Back to Me without you (Sibling Love Book 1) (11 page)

“I’ll leave you to get dressed,” he said before crossing to the other side of the room where the door was.

Abby had thanked him before he disappeared out of the room.

Unwrapping the comforter from around her body, Abby returned it to the bed. She slipped on her underwear, then her dress. She could do with a shower and brushing her teeth as well, but figured that could wait until she got back to her siblings’ house.

Looking around, she spotted her shoes, picked them up, but opted to go barefoot instead. There was no way she was going to wear three-inch heels so early in the morning. It was bad enough she was trekking home in her clothes from last night.

Abby moved to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face to remove her smeared make-up. She attempted to run her fingers through her tangled hair, combing it to try and smooth it, but she realised she wasn’t going to get anywhere with her hair. Abby then made her way back to the bedroom. She opened the door to the kitchen and living area where she found Sam chowing down a banana and drinking coffee.

He passed her coffee in a to-go cup. “I got you one, too. Thought you might need one after last night’s festivities.”

“Thanks.” Abby took it, taking off the lid to smell the aroma before replacing the lid and sipping it. She liked the smell of a good cup of coffee, especially if it was one she hadn’t made herself. “I should make tracks home now,” she told him.

“I’ll come with you.” There it was. She had expected Sam to say that like he owed it to her to escort her home even though she was strong enough to make it alone. She only had a headache. She wasn’t helpless.

“No, it’s okay. I can take myself home.”

“I’m not following you or anything. I figured you’re able to make it back on your own, but I should come to try to make amends with Justin. He is still my brother. I’d rather not be on the outs with him.”

Abby understood. She would have to make amends with Jessica, too.

As they headed out the door, Abby reminded herself that things always looked brighter in the morning.

She just hoped Jessica was feeling the same way.

Thirty minutes later, the taxi dropped Sam and Abby off outside Steven and Jessica’s place. The drive there had been a peaceful trip except for the random conversations prompted by Sam. He tried to talk about how beautiful the surrounding suburbs of Sydney were. Abby didn’t say much except that she liked living here when she was growing up.

With her shoes still in her hands, she and Sam started up the path leading to the front door. A pretty blonde woman was walking toward them in the opposite direction. Abby figured she spent the night with her brother. Abby looked twice to make sure she saw things right. The woman was wearing a waitress uniform reading the name of the catering company serving at the party last night.

Abby rolled her eyes. It didn’t surprise her that Steven had hooked up with some random woman last night. Nothing he did shocked her anymore. But he could have had the decency not to go home with someone from their sister’s party. Did he only care about adding to his list of conquests?

“Friend of your sister’s?” Sam whispered to Abby.

“More like my brother’s,” Abby replied, walking towards the front door. She didn’t open it just yet. Instead, she turned to Sam. “Do you mind if we keep what happened last night between us? If it got out about what we did, I don’t know how Jessica would react to the news. I don’t want to fight with her.”

“It’s safe with me.” Sam made the motion of zipping his lips.

Abby pushed open the front door. She found Steven stretched out on the lounge in front of the television watching recaps of some football game from the night before.

“Good morning,” Abby proclaimed, greeting her brother first and trying to sound cheerful. She leaned over the lounge, tapping Steven on the cheek in a typical brother, sister banter.

“Morning,” he said, his focus still on the TV screen. “I was wondering when you were about to wake up. It’s not like you to sleep in.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Figures you wouldn’t even notice that I haven’t been home until now. I guess the blonde I saw leaving had you a little distracted all night.”

Steven finally turned his attention toward Abby. “Oh yeah, it was a good evening. Wait, you saw Alex? And you can’t talk if you’re just coming home now. Where have you been all night?”

Abby folded her arms over her dress. But Steven’s sharp gaze took in her apparel and caught Sam standing behind his sister. Abby silently cursed and quickly tried to turn the focus back on him. “So you do know her name. Well, that’s more than you usually know. Congratulations. Maybe this one will be a keeper.”

“What about you? Must have been some crazy night if you’re still wearing the same dress you had on at the engagement party.” He didn’t even mention Abby skipping the party. Hadn’t he been told about how she left early? Maybe he had been too preoccupied with Alex to care what went down between his sisters. It was typical Steven. He always liked to stay out of their arguments, although that was often hard when both of his sisters tried to put him in the middle.

Steven looked at Sam. “Hey, man. It’s Sam, right?” His fist bumped Sam the way he fist bumped all his friends.

“Yeah.” Sam nodded his head. “I don’t think we’ve had a proper chance to say hello to each other.”

“No, we haven’t, but there’s plenty of time for that if you’re going to be hanging out with my sister.” Abby watched the way Steven scrunched up his nose. Did he suspect something was going on between Abby and Sam? This was why Abby didn’t want Sam coming with her this morning.

“Abby!”

“Sam!”

Abby and Sam followed the voices to the stairs where they saw Jessica and Justin descending.

Uh-oh! Abby hoped this wouldn’t lead to an awkward confrontation between them. She didn’t think she could handle another one so early in the morning, especially when she had a headache that could kill someone.

“And she’s just getting home now,” Steven announced, to Abby’s displeasure. He turned back to the television screen, satisfied that he alerted his sister’s shenanigans to his other sister.

