Page 39 of HER SISTER

Mili gave Mya a narrowed look, "I think I'll skip out this year," she said, walking into the kitchen without sparing me even a glance.

And even her cream sweatshirt and matching sweatpants were enough to leave my eyes roaming, especially with her dark curly hair pulled up into its typically messy bun.

I've honestly just missed looking at her.

She always looks so good.

Mya let out an annoyed huff, "Please M—Frankie doesn't have a partner," she tried to convince her.

Mili chuckled as she opened the fridge, "And? Frankie loves working alone," she determined as she grabbed one of the waters.

Frankie shrugged to herself, knowing Mili made a good point—which easily caused Mili to raise her brows at Mya, clearly being proven correct.

Mya suddenly gave Frankie a narrowed look, which forced Frankie to say, "But you're really good at decorating—and it would suck to be all alone."

And I couldn't help but find myself a little hopeful, oddly hoping she would stay.

Even if she wouldn't look at me and she probably wouldn't talk to me—I'd still get to be in her presence.

And this is exactly why I can't be around her—I'm practically falling to my knees just to be near her.

Mili suddenly gave Mya a skeptical look—while a slow smile seemed to grow on Mya's lips.

"See—you have to join us," Mya said.

Mili shook her head, sighing as she said, "Fine."

Everyone suddenly cheered happily, forcing me to join in—but I couldn't miss the way Arielle suddenly glanced over to me.

But not out of suspicion, but more because she seemed concerned.

I flashed Arielle a smile, which easily confirmed that I was okay.

Mya clapped happily, "Let the games begin."

And just like that we were all spreading out between the dining room and kitchen.

Frankie and Mili remained in the kitchen with Marco and Willow while Mya and I sat at the long table with Cam and Ryder across from us—and also Arielle and Damon beside us.

The Christmas music played in the background as we all attended to our own shared gingerbread houses.

It was obvious that we were all bent on winning especially since the only talking we did was to our partners.

Soon, Mya and I were finishing our winter wonderland themed gingerbread house while everyone else seemed to be finishing as well.

"Okay, I can't lie—that is pretty creative," Willow said to Mili, easily earning everyone's attention.

And it was hard to miss the Candyland-themed gingerbread house that she and Frankie made.

That is pretty creative.

"Mili came up with it," Frankie said, easily giving her the credit.

Mili only shook her head, "Frankie is probably better at decorating than me," she said, deflecting the compliment, which easily caused me to tilt my head slightly.

Especially since they had slept together before.

"Wow, probably?" Frankie laughed, throwing a few sprinkles at her.

Mili only laughed, "I'm pretty good at what I do," she defended.

Frankie shook her head, "That you are."

And Frankie's statement alone was enough to make my brows shoot up, along with Mya's as well—easily leaving an awkward silence between us all.

Mili suddenly cleared her throat, purposefully taking a step back from Frankie to check her phone that was on the charger.

Mya blinked a few times, "Okay... well," she suddenly said, clearly at a loss for words.

Arielle suddenly stood from the table, "Why don't we get the houses lined up for the judges," she suggested, easily earning awkward nods from everyone.

And as we all seemingly got the houses lined up, I couldn't help but feel even worse about coming.

It somehow contrasted my mood from earlier when I couldn't see myself ever leaving.

But with Mili and Frankie practically flirting with each other, I could name a list of places that I'd rather be.

Even hell seemed to be on that list.

"The judges are here!" I heard a feminine voice call out as the front door shut seconds after.

And just like that—there was a light-skinned woman who favored both Mya and Mili emerging into the open living area.

I mean, it was almost kind of scary how similar they all looked.

From her long curly hair to her dark eyes—her genes were pretty strong.

Behind her was a tall dark-skinned man with a buzz cut—and while the similarities weren't obvious, there still were the little things, like the similar noses between him and Mya—or the sharp faces that he and Mili both had.

They were the picture-perfect family.

The man sat the shopping bags down as the woman suddenly walked over to Mili—giving her a long hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"My beautiful Milan," the woman gushed, which easily earned a playful eye roll from Mili.

"Okay now—not in front of everyone," Mili said, kissing her mom's cheek as she walked over to the man.

Meanwhile, the woman walked over to Mya—who instantly pulled the woman into a hug.

And it was clear who favored their mom and who favored their dad—especially with Mili and the man now engrossed in their own catch-up conversation while Mya and the woman seemed to be catching up as well.

