Thank you to  jueka1 , brightyeolie , and amiva0402 as per usual for their lively comments.

______

"How'd it go?" I asked Callie when she walked into the house Thursday night.

But she just shook her head at me, frown slipping onto her face.

"Oh... why not?" I pressed.

Glancing at our parents lingering in the kitchen, she nodded her head towards the bedrooms. Silently, we crept down the hall, slipping into her room and closing the door behind us.

Falling onto her bed, she pulled off her leg and took off her slip, revealing red agitation to her skin.

"Oh damn," I exclaimed, sitting next to her.

She gingerly pressed her fingers to the red welts, hissing at the touch. "Way too much walking, and I'm totally not accustomed enough to my prosthetic yet for so much movement..."

"You should have taken your chair," I said softly.

But as I met her gaze, she was grimacing.

"What?" I asked.

"And how would I have gotten it into Ashton's car?"

I bit my lip in response because she had a point. "Crutches?"

"They take up a whole back seat. Nothing says 'kiss me' like a girl hobbling..."

I heaved a sigh. "Why did Flynn—"

"It's not his fault," she quickly interrupted, face turning to her lap.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I watched the morose stir on her face. 

Callie snagged her bottom lip between her teeth before taking a deep breath and telling me the events of the night—from the numerous breaks in walking, to the security guard pocket checking Flynn for racist reasons, and to Fraser sitting in the back seat.

I shook my head. "Definitely need quiet activities with no walking in future."

"I agree," she sighed. "But maybe next time... If Ashton isn't already turned off by the fact I ruin all the fun with my disability." Then she fell against the bed, picking up a pillow and groaning into it. "I wish I was normal," I heard her softly muffle.

Falling to the mattress next to her, I whispered, "Normal is overrated, Cal."

"What would you know?"

I went quiet.

"Exactly," Callie sighed as she pulled the pillow away.

"If he shuns you for your leg, Cal... I'm not going to say you lose the bet."

Her eyes swelled with sorrow. "I know he likes me... or is at least interested in the idea of me. Well he... he was. But after tonight..."

"Tomorrow will tell," I then said before she could doubt herself any further. "For now, don't fret until we know more."

She nodded slowly and the room fell silent, just the sound of her fan ticking above us filling the space.

After an endless amount of time passed, I said, "Did that guy seriously ask Flynn to turn out his pockets?"

"He did."

"I'm going to beat him up. And when I'm done with him, I'm beating up Fraser."

"I'll bring my leg... as my weapon though."

Callie's worries were for nothing. While she didn't have any classes with Ashton on Wednesday, he did make a point to stop by our sitting area at first lunch to make small talk. And the whole time his face was alive and he stood a little too close to her... so whatever she had been working hard to encourage this week between them was still blossoming.

And in my HPE class, some of the guys were silently nudging him and whispering my sister's name as we waited for the teacher to return with some of our other peers and the footy gear.

As they boys crowded around, partaking in their banter, Flynn left their group, coming up beside me shaking his head. "I hate them," he muttered.

Turning to meet his brown eyes, I grinned and said, "Me too. But what's your argument?"

His gaze flickered to mine momentarily before back to the group of boys. He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered, "You can't tell Callie."

"It is bad?"

He nodded. "It will upset her."

"I won't tell her anything that will hurt her... if she doesn't need to hear it."

"It's mostly Fraser starting it... because he's jealous that neither of you actually want him. But they're joking about how Ashton will probably take Callie's virginity."

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath to suppress the rage boiling inside me before I opened them. "That fucking Fraser kid..."

"I know."

"If you get the ball at all... pass it to me," I then said.

Flynn cocked an amused brow as he turned to look at me. "Why?"

"I'm going to kick it between his legs and hope it hits where the sun doesn't shine. Assuming he has balls, that is."

He snorted, arms coming unfolded as he posture relaxed. "Deal. Then I'll get him again later."

"It's on. Also, there's no way I'm ever letting my sister go near a guy like him again."

"I agree."

I bit my lip though. Because after stating that, a well of worries began to storm through my mind.

Noticing my silence and furrowed brows, Flynn asked, "What's wrong?"

"You're with her for all of these outings, right?"

He nodded.

"I just worry... with these douches over there," I said, nodding my head towards them, "I don't want her in any situation where... well, after what Fraser tried—"

"I'll always be by her side. All she needs is a kiss, so it should be possible without her having to be completely alone with them."

Turning to look at Flynn, I studied his face for any signs of deceit, but as he met my gaze, I only saw honesty and determination swirling there. "Promise me you'll look after my sister."

Flynn's brows turned down as his face softened. "You don't need to ask me that. I won't let anyone take advantage of her."

Nodding, I then glanced over my shoulder, eyes seeking out the teacher, wondering when this class would actually start and Fraser would stop putting stupid ideas into Ashton's head—not that disrupting him now would stop whatever ensues at lunch or after school.

But then another thought popped into my mind and I turned back to Flynn.

"So why are you so nice to my sister?" I asked him.

The corners of his lips turned up as his eyes twinkled with light. "I need a reason?"

I shrugged. "I guess what I mean is... why now? From what I've heard, it's only been Sara around until suddenly you—"

"Coincidence really..." Then a cocky grin spread across his face, his gaze still on the disgusting group of boys. "The stars aligned and—"

"Ha. Ha ha. I don't know why Cal thinks you're funny..."

