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Court’s eyes widen, and I can tell she wasn’t expecting me to say that. “After all these years? Why?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know.”

“I was only a kid when you got with her, but I saw how much her leaving hurt you. You tried to hide it, with everything else that was going on, but I saw. I imagine her coming back has dragged all those feelings back up,” she admits, and I can’t help but smile.

My little sister may be nine years younger than me, but she’s more mature than her age. Part of me is a little sad about that, as she had to grow up much quicker than she should have, just tosurvive. I wish she could have had more time to be a kid, but it’s made her into an incredibly smart, strong, young woman.

“Honestly, I’m struggling to know how to feel about it all.”

Court gives me a sad smile, like she understands, but still wants to know more. “When did she come back?”

“A few weeks ago. She got a job at Caged. We were on a night out for Chloe’s birthday, and I looked up to order a drink, only to see the face that’s haunted me for years,” I admit.

“Must be hard,” Court adds.

That’s a fucking understatement.

“She’s different, and not just because she’s older. Her hair is blonde, where she was brunette before, and she goes by Indie now. She’s obviously lying, and it’s driving me crazy trying to think why,” I tell her, trying not to think about the girl as I talk about her.

“Lots of people change their hair, but the name thing is odd. Did you ask her about it?”

I wince, not really sure how to answer that without looking like a complete knob.

“Not really. To say I took her reappearance badly would be an understatement.”

She then points to my face. “I’m assuming the cut on your lip and swollen nose fits in with that statement somehow?”

At the mention of the cut, I reach up with my thumb and press against it, hissing when it stings. I don’t even remember cleaning the blood off my face, but I must have done it before leaving the club.

I’m lucky he caught more of my lip when he went for my nose, as any closer may have broken my nose, or given me black eyes. A cut lip is much easier to deal with and explain away, though I’m sure I’ll have more bruises by tomorrow.

I let out a huff that makes Court smile. “I caught Jacob and Indie meeting up to go on a date, and I saw red. I said some things that I probably shouldn’t have, and Jacob punched me.”

Courtney throws her head back and laughs, and I glower at her, clenching my hands into fists, to try and control my fraying nerves. She catches sight of my movement and places her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh.”

“Yeah, it really looks that way,” I grumble, my lip pushed out into a pout that I’m very much not proud of.

Courtney clears her throat, having regained her composure, and I can tell she’s trying hard to remain impassive. “I bet that was really hard to see. I’m not sure which would have bothered you more: Indie dating Jake, or Jake dating Indie.”

I stare at her, trying to make sense of what she just said. She gives me a knowing look that only confuses me more. “You’ve just said the exact same thing. What are you going on about?”

Courtney rolls her eyes and shakes her head. “I mean, are you more jealous that Jake is dating Indie, or that Indie is dating Jake?”

As soon as I realise what she’s asking, I freeze. My heart is pounding so loud, I’m surprised everyone can’t hear it. Silence hangs heavily between us, and I’m not sure what the hell to say to that.

Courtney reaches over the table and takes my hand in hers, jolting me out of my almost catatonic state. I glance up to meet her beautiful blue eyes and see that she’s looking at me with so much love and understanding, it makes my heart ache.

“You’re my big brother, Miles. I know you better than anyone.”

My words are barely above a whisper, sounding just as shaky as I feel. “You knew?”

She gives me a nod, her smile never wavering. “I was only about eight or nine at the time, so I didn’t really know or understand much, but I saw the way you looked at him. More than that, I saw how broken you were after prom.

“You never talked about it, but I worked out for myself that something must have happened. You and Jake had fallen out, and didn’t really speak much after that. I figured the two things were linked, as you never spoke about him again after that. Well, until recently, that is.”

She throws me a cheeky wink at the end, that smirk of hers growing, and all I can do is roll my eyes at her.