Meanwhile, we all prepared the gingerbread houses with labels on the dining room table.

"How was the drive up?" the woman questioned, looking around at us all.

Damon shrugged, "You know how it is—Mya made us stop for In and Out," he said, clearly joking.

Mya dramatically scoffed, "Um okay—says the one who got two orders of animal-style fries," she pointed out, easily earning laughs from us all.

And just like that the woman was looking at me, clearly noticing my presence.

"And who is this?" the woman asked Mya as she sent me a warm smile.

Mya pulled me into her side, "This is Atiana—but everyone calls her Ana," she introduced me.

The woman held her hand out, "Akeyla," she introduced herself as we shook hands.

"It's nice to—"

I cut myself short when Akeyla suddenly pulled me into a hug.

"Yeah, momma Damaris is a hugger," Frankie joked as everyone seemed to laugh.

I smiled slightly as I hugged the woman back, who smelled very florally and sweet.

She suddenly pulled back from the hug, "This is my husband Terrance," she said, motioning the man over and away from Mili who seemingly went back to her phone.

"Nice to meet you," I said, holding a hand out.

The man named Terrance flashed me a smile as he shook my hand and pulled me into a brief side hug, "Our family doesn't really do handshakes," he joked as we pulled away.

Akeyla shook her head with a smile, "We're very hands-on," she said, but even I knew how hands-on they could be.

I mean, Mya always seemed to hug me anytime she saw me—and Mili...

Well, let's just say we did a lot of touching.

Clearly, it's how they grew up.

"Ah, it looks like you guys went all out this year," Akeyla said as she suddenly looked past me at the gingerbread houses.

Terrance rubbed his hands together in excitement, "I can't wait to eat all of these," he said, easily earning laughs from everyone.

"Not until we've picked a winner—Mi, come join us," Akeyla said, easily diverting my attention over to Mili.

Who still wouldn't look at me—even as she walked over to all of us.

I had never heard anyone call her anything other than Mili or Milan.

Well, except for my nickname, which was a joke.

Terrance hummed, "This one is pretty creative," he said, motioning to the Candyland gingerbread house.

Akeyla nodded as she looked at all the others, "This one's line work is really good," she told her husband, pointing to Mya and I's winter wonderland house.

Wow, they really take this competition seriously...

Akeyla and Terrance suddenly stepped away from us as they whispered to each other over in the corner.

And I couldn't help but look to Mya with a small smile, clearly amused by how serious this all was.

"Okay!" Akeyla suddenly clasped her hands together.

"We've come to a verdict," Terrance said as they both walked back over to us.

Akeyla suddenly walked to the kitchen and opened a drawer before revealing—

Medals?

Wow, this really is that serious.

I looked at the gingerbread house shaped medals—there were only six of the three different medals and the third one seemed to be the smallest, then the second one was slightly bigger, and the first one was the biggest.

There were two medals for each pair that placed.

"In third place is..." Terrance trailed off as he took the small third-place medals, "A Classic Christmas Cabin," he said, reading the label.

Arielle smiled happily as she took the medals, meanwhile, Damon seemed slightly bummed.

"I was hoping for first place this year," Damon murmured to Arielle who only nudged him to be quiet.

Akeyla held up the second place medals, "In second place is..." she trailed off with clear anticipation, "A Winter Wonderland."

Mya let out a deep breath, "Damn it," she said as she took the medals from her mom.

"Hey now," Akeyla said to Mya, and I thought she was going to scold her for cussing, but instead she said, "You know we aren't sore losers."

Mya only shrugged as she handed me one of the medals.

Honestly, second place wasn't bad for my first gingerbread house competition, so I was pretty happy.

"In first place is..." Terrance trailed off, clearly drawing it out.

Akeyla held up the first place medals, "Candyland!"

Frankie suddenly clapped happily to herself before she pulled Mili into a hug.

And now I'm officially nauseous.

Mili hesitantly hugged her back, purposefully placing her hands on Frankie's upper back.

And even if the hug was appropriate—more than appropriate actually, I still felt bothered.

Especially because Frankie was full-on hugging Mili and she was letting her—even if Mili's reciprocated hug was cordial, it still made me feel a type of way.

"Now-now guys, you know we aren't sore losers," Akeyla said, raising a brow at all of us, which easily caused everyone to begin clapping and cheering for the winners.

Meanwhile, I could only look over to Mili and Frankie as I clapped along with everyone—feeling like the biggest sore loser in the world.