“I’m sorry for what I did!” Eve blurted as the cork popped free.
Ella looked up from the bottle and set the wine opener next to it. She placed her hands on the counter and looked directly at her sister. “What are you sorry for?”
“For…getting mated to Frederico.” Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Ella sighed. “I never cared about that. Not even a little bit. I see how good you guys are together and how much you both love each other. I just…why the hell didn’t you at least give me some warning that you were seeing each other, much less about to get mated? Seriously, Eve, I had to find out about it at a freaking pride meeting!” All the words came out in a rush. Words she’d been holding onto for months.
“I know and I’m so sorry.” Her tears spilled over and Ella had to refrain from rushing around the counter and pulling her sister into a hug.
“Don’t cry, please.”
Sniffling, Eve swiped at her tears. “I was too afraid to tell you. You were the one who broke up with him and a part of me worried that…” She glanced down at her hands as more tears fell down her cheeks. “I was worried that he was settling for me. That I was his second choice. Then I thought if you found out about us you might, I don’t know, decide you wanted him back or something.” She looked up then, her expression tormented. “I was a coward. I knew it then. If I could go back and change things I would. I hate what’s happened between us. Mom’s still pissed at me and Dad’s disappointed. I feel like I ruined everything!” she said on a sob.
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Ella murmured. Their relationship would take a while to mend, but it certainly wasn’t broken forever. She rounded the corner of the countertop and tugged Eve off the stool into a hug. She let Eve sob into her neck and shed a few tears of her own. They might not have been as close as Ella was with Lauren, but Eve would always be her little sister.
Eventually Eve pulled back, her eyes puffy as she wiped away stray tears. “Do you forgive me?”
“Of course I do. Now sit and let me tell you a few things.” As her sister sat back down, Ella grabbed two wine glasses. “Frederico and I never fit. Not even a little bit.” They’d had chemistry for a while, but that was the extent of their relationship—which hadn’t been all that long anyway. There had been no depth. She didn’t get into all that though. “I might have been the one who broke up with him, but I just happened to do what we’d both been hedging around. We hadn’t even…” Ella felt strange telling her sister any of this, but decided to just lay it out there. “Slept together in months before the breakup. I’m pretty sure he’d started developing feelings for you before we broke up.”
Her sister’s face reddened and she knew she’d guessed right. When another thought occurred to her, anger snapped inside her. “Did you sleep with him while we were together?”
Eve’s eyes widened. “No! Never! We didn’t do anything, not even flirt. I just…I liked him and thought he was funny and smart. Whenever he came over to Mom and Dad’s weekly dinners I looked forward to talking to him. And felt insanely guilty afterward every time. He never…we never…” She gestured wildly with her hands for a moment as she trailed off.
Ella breathed out a sigh of relief she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she poured both their drinks. “I saw the way he looked at you one Sunday and that was the clincher for me. I honestly think I just beat him to the punch.”
Eve took the extended drink. “Yeah, that’s what he said too.”
Ella lifted her drink and softly clinked it with Eve’s. “It’s water under the bridge then.” The apology went a long way in soothing her hurt feelings, especially since Eve was sincere. She was surprised by what her sister had said though. Ella hadn’t thought Eve had any insecurities.
At the sound of the front door opening Ella peered around the corner into the hallway and saw Asher. Her heart jumped in her throat. Every time she saw him it was the same, her belly filled with tingles and she just wanted to jump the sexy male.
He gave her a lopsided smile as he strode down the hallway. His steps faltered once, probably because he scented a stranger, but he continued to the kitchen. Without pause he pulled her into his arms and gave her a bone-melting kiss before turning to nod at Eve. But he kept his arm wrapped tightly around Ella’s shoulders.
“Asher, this is my sister Eve. Eve, this is my mate, Asher. She’s going to be joining us for dinner.”