A Reason to Heal by Nia Arthurs

Author:Nia Arthurs [Arthurs, Nia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arthurs Publishing

Nineteen

Sam

Man, I almost kissed her. I was staring at her lips—too sultry to ignore. I was fascinated by their color, obsessed with the fact that one was brown and the other a bright, unabashed pink. The way her tongue darted out to lick the whipped cream, the way they pursed when she moaned… I had to kiss her.

Then I thought of Wanda and the fact that she’d kissed me an hour ago. I thought of Juan and how angry he’d been when he thought I was secretly dating Rochelle. I still haven’t talked to my brother about his crush.

And Rochelle is still in love with her ex.

The timing was awful so I backed off. I’m regretting it now.

We’ve moved from the bar to the kitchen where we’re washing the dishes. Every so often, Rochelle’s arm will brush mine. I’ll look down at her, notice how close she is and think about what her lips would have tasted like if I hadn’t punked out.

“Micah mentioned you have a large family,” Rochelle says.

I hand her the plate I’ve scrubbed. “Huh?”

She smiles as if she knows where my mind has been, but I’m pretty sure she doesn’t or she wouldn’t be standing so comfortably next to me right now. “I always wanted a big family. My sister, Janet, is only a couple years older than me but she was mature since she was ten. I was so lonely.”

“Loneliness is not something I experienced in my house,” I tell her. There, focus on your family. Do something productive apart from ogling her for a change. “I have five siblings, two that are my age.”

“You’re kidding.” She mentally calculates. “How are they all your age though?”

“We were adopted.”

Her hand plops into the clear water. “You’re kidding.”

“Yeah.” I arch an eyebrow at her. “Most people figure it out when they see how different we all look from one another.”

“I mean… I noticed that Micah is…” She glances at me and a flush spreads in her brown cheeks. “Not as pale as you and Juan, but I didn’t want to assume.”

“Genetics hasn’t changed that much.” I laugh at her stunned expression. “My parents adopted all of us. They took us in when we were older too. I think the youngest one was Careena. They fostered her when she was seven.”

“Are you all close?”

I nod. “Juan and Micah are the only ones who still live at home though. The rest of us are busy doing our own thing so we don’t get to see each other that often.” I dunk my hands into the sudsy water. “Lisa owns her own investment company. Careena’s a photographer. Tanner writes books—”

“Wait.” Her jaw drops. “Tanner Richards is your brother?”

“You know him?”

“Hello?” She squeals. “He was all over the news last year for getting a movie deal. Everyone has heard of him, but I was a fan before then. I love his books. The Bovarian Truth Seekers series is my favorite. The way he creates fantastic worlds and pulls you in…” She shakes her head.

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