Sullivan Siblings

XXI

I can't help the wide smile that won't fall from my lips as I look around our community library. Somehow, with the help of Silas and Hollis, I had convinced Odin and Ivan that Emmett would be fine watching me in a safe public setting, like the town library. Unbeknownst to the oldies, I'm informed my newfound girl group of the plan and they agreed to come to the library fifteen minutes after me.

That means, when Odin did a precursory sweep of the library for danger, they weren't there. Which, in turn, means I get to stay at the library. The only downside is Silas flirting with Astrid and Emmett scowling at me from a few tables down. Hollis is actually being a decent brother and visiting nicely with my friends. Only a few flirtatious remarks are sent to Chelsea and Katie, who completely ignore him.

Lana, Tristan, Baby and Sam are all here, as well. Baby is in his usual sweats and a hoodie, the difference this time, is that his hoodie is a hoodie vest. While Astrid made googly eyes at him, I managed to avert mine in time. I've been around a bunch of shirtless guys before, with eight brothers, especially because Hollis and Simon take any chance they can not to wear their shirts, but they are related to me. Baby is not, and man, my eyes were begging me to look.

Tristan is in a pair of cargo pants and a simple white t-shirt, his style similar to Luke and Zayn. I'm pretty sure Katie is wearing one of Chase's shirts because it is three sizes too big. She has a pair of mom jeans on. I don't think they are distressed but she has big holes in the knees. A tear a little higher up is patched with a different wash of jean and stitched in with purple thread, creating a cute flower design to hold it in place.

Lana, the daring girl, has a lacy dark brown bralette on. In school she had a white crocheted cardigan over top but now that we are left to our own devices, the cardigan has been stuffed into her backpack. I admire her courage, I really do. I don't think her dad will get mad like Odin does, but he still doesn't approve of it.

Chelsea has grey mom jeans on and a greyish blue crewneck with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Sam has a white sleeveless body con midi dress with a denim jacket halfway off her shoulders and a white baseball cap with a pink stitched rose holding her hair out of her face. Astrid is in a mostly white tie dyed shirt and black leggings.

Right now, to throw Hollis, Emmett and Silas off track of just why I wanted to come here, I am giggling and whispering with the girls. As long as we aren't too loud, the librarian leaves us alone.

"So, tell me what girls do." I grin at Chelsea and Katie, who are seated nearest me on the opposite side of the table. Annoyingly, Baby nabbed the seat next to me, but that could be because Hollis is to his right and I am to his left.

"What do you mean?" Katie deadpans. She moves her pointer finger in a circle around all of us. "We're here, aren't we?"

"I'm not a girl," Baby injects.

"She wasn't talking to you." Hollis sniffs obnoxiously and rolls his eyes.

"Tell me all the cliches aren't true," I speak up, shooting my brother a look to back off. "Tell me girls don't just get together to paint their toenails."

"Pfft," Katie scoffs and throws her hair over her shoulder. "As if."

"Me and Katie read." Chelsea shrugs and points between the two of them. "I pick a book, then she picks a book and we read them at the same time to discus them."

"Nerds," Hollis snickers. I lean around Baby to slap him. When Baby stays quiet, I remember how he threw a book over his shoulder and donkey kicked behind him to pretend he wasn't organizing books. My brothers best friend is a secret nerd.

"Jock," Katie fires back. Too far away for me to visit quietly, per library regulations, at the far end of the table, Silas is doing his new single-self best to flirt with Astrid and make her faint. Near them, and purposely trying to ignore them, are Lana and Tristan, catching up on their lives. Her dad and his mom ended their relationship a while ago, but they share a sister and that's why they keep in touch. Sam sits quietly off to the side, closer to Emmett than us.