Jessica’s eyes widened in surprise as she crossed her arms over the red singlet top she was wearing. It revealed the curves of her body. “Oh? So where did you go after you left our engagement party early? I saw you leave with Sam.”

“Wait—” His sister’s words recaptured Steven’s attention, returning his focus toward Abby. “You left the party early?”

“I did, but I only left because Jessica told me to leave.”

“Well, if you weren’t going to support my engagement then I didn’t want you there. I didn’t think you would leave,” Jessica said with one hand on her hip. “You are my sister. I thought you would have the decency to wear a brave face for me and at least try to understand that I’m happy. You might even end up being happy for me, just like Steven is.”

Abby didn’t say anything. She hadn’t wanted to start something with Jessica when Sam and Justin were still present. While Steven was familiar with Abby and Jessica arguing, Sam and Justin didn’t need to see the two of them bickering.

It was Sam who finally said something. “Can we talk?” he asked his brother, tucking one hand into his jeans and rocking back and forth on his shoes. There was not any better time to make amends with his brother than now, allowing Jessica and Abby the chance to talk.

“Sure,” Justin said. “We can go for some breakfast if you’d like? My treat. I’m starving, and there’s this café that has a great view of the harbour.”

Justin said goodbye to Jessica and then they were off, leaving Abby, Jessica and Steven alone in the house.

With Justin gone, Abby could say what she thought about Jessica’s plans to marry.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “And for the record, I never meant to walk away the way that I did. I didn’t even want Sam to follow me, but he did.”

Jessica crossed through the lounge room, making her way toward the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of orange juice. When she returned, she stood in the archway leaning against the side of the wall and crossing one leg over the other.

“But you did walk away, and you did say things. They were hurtful to me, Abby. You’re my big sister. You’re meant to be there for me and support no matter what.”

Abby watched the way Jessica looked up at the ceiling, fighting back tears. She wanted to be able to embrace her younger sister the way she had when their parents died. She didn’t think Jess would welcome one of those cuddles right now.

“Where did you even go after you left the party last night?” Jessica continued to question her.

“She was with Sam all night,” Steven offered, sending a wink in his older sister’s direction.

“Oh, like you can talk,” Abby retorted. “I saw your lady friend leaving this morning. You had sex with one of the waitresses from the party. And for the record, I didn’t sleep with Sam. I just spent the night in his hotel room because I had too much to drink.”

Jessica looked at her brother with wide eyes. “You slept with the waitress? Couldn’t you at least try to keep it in your pants for one night? Can’t you manage it for one night? Now we can’t use them for the wedding because I suppose you don’t want to see her again. I bet you don’t even remember her name.”

“Her name is Alex. And don’t change the subject. This is not a matter that concerns me. I didn’t say bad things about your wedding despite what I might be thinking. Besides, you can use the same catering service if you want. I don’t care if I see her again. We had a great night, but Alex understands I’m not looking for anything serious. She isn’t either.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Well, this is a first. You remember her name, and you don’t care if you ever see her again.” She turned to Abby, apparently determined to get to the bottom of her sister’s night with Justin’s brother. “Is it true? Did you spend the night with Sam?”

Abby nodded her head, sitting down on the lounge opposite Steven. “I did, but we didn’t sleep together.” She hoped her expression wouldn’t give her away. She hated lying.

“How do you know that if you were drunk?” Jessica asked her. “You couldn’t remember everything that happened last night?”

“I’m not like you and Steven. I wasn’t that drunk. I can remember not sleeping with him.” Another lie, but she didn’t need the drama that would inevitably ensue if she admitted the truth to them. “Besides, it’s nothing more than you’ve both done. Steven is always going out and then coming home at all hours of the night or early morning. He had sex with random women, and I’m sure you had done the same thing before you met Justin and even when you met him. Isn’t sex how you discovered that connection with him?”

Jessica went back into the kitchen, rinsing her empty glass under warm water before putting it in the dish rack. She came back into the lounge room. She breathed in and out, picking a piece of lint off her cut-off denim jeans.

“It’s not like that with Justin and I,” she said. “We haven’t had sex yet.”

“What?” Abby and Steven both said at the same time.

Jessica had stunned her siblings, prompting Steven to ask another question.

“So how do you know you want to marry Justin if you’ve never even had sex?”

“I know it may be hard for you to understand, Steven, but you cannot base a relationship on sex. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Maybe not for you,” Steven muttered. “That’s why you do relationships, and I don’t. Sex works for me.”

“That’s because you’ve never been in an actual relationship with a woman, big brother. But one day you’ll meet a lady you want to be with besides just getting her into bed.”

“How do you know?” Steven asked his sister.

“I know because I’ve never had sex before,” Jessica said,

Abby and Steven stared wide-eyed at her. Then Abby spoke. “I know we have never asked before. I figured it wasn’t any of our business—”

“Despite me wanting to kick all your boyfriend’s asses,” Steven chimed in, “I assumed you’d already done it. You’re out every weekend with your friends. You’re not an introvert or anything like Abby, and even she’s had sex.”

Abby frowned and swatted Steven on the arm. “Thank you, Steven. We’re not talking about my love life. What’s more, I’m not that much of an introvert. I do go out.” Then she turned the conversation back to her sister. “So you’re waiting?”