His head whipped up and his gaze met my face. "She talks about me to you?"

Hmmm... Eyes narrowing, eyebrow cocked, I glanced at Flynn. "Why are you interested in that?"

Mouth opening and closing a couple of times, he averted his gaze, and said, "I'm not. Just..." Then he shrugged and went back to my other question instead. "Callie and I by chance ran into each other multiple times at the start of this year and I think her slight bit of improved confidence tied with us opening up to each just saw our friendship form."

I knew he could feel my gaze still studying him. Yet he kept his eyes forward, the sounds of our teacher behind us coming close. "You know..." I said just before we were called to form teams and start class properly, "If by some chance the stars have aligned and you have any ounce of feelings for my sister... You should just tell her."

All humour dropped from his face as he glanced at me. "Callie has a reason for doing the list. And I won't get in her way." Then he left my side, heading over to the teacher to help set up the game. 

But as he jogged away from me, I noticed he never denied whether he had feelings for her.

Sara came over again after school, and this time she stayed when Flynn turned up for study. As I left Callie's room while Flynn fell to the floor beside my sister, setting up their books, Sara followed me to the living room, sitting obnoxiously close to me on the couch, her leg pressing against mine, even though the rest of the sofa was free.

As I turned on the TV, throat oddly tight thanks to her proximity, dad suddenly entered the room, taking a seat in one of the recliners.

"Hey girls," he whispered to us.

Eyebrows raised, I turned the sound down a little as Sara and I glanced at him.

"Do you know him well?" dad asked, nodding his head in the direct of Callie's room, making it obvious who he was referring to.

My brows furrowed as I studied dad's face, wondering where he was heading with this. "Somewhat," I said.

But Sara narrowed her eyes at dad. "When are you moving out, Cory?" she asked, changing the topic it seemed.

Dad's brows shot up. "When I find a place. What's it to you?"

Sara shrugged. "It just seems that being around your daughters is putting you on edge considering you won't stop asking us about Flynn. I think some distance might be good for you."

"Well... I'm still here for a while longer," he said back to her, but something about his shifting eyes confused me. And as dad sat there quietly for a couple of moments, I began to ponder further why he was being so awkward about the topic. Yet then he asked, "But is he a good kid?"

"Why?" Sara asked, getting a little ticked off towards him now. While he was being very overbearing to his one straight daughter, I wondered if part of Sara's apprehension for him stemmed from whatever stories Callie had told her over the years about her relationship with our father.

"I just... he's around a lot. I just want to know, are they dating? I know Callie said—"

"They're just friends," Sara said, but we both shared a glance after that.

But when one side of her mouth turned up, eyes flickering around my face, my heart let out a thump and I quickly turned my head back to dad. "Yeah, they're friends."

"Hmm..." dad said.

"Do you disapprove?" I asked with narrowed eyes, ready to jump at dad if he did insult Flynn after how kind he had been towards my sister.

"Not exactly... just wondering if I need to pull him aside for a chat."

Sara and I immediately crossed our arms over our chests in unison, shaking our heads at dad.

"Cory," Sara started, "You just need to stay out of this."

Dad's brows shot up before his eyes narrowed. "When my daughter is—"

"No," Sara cut him off with another shake of her head. "If Flynn does anything to hurt Callie, you can be assured that I will take him down. But currently they are just friends. If anything happened between them, at this stage I would more than support it because he's been great to my bestie. And if you got involved, you might just scare Flynn away and I won't have it."

Dad's eyes got wider with every threat Sara threw his way. And when she was done, he glanced at me, as if to say, 'is she for real'?

But I just shrugged in response. Because yeah, she was. And I liked her fiery attitude.

"Okay... but if I do need to get involved, please—"

"We'd go to mum first," I interrupted him with a wave of the hand.

He heaved a sigh. "You know... I used to be cool with the kids. Your aunt always went to me first with her problems."

"Yeah... but now you're old, dad," I shot back.

He clutched his hand to his heart as he got to his feet, "You're breaking me Lex." But then his mouth turned up, eyes crinkling in humour. "Enjoy your show, girls." 

Then he left, joining mum in the kitchen.

The moment he disappeared, suddenly Sara's head fell to my shoulder as she propped her feet up on the couch.

And my body went rigid.

Noticing my frozen state, her head slowly lifted, eyes glancing at me. "Is this okay?" she asked, eyes swirling with worry.

"Y-yeah, of course," I croaked, feeling my face heat with flames as she lowered her head back to my shoulder.

She's probably just wary of the fact that I might develop feelings when she's just being friendly... I assumed.

But my stomach was still in knots. 

Unable to concentrate on the screen in front of me, I glanced my head over to the kitchen. Mum smiled at me, though it was too innocent. 

Though when I locked eyes with dad, his brows shot up, gaze flickering between Sara's head on my shoulder and my face. Then a sly smirk spread across his cheeks before he turned back to my mum, placing a hand on the small of her back as he leaned over her to look at whatever was cooking in the pot.

Had I not been overwhelmed with Sara's presence at the time, and her honeysuckle scent permeating my nose, perhaps I would have questioned dad and mum's actions a little more at that moment. 

But instead, all I could think about was whether Sara could hear how loud my heart was beating through my shoulder her ear was pressed against. Because if she could hear it, then I was worried she'd realise the truth I'd been trying so hard to deny: I was falling for her stupidly fast.

How I am starting to feel about this book: