to her request, and I couldn't help but smile as I momentarily pictured him walking around the house with a bright pink face mask on.

Kass's face lit up at his compliance, and we finished off the rest of dinner debating which games we should play after we got through eating.

Kyle disappeared after dinner, claiming that he was going upstairs to change his clothes.

Before he could even stand up from his chair, Kass made him promise that he was coming back as she thought that he was making a last-minute effort to try and ditch us.

After settling the matter and carefully removing our face masks, we each applied some of Kassandra's moisturizer to our faces before Justin took off to go and get the games, and Kass went off to use the bathroom.

I momentarily basked in the silence that filled the air following the siblings' departure since I knew that the next eight hours were about to be crazy loud.

I was in the middle of loading the dishwasher when I suddenly sensed Kyle's presence from across the room.

"You really are killing the vibe, ya know?" I told him without looking up from my task.

"You really are living in my house, ya know?" he quipped before throwing in, "For free."

I pursed my lips, shifting my body back upright.

"Touché," I admitted.

His lack of response forced me to look up, and the first thought that popped into my head was 'holy hell.'

He stood, leaning against the framework of the archway wearing a wife-beater and a pair of black Nike sweatpants. I mentioned earlier that he likes to keep this house colder than the Arctic, but now that I think about it, I've never actually seen him without a long-sleeve shirt on.

Until now, that is.

And, my God, was it a sight to see.

He raised a brow at my dumbfounded expression.

"Problem?"

I blinked, willing the warm feeling in the pit of my stomach to go away.

"Of course not." It took everything within me not to stumble over these three little words as I braced myself against the counter.

Kyle remained frozen in place for a few seconds longer before he pushed off the archway to head over to the refrigerator.

Out of pure habit, my eyes wandered down the underside of his forearm as he reached out to open the refrigerator door. The prominent line of his veins caught my eye underneath the recessed lighting, and the sight caused me to bite the inside of my cheek.

My God, Lilac. Snap out of it.

Kassandra thankfully re-entered the kitchen a few seconds later, and her presence saved me from having to say anything else.

"I'm ready to do your mask, Ky Ky," she beamed before she scrunched up her face at the sight of her brother's attire. "You actually own pants that aren't slacks?"

Kyle kicked the refrigerator door closed with his foot, rolling his eyes as he cracked open the bottle of water that he had pulled off the top shelf.

"Brat," he spat at her.

"Whore," Kass snapped back without missing a beat.

Given the nature of their tones, I thought that they were actually mad at each other, and I would've continued to believe it too had they not ended their fa?ade by cracking a grin at one another.

Kyle took one last sip of his water before he placed it down on the island beside him. He then leaned down so that Kass could reach his face.

Although she had a couple of inches on me in terms of her height, Kass wasn't even close to being as tall as the boys.

That didn't stop her from bossing them around, though.

I continued to put the food away while silently watching the two of them interact out of the corner of my eye.

Maybe if Tyler weren't such a hormonal bitch, we could bond like that.

A scoff escaped my lips at the thought.

Me and Tyler bond?

What a joke.

"What's so funny?" Kass asked.

"Nothing," I lied skillfully. "Are you ready to start on these cupcakes?"

She completed her work half a second later.

"Let's do it."

She finally glanced up from Kyle's face to peer around the kitchen. "Where the hell is Justin?"

Not even a second later, an out-of-breath Justin stumbled into the room, holding on to a red and blue box.

"It took me forever to find this," he huffed while placing the box on the counter.

I shifted my gaze to see that he had grabbed the 5 Second Rule game.

"You messed up by getting this," Kass proclaimed while pointing at each of us. "I'm about to kick all of your asses."

I began to gather the ingredients that I needed to make the cupcakes while Justin opened the box and dumped the various contents that were inside of it out onto the counter.

"To keep this simple, I'll keep tally of how many times each of us messes up, so whoever ends up finishing with the least amount of tallies wins," he said, establishing the rules quickly.

We all agreed, and the round started with Kass going first.

