Page 113 of Not In The Contract

Denny visibly relaxed, and maybe I did too. At least Tamera hadn’t noticed.

“Where are the twins?” I asked, looking around or rather,listeningfor any sound of them.

In terms of age, the twins, Cath and Wren, were the second eldest after Tamera. They were fifteen, Junior was turning ten, and Denny was just seven. The age gaps had been a great source of entertainment from the moment Tamera invited me over for Christmas the first time. And even after all these years, the twins still scared me.

“Oh, I’ll get them!” Denny offered, and bolted upstairs before either of us could respond.

“Damn, I was hoping they’d be out with friends.” Tamera giggled. “Those little shits give me the creeps.”

I snorted and sat on the sofa next to her. “They’re like half your age,” I scoffed, as if I wasn’t scared of them myself. “Can’t you just exercise some of your oldest sibling power with them?”

Tamera shook her head solemnly. “It wears off once they get to their teens,” she lamented. “Suddenly, they’re adults and nothing you say can change their minds.”

“Do they still talk without talking?”

I hadn’t visited in almost a year, but the twins barely spoke in public. They didn’t even speak to each other much, communicating through their weird twin telepathy.

“It’s gotten worse,” Tamera said. “You’ll see for yourself if they come downstairs. But forget that. You said you needed to talk.”

“Is it okay to do it here?” I asked, casting a glance around her family home.

“You’re not going to spill the dirty deets, right?” she asked, and I vehemently shook my head, appalled at the mere thought. “Then it’s fine. Go ahead.”

I took a deep breath and decided to just… get on with it.

“I’m in trouble with Alex,” I said quietly. I felt Tamera tense up next to me. “I’m falling hard.”

“Oh, honey.” Tamera frowned sympathetically. “We all knew that.”

“I’m being serious,” I insisted, despite the small smile on my face. “I think I’ve got it bad.”

“So what’s the issue?”

“It’s Jamie.” I sighed.

“The sister, right?”

I nodded.

“Doesn’t she have a life and friends of her own?” Tamera grumbled, leaning back into the pillows and crossing one leg over the other. “Why does she need to latch onto Alex like a little leech?”

“I can’t even tell you to be nice,” I huffed. “Not when I feel the same way. I feel like she’s constantly waiting in the wings, ready to jump in between us at a moment’s notice.”

“You talked to Alex about it, right?” she asked, and I wanted to bury my face in my hands.

“Yes,” I said. “And no.”

“What do you mean?”

“We talked about her sister,” I explained. “But I haven’t told her how I feel, or how Jamie’s interruptions are making me feel like some disposable piece of ass-”

“Hey, language!” Tamera hissed. “If Mom catches you saying that she’ll hand me my ass for sure.”

“Sorry.” I winced. “But you get what I mean. I feel like I’m not really that important, so how can I be so salty over her prioritizing her own sister?”

“Because from what you’ve told me, her sister is toxic.” Tamera shrugged. “Mine may still be young, and we haven’t experienced the same stuff, but we’d never do that to each other. I mean,maybeI’ve thought about selling Junior for a single corn chip, andmaybethe twins are my solid evidence that aliens exist, but I love them. I’d die if I knew I was hurting them repeatedly.”

“That’s the thing.” I sighed pensively. “I don’t know if Alex sees it that way.”