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21

Dex

I t was only when she turned 21 that I began to see her in a slightly different light.

She was suddenly mature, beautiful. Not that she hadn’t always been beautiful, but I guess I’d just never looked at her like anything more than Danny’s kid sister.

But something about the night of her 21st… maybe it was the way she looked in her gold gown that set off her red hair. I’m sure that had something to do with it. But she was just so happy, full of joy, really coming into her own. And it stirred feelings inside of me that I didn’t expect.

But out of a healthy respect for her and her brother, I stayed away.

I didn’t want to come off as some old creep. And if there’s one thing about me, I’m loyal as fuck. Sure, her brother and I have had our issues.

It’s funny looking back, because I was always the ‘bad’ one in our duo. The one voted most likely to end up with a mugshot. Danny was always more flashy, a real salesman, who presented himself as this squeaky clean family man .

But we ended up falling out.

He wasn’t who he pretended to be on the outside. He’s a serial cheater, among other things, and seeing it devastate his family really rubbed me the wrong way.

But even though we don’t really talk anymore other than shooting each other a Facebook message or a quick text to say happy birthday each year, I still respect the guy in a few ways.

Even though she’s beautiful, intelligent, funny… there are so many women out there who aren’t his little sister. And so out of respect, I’ll stay away.

But it doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop thinking about her.