Don’t.
She presses her lips together, then nods.
Melissa pretends not to notice, but she does. I can feel it. Instead of panic, relief settles into my chest.
Relief.
Which, in a backward way, is terrifying because this was never the plan.
And standing here, watching my sister laugh with the woman wearing my shirt in my kitchen on a Sunday morning, I realize the truth I’ve been avoiding.
Not only am I straying from the original plan.
I might already be lost.
Aubrey laughs at something Melissa said, bright and unfiltered, and for a moment, I’m watching a reality I didn’t build.
Melissa is leaning against my kitchen island like she belongs there. My sister is across from her with her elbows on the marble, talking with that effortless warmth she can summon, even when she was furious with me two minutes earlier.
Aubrey has always been able to do that—pull people in. Shecan make them feel safe, make them forget they were guarded in the first place.
Melissa is letting herself be pulled in.
“So,” Aubrey says, pivoting with the ease of someone who’s learned how to navigate land mines, “you two work together?”
Melissa nods. “Same floor. Same department.”
Aubrey’s brows lift. “That sounds … intense.”
“It is,” Melissa says with a small laugh. “But it’s also kind of perfect for me.”
“Perfect how?” Aubrey asks.
Melissa glances down at her mug, then back up. “It’s … meaningful. I wanted to be somewhere that mattered.”
My skin heats up.
Aubrey’s expression softens immediately. “That’s … really admirable.”
Melissa smiles, appreciative but careful. Like she’s deciding how much she wants to say in front of my sister. “It’s been good. Hard. But good.”
Aubrey turns her attention to me with a pointed look. “See? She’s good.”
I narrow my eyes. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m talking about,” she says, then leans toward Melissa conspiratorially. “He’s been a nightmare lately.”
Melissa’s lips twitch. “He’s … intense.”
“Intense?” Aubrey repeats, delighting in the restraint of that word. “That’s polite.”
“Aubrey,” I warn … again.
She waves a hand. “I’m not saying anything that isn’t true.”
Melissa sips her coffee to hide a smile. “He’s been better recently.”
Aubrey freezes. “Oh?”