The Wrong Brother's Temptation novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Sienna

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1 stared at Sandra’s text for a full thirty seconds still wondering if I should call her back and decline politely but firmly.

But I also sensed she was doing this in front of Aaron to show that she was the unproblematic one. And I wasn’t going to let that slide.

Even if I hated Aaron for that quickie with another random girl, I would talk to him, put some sense into him and sort it out.

That’s what my whole life had been either way- sorting his mess and imagining him to finally realize one day that he needed no other girl except me.

My eyes glazed through her text message without reading a single word about her detailed plans then put the phone face down.

I stared at my ceiling and had a serious internal debate about whether I was the kind of person who threw away an olive branch just because the person extending it had called me a pick–me girl in front of witnesses, fake–cried on Aaron twice, and pushed an innocent florist to the ground.

Sighing, I picked the phone back up and called Jane.

She answered on the second ring. “Tell me everything about Connor, don’t you dare skip anything!”

“How are you already on Connor?”

“Because you went radiosilent after the last message. You didn’t tell me anything and I’ve been waiting for days so you better start talking.”

“Fine. I apologized and he accepted. Now I need to talk to you about something else,” I said.

“Is it Connor–related?”

“It’s Sandra–related.”

She took a long pause that communicated considerable disappointment. “Go ahead.”

I told her about the entire fiasco with Sandra minus the making out with Connor last night or literally just anything related to him and jumped to her invitation to hang out and my stupid dilemma. Jane was quiet for a moment that managed to be extremely loud.

“She called you desperate, pushed a poor girl and said you’d pay for slapping Aaron” she counted out all the reasons for reminding me why it was a terrible idea.

“I have her full CV memorized, Jane.”

“And she wants a fresh start by inviting you to some girl’s day out. And here you are actively considering it?”

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Chapter 54

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“I don’t want her to turn me into the villain which I know is her plan,” I said, which sounded mature out loud and felt, internally, like approximately forty percent of the truth.

The other sixty percent was that Connor lived in that house and I hadn’t seen him since he’d dropped me home last night with my hand over his in the dark of the car, and I didn’t know what to do with any of the feelings I’d woken up with this morning, and going to the house was the only plan I currently had.

I wasn’t telling Jane that part.

What had happened last night with his mom belonged to Connor. He’d let me see it, and that was different from it being a story to tell especially because it wasn’t mine.

He had not said a word and I hadn’t mentioned it either but maybe this would give me a perfect excuse to go talk to him in person.

“Okay, so you are going to just sit there and pretend to be BFFs with that lying bitch?” Jane asked haughtily. “Who even said I was going alone?” I replied hopefully and I could hear her gasp.

“You want me to come with you?” Jane asked.

“If you still think of me as a friend.”

“Ouch, low blow. But I wouldn’t say no either way.”

“Really?” My voice perked up.

“You think I’m letting you walk into a room full of Sandra’s friends alone? Your social survival instincts are genuinely terrible. Remember the pub incident with that stupid asshole?”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“We should talk about it more actually, because you would have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you had said ‘No‘ and slapped the shit out of him.”

“Jane. Save the lecture for when we meet in person. Will you come or not?”

“Send me the details, baby. If Sandra tries anything, we have a plan.” I heard her chuckle like an evil villain.

“We don’t have a plan.”

“We will by the time I get there.” She reassured me.

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1 barely showered and changed into something comfortable and by that time Jane was already knocking at my door.

I opened it to see her holding a tote bag she’d curated specifically for the occasion. “I came with a foolproof plan and the number one priority is snacks,” she said, pulling things out as she catalogued them, ‘in case the food is pretentious. Portable charger. And…” she produced a small notebook. “I’ve also compiled comeback

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15:16 Thu Jul 23

Chapter 54

categories. Subtle insults, open insults, and what I’m calling the nuclear option.”

I stared at her. “You made a list.”

“I’ve been through a breakup. I have energy to redirect.”

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