Nikki’s mouth twists as she ponders, unsure of how to respond. “How about, loser buys the winner’s lunch Monday at school?”

“Lunch? Nah. That’s not a big enough prize.” My heart beats a little faster. “Dinner.”

“Okay, but I’m ordering the most expensive thing on the menu.” Nikki takes off like a bat out of hell. The girl runs like the wind— she’s a half dozen steps ahead of me before I even realize we’ve started.

Forcing one leg in front of the other, I try my damnedest to catch up to her, but I just don’t have it in me after seven long laps. Halfway through, it dawns on me…why am I even trying? I lose, I get to buy her dinner. I jog the last half of the track, enjoying the view from the rear.

Winded from her lightning speed sprint, Nikki bends over, hands on her hips. “Did you even try to win?”

“Nope,” I respond unapologetically, reaching down for my water bottle. I spray half into my mouth and the rest over my sweaty head. The padding and uniform, mixed with the unusually high temperature, leaves me feeling like I just ran two miles in a heated blanket.

“I won the bet fair and square, even if you decided not to try to win.”

“I’m not a welcher. Dinner’s on me.”

Nikki’s aunt is waiting for her across the parking lot, so we say goodbye and I head for the locker room. Most of the team is gone by the time I hit the shower, except Keller, who waited, knowing I’d drive him home.

“You and Nikki?” he questions as I dry off.

I know what he’s asking, but I make him spell it out anyway. “Me and Nikki what?”

“Together?”

“No.” My response is curt.

“She’s fucking hot. Did you see her ass in those tight little running shorts?” Keller asks with a dirty grin on his face. One I get the urge to smack off immediately.

“You’re a dick. You know that?”

“Yeah, and you know it too. Big deal.” He shrugs, not the slightest bit put off by being called a dick. In fact, I think he wears the title like a badge of honor. “So, you don’t care if I ask her to the dance then?”

My blood instantly boils. A possessiveness I’m not entitled to have grips me. “Whatever.” I slam my locker door.

“Cool.” Keller walks away whistling, enjoying he’s gotten under my skin.

I don’t say more than two words on the drive home. I hate myself for wanting it to be me to ask her to the dance.

Chapter 21

Nikki

“Damn it!” Startled by the vibration of my iPhone in my pocket, I jump from the desk chair in Aunt Claire’s office. More than a dozen manila folders spill from my arms and splatter onto the floor. Loose papers scatter from neatly labeled files. I’ll never be able to put everything back in the order Aunt Claire had them in. Files with tax returns, receipts, insurance papers, and medical invoices line the floor. Nothing even remotely related to me, or my sister. Not even a single paper about Mom.

I do my best to replace the papers in the right files and alphabetize the folders before dropping them back into the wooden filing cabinet. Aunt Claire is a lot more organized than Mom ever was. Mom’s idea of filing was tossing crumpled papers into a shoebox under the bed.

Discouraged after yet another fruitless search, I pick up the phone to call Ashley back.

“It’s about time. Thought I was going to have to hitch all the way to sunny ass California,” Ashley answers on the first ring. I hear loud music blaring in the background.

“Where are you?”

“Texas,” she responds and I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Obviously. But where…there’s music blasting in the background.”

She laughs. The music becomes more distant as she continues; she must be walking away for privacy. “Down at the lake.”

“Oh.” A vision of Caddo Lake fills my mind. The tall, moss-draped cypress trees and lush green vegetation surround the massive deep blue water, making it appear fantasy like. Almost like it’s part of a Louisiana swamp instead of the Texas national forest system. Ash and I used to spend hours down there swimming in a secluded area. Selfishly, it makes me sad that she’s there with someone else, instead of me.

She picks up on my feeling, even though we’re separated by two states and I’ve only said a half dozen words. It makes me miss her even more.

“You’re not missing much. Sean Drexler just ripped apart our favorite place to sit with his dirt bike. Our little green grass patch under the big tree is now a mud patch.”

“Sean Drexler? Nick’s older brother? You’re down at the lake with Sean?”

“Don’t worry, mother hen…there’s a bunch of us, not just the two of us.”

I sigh. “I feel like you’re cheating on me, going to our spot with other people.”

“Ummm…hello. I had to come down with six people to replace one of you, and it’s still not as much fun.”

I’m sure she’s lying, Sean and Nick are crazy. It would be nearly impossible to not have a good time hanging around with them. But it makes me feel better nonetheless.

“So, any leads on your sister?” Ashley asks, turning our light conversation serious, her voice dips with the mood.

“No,” I say, deflated. “I’ve searched almost the entire house. Every time Aunt Claire leaves, I snoop around more— but I haven’t found anything, really. Although, I did find out a little about California law on the internet. Since we were born in California, the adoption was most likely done here. And in California, a person can find out identifying information on their biological siblings at age eighteen.”