HOW TO CATCH A BAD BOY

Emily braced her arms on her thighs and leaned toward her. “Okay, talk to me. Tell me everything. I mean, maybe not like, sex details. But … what happened while you were gone?”

Then she patted the bed. Elena’s entire being settled back into place as she and Emily braced their backs against the wall. She curled her hand around hers with their legs stretched out straight onto the bed, and Elena unloaded for the next thirty minutes.

After a bit, Emily leaned her head on her shoulder, and Elena set her head on hers, and they fell quiet before she got to the scene in the driveway. She didn’t even attempt to wipe the tears coming down her face during that part.

“I’m so mad at him for leaving,” Elena said, voice hoarse from talking. “But I get it. I don’t want to, but I do.”

“I don’t.”

Elena nudged her. “I don’t need you to vilify him.”

Emily laughed under her breath. After the driveway showdown, dinner was a shitshow. Elena cried in the balcony while Elijah, Daniel Emily and Lexi yelled over each other about what happened. Emily kept trying to talk to her, and after a while Elijah was strangely quiet. Elena was even too embarrassed to look at Lexi.

“I’m not trying to vilify, per se.” Emily nudged back. “I mean, sure, it couldn’t be easy to hear that about Elijah, but literally, nothing ever happened between you two. Not even a single loaded glance. I think if he’d given his hothead temper five seconds to calm down, he would’ve thought that through and seen that you were still the badass that rocked his freaking world off its axis up in that cabin, and he’d eventually get over it.”

“Here too,” Elena heard herself say.

“What here too?” Emily asked.

She glanced down at her bed with a sheepish grin.

“Oh my gosh,” Emily groaned. “Seriously? Don’t tell me stuff like that. It’s Chandler. I’m still coming around to this whole thing.”

That made her heart do the weird achy thing again. She missed him. It had been days, and she missed him. “Nothing to come around to.” She sighed. “He made it clear I wasn’t worth the trouble of dealing with that kind of emotional baggage to him.”

“Elena, be serious, you know that man was crazy about you, right? Like…stupid, head over heels in love with you.”

“If he was,” Elena said carefully, “he has a strange way of showing it.”

“Chandler has the emotional IQ of a six-year-old, Elena. You know that.”

“No, most six-year-olds could communicate better than he did in that driveway. He has the emotional IQ of a stunted twenty-six-year-old who has no freaking clue how to be in a relationship. Combine that with his stupid face and stupid muscles and stupid money, and that makes him the most dangerous creature alive.” She banged her head against the wall. “And stupid me, I thought …”

“What?”

“I thought he’d be willing to figure it out for me. Because of what we had together.” She laughed. “And look where that got me. Brokenhearted, being irrationally stubborn to my twin sister who really didn’t do anything wrong, and missing him like he sawed off a part of my body and took it with him.”

“Graphic but okay, I’m tracking.” Emily glanced at her. “Why are you being so hard on yourself about this?”

“Cause and effect, I guess. Knowing how childhood trauma can play out into adulthood. It’s like I saw Chandler and every single ‘I can fix him’ impulse was screaming at me. Except the multiple orgasms just made me dumber.”

“Number one,” Emily said. “Stop banging your head against the wall.

Concussions help no one. And number two, Laura did a number on him. So freaking what? There are people who went through things like this, and you know why they are not emotionally stunted?”

Elena turned her head to look at her sister. “Why?”

“Someone who never gave up on them. A group of someones. Look at us too. We’d probably be that way if we didn’t have mom and dad. We had each other, and we had them.” She groaned. “And I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but Chandler has never had anyone refuse to give up on him.”

A faded picture on a wall of a cabin came into Elena’s head. “He’s had one person. But I get what you’re saying.”

Emily’s fingers tightened around hers. “If this man is as important to you as I think he is, then show him what it feels like. Refuse to give up on him if he feels what I think he does. He never would’ve gotten so upset if you hadn’t dug your cute little claws into his emotionally stunted heart.”

Elena sighed. “So just … ignore the bullshit he spouted and tell him I’m not going anywhere? That sounds healthy.”

“Noooo way. If he knows what’s good for him, there will be copious groveling. But you don’t have to decide anything right now, okay?”

Curling into her sister, Elena let her hug her. It felt like she could sleep for a week after that one conversation. “Okay.”

“I know what will cheer you up,” Emily said.

“Alcohol and a week at the beach?”

“No.” She laughed. “I think you should go somewhere with me next weekend.”

Elena sat up with a sigh. “Where?”

Emily was quiet for a second. “Daniel and I are having a small hangout or celebration party next weekend, and I think … I think you should come.”

Elena found herself grimacing. “Something is up,” she said “What’s going on?”

“It is supposed to be a surprise,” Emily replied, “But I guess it’s not really a big deal now because Elijah knows already. That big head figured it out all by himself and I couldn’t come up with a good lie,”

Elena looked away. “Oh… Elijah.. I’d feel better if I could apologize to him.”

“Not that you really have anything to apologize for,” Emily pointed out.

Unwilling to hash that out, Elena let her think whatever she wanted. “What would I have to wear? Because if it requires a fancy dress, I’m out.”

“Cute casual will be fine. It’s a hang out, we’re not going to a ballroom.”

“Fine. You still haven’t told me what the celebration is about,”

Emily was quiet, and Elena looked at her face.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. What?” she said too quickly.