"Name three Ivy League schools," Justin stated before he flipped over the bright yellow timer.

"Princeton, Harvard, Yale," Kass responded in three seconds flat.

Justin handed the stick off to her as she grabbed another card from the pile.

"Name three ways to keep in touch with someone."

"Text, email, and . . ." Justin hesitated before he swiftly said, "social media."

I walked over to preheat the oven, not at all thinking about how I was the next person to go.

"Name three things you pop, Lilac," Justin read off the card before he flipped the timer over.

"Gum, a balloon," I paused, racking my brain for another answer. "Shit, I don't know? Champagne?"

"You just made that," he announced while passing the timer back to Kass.

Kyle was up next, which gave me some time to put the rest of the ingredients into a bowl. Once that was done, I brought out the electric mixer.

"Name three things you can get stabbed with," Kass said to Kyle.

"A knife, a needle, and a pen," Kyle barely even thought through his answers as he listed each one aloud.

The game continued on this way for the next couple of rounds, and soon the cupcake batter was ready to be poured into the muffin cups.

After all of the cups were filled, I began to formulate a plan, and since Justin had his back turned to me, I figured that he would make for an easier target.

I quickly scooped some batter out of the bowl before I snuck up behind him.

"Vin Diesel, the Rock, and Bruce Wil—" Justin had been in the middle of answering a question when I cut him off by smearing cupcake batter onto his cheek.

"You little weasel!" he yelled before he flipped around and grabbed me by my torso.

I let out a scream after he flung me upside down, holding onto me tightly so that I wouldn't slip out of his grip.

"Say sorry," he commanded.

I could feel the blood rushing to my head as a crazed laugh spilled from my lips. "Never!"

Justin let go of me for a fraction of a second, pretending as if he was going to drop me before he fastened his arms around me once more.

"Okay, okay!" I shouted after my life flashed before my eyes. "I'm sorry!"

He turned me right side up with a satisfied grin.

I grabbed onto the edge of the island to ensure that I wouldn't topple over, and I smiled mischievously as I slowly reached behind me to grab my batter-covered spoon.

"That your reflexes are too slow," I suddenly said, adding to my previous statement.

Justin tilted his head in confusion; however, a look of recognition quickly flashed across his face after I raised the batter-covered spoon and flicked it at him.

A blob of the beige-colored batter landed smack dab in the middle of his forehead, and I watched in amusement as he slowly lifted his hand to wipe it off.

"Oh, you are so going to get it!"

I let out a terrified yelp when he suddenly ran full force at me, his 20 weeks of FBI training coming back full circle as he chased me around the kitchen.

Kass cheered us on from the sidelines with her phone raised high in the air, leading me to believe that she was recording us for everyone on her Snapchat to see. Kyle, on the other hand, appeared to be virtually unbothered by our behavior as he stood up to throw his water bottle away.

I decided to try and get Justin back by taking a spoonful of batter and launching it at his face, and my plan would've worked had he not ducked just seconds before it struck him.

Kyle, who was en route to the recycling can, ended up getting hit in the cheek, and he immediately froze in place at the sensation of batter sliding down his face.

Kassandra burst out laughing as she panned her phone around to get him in the shot, but her laugh was soon replaced with a blood-curdling scream after Justin snuck up behind her and dumped the remaining bits of batter on her head.

She instantly set her phone down on the table so that it wouldn't get soaked with the batter that was now dripping from her hair and face.

The expression on her face was murderous, and Justin wasted no time running away from her as he could practically sense the wrath that she was about to unleash on him.

"Justin! I'm going to kill you!" she screeched while taking off after him. "Chris McMillan just fucking did this!"

I quickly stuck the cupcakes in the oven before I grabbed the now-empty bowl and placed it in the sink. The sound of Kassandra's screams floated through the house as Kyle and I stood, snickering to ourselves in the kitchen.

I pulled my cardigan tight against my chest as I watched him wipe away the bit of batter that I had accidentally flung at him.

"You've started a war," he declared smugly.

I shot him a grin. "One that I seem to have won already."

Kyle cocked his head to the side, silently questioning the validity of my statement. He then slowly advanced towards me with a hint of a smirk on his face.

"Oh, yeah?" he challenged.

Before I could even think to ask him what he was doing, Kyle backed me up against the island, caging me in so I couldn't escape.

The familiar scent of his Tom Ford Beau de Jour cologne invaded my senses as I inhaled sharply. He brought his hand up to my face, making me believe for a split second that he was about to caress my cheek, only I quickly came to realize that he had other plans.

Before I could stop him, he smeared the batter that he'd gathered from his cheek down the side of my face.

"Your first mistake?" he began while pulling away from me, "was believing that I wouldn't get you back."

My lips parted open in shock as I watched him retreat to the other side of the room.

"I always come out on top, sweetheart," he enlightened me. "Always."

He then exited the room, leaving me to stare at the spot where he once stood.

An unfamiliar feeling coursed through my veins, and the thought that came along with it did nothing to settle my already raging nerves.

I fell for his stunt, hard.

I was pulled out of my daze after a thump sounded from the living room, followed by the sound of Justin crying out in pain. Kassandra had seemingly caught up with him and was now unleashing her wrath on her more-than-deserving brother.

Since the cupcakes still had around fifteen minutes left, I ran upstairs to take a shower and change into my pajamas.

When I came back down, the oven was a second away from going off, so I quickly went over and grabbed a toothpick to stick down in the center of one of the cupcakes.

The toothpick slid out clean, indicating that they were ready to be taken out, and I promptly pulled the pan out of the oven before reaching over to grab the piping bag from the drawer.

I then got to work frosting the cupcakes with the different flavors of frosting that Julianna's errand runner picked up on his last trip to the grocery store.

I was in the middle of frosting the last cupcake when the siblings rejoined me in the kitchen.

They were freshly showered and ready to continue with the festivities.

I let each of them choose which two cupcakes they wanted before I took two of my own and put the rest on the cake stand that was sitting in the middle of the island. We eventually got to goofing around again as we all stood on different sides of the island, chowing down on our desserts.

"Those were good!" Kass raved after she finished hers off.

"Seriously!" Justin agreed while licking a drop of frosting off the side of his hand. "You should open your own bakery or something."

I smiled shyly. "I love to bake and cook, but it's truly only a hobby of mine. Nothing more."

"Oh, yeah?" Justin asked. His interest lay more in his cupcake than anything else. "Who's your favorite chef?"

"Logan Williams," I replied without hesitating.

Kyle choked on his spit at my response, causing me to glance over at him in concern.

"What?" I questioned.

The siblings shared a look before they averted their gazes so that they were each staring at different areas of the kitchen.

"Nothing," Kass deflected quickly.

Given that I told her that same lie less than an hour ago, I decided to ignore their weird behavior and finish off the rest of my cupcake.

Once everyone was finished, we moved back into the family room and grabbed a crap ton of blankets from inside the ottoman before we all spread out on the couch.

"Thought you weren't joining us tonight?" Kass taunted Kyle from her end of the sofa.

Kyle simply flipped her off before he glanced down at his phone to reply to the text that he had just received.

Justin pressed play on Infinity War since we had completely forgotten about it in light of our cupcake war.

I curled up underneath my blanket, pulling my feet up onto the couch so that I could lie in a fetal position. We were all pretty worn out from our post-dinner activities, so nobody had the energy to comment on the scenes as they flashed across the screen.

I started to float in and out of consciousness two movies later, and I found myself snuggling closer to the person sitting beside me. Justin was snoring softly beside Kyle while Kass lay, curled up beside him with her head resting on his shoulder.

At first, I thought that Kyle was going to push me away from him, but to my surprise, he let me stay where I was. He moved his arm so that my head could rest comfortably on his chest, and the sound of his slow and steady heartbeat thumped in my ear as I shifted closer to him.

My perception of the world was on the brink of being nonexistent when I heard Kyle murmur something in my ear that sounded like, "doux rêves chérie," but I was honestly so tired that I couldn't be too sure.