Forever (This #5) by J. B. McGee Page B

“I’ll save that for dessert.”
    Rebecca clears her throat. “I wish I could eat and drink like that and be as thin as you, Sam.”
    Is she serious? She can’t be. I want to hate her so bad, but everything out of her mouth has been so polite. “I wish I could do smoky eyes like you.” No, no, no. Go ahead, Sam. Plant your head on the table in front of us.
    “Oh.” She laughs. “It’s not that hard. I just watched a YouTube video and practiced.”
    And she’s modest.
    “Good to know.”
    “You still haven’t told me where we’re going,” Gabby says.
    Bradley chuckles. “You haven’t figured it out yet?”
    “No. I don’t even know where we are right now. I haven’t been paying attention to our surroundings.”
    “Traditions, Gabby Girl. We’re adding Joe to our Hopelands yearly trip.”
    She beams. “Aw. I knew it!” She locks lips with his, and I focus on my plate, grabbing the sub sandwich and taking a huge bite.
    “You did not know it, though, or you wouldn’t have just asked,” Bradley says, amused.
    “Maybe it was wishful thinking. I love Aiken. So many good memories.”
    “Yes, Mrs. Banks. I intend on making more tonight.”
    I sigh. “Okay, okay. Save it for later. She’s my sister.”
    Ryan nibbles my ear. “Are you jealous?” he whispers. “Of the affection he gives her?”
    I pull away, but the seating is so tight, I nearly end up in Joe’s lap. The heat connects with my bottom. The hardness of his muscles is like washing up from an undertow onto a rock. I swallow, trying to wet my mouth. “Sorry.” I glance back at Joe, then flash my eyes at Ryan. “Don’t do that to me again,” I hiss quietly.
    His face scrunches. “Seriously?”
    “Yeah, I don’t like public displays of affection. Clearly. Hence the telling them to cut it out. They make me uncomfortable.” Another realization on this night of epiphanies. After one year of dating, has he not figured that out already?
    “Whatever, Sam. Are you mad about earlier?”
    “I don’t want to talk about it now. Here.”
    His lips push into a thin line, and he nods. “Fair enough.”
    Fuck fair. Fair would be me not having to choose between being with my sister and our abusive father. Fair would be my mom still being alive. Fair would be a whole lot of things. None of what’s left is fair or enough.

The rest of the trip to Aiken has been awkward at best. I’m thankful for the ride, that I’ve been able to get my fill of food and wine through it all, but the addition of Joe and Rebecca has made it tight. Bradley’s subject matter, his question, was definitely like a mudslide in the middle of a hurricane. The entire trip, my body has been on heightened alert, and quite frankly, it’s been exhausting.
    “Finally!” I admire the lights through the tinted windows as we drive past Hopelands Gardens. For a section of Whiskey Road, it’s like something out of a movie. Iron gates, walls made of bricks, enchanting gardens, ponds, and brick sidewalks under a canopy of white lights, century-old live oaks, and magnolias. Bradley brought Gabby, Ryan, and I here last year. That night, he asked Gabby to move to Atlanta with him. Not even a month later, he asked her to marry him at one of the looking ponds, and now we’re here again, but this time with Joe and Rebecca in tow.
    “Why are we passing it?” Rebecca asks.
    After I’d basically admitted my envy over her smoky eyes, I’d tried to keep quiet the rest of the ride. In fact, part of it, I pretended to sleep so no one would bug me about how much wine or what I was eating. I could pretend I didn’t feel Joe’s every move. I didn’t have to pretend to be interested in the small talk. And then there was Ryan. After I’d made the comment about the public display of affection, I felt like a total bitch. So, I’d snuggled into his side and used his chest as a pillow. He caressed my back, and a few times, I do think I managed to drift off. When no one answers her question, I