My mouth drops open and I feel the heat in my face. My body was already heating up from the alcohol but now I feel like I am borderline on fire. “I can’t believe I told you that, and I can’t believe we are talking about it!” I take the shot without him.

“Hey!”

I raise my middle finger as I take a sip of the ginger ale to ease the burn of the whiskey going down. “You should have thought of that before bringing up that.”

“I’m sorry, Gab…I was just wondering.”

“Why?”

He shrugs. “It was just a question.”

“Are you?”

“A virgin?” He snorts. “Yeah, I’m saving myself for marriage.”

“I’ll bet,” I mutter. “To answer your question, Mr. Invasive, yes, I am a virgin.”

A smile pulls at his lips before he takes his shot. “Good to hear.”

“Why is that good to hear?”

He raises an eyebrow and shoots me a look. “Ummm because you’re my little sister and I’m insanely protective of you. I’m sorry, have we met?”

I giggle and am very aware that three shots do make me tipsy so I do need to start being cognizant of how many of these I take down. I take a bite of my pepperoni pizza, and another and another, trying to eat as much as I can between drinks to keep me as sober as possible.

James pours another shot for himself and takes it, putting him at four and I frown wondering why he didn’t pour one for me.

As if he can hear my thoughts, he responds, “I don’t want to push you. Have to space you out some.”

“Yeah, can’t drink quite like you yet, old man,” I tease, using Harper’s nickname.

He frowns, though I think he’s trying to be funny. “You think I’m old?”

“You’re almost thirty, J.”

“That’s not old.”

“Okay compared to me, it feels old.”

“I’m only eleven years older than you,” he counters.

“So weird to think you were thirteen when I came barging into your life.” I laugh remembering it. “And now you’re about to be thirty.”

“Fuck. It does feel like a lifetime ago when you say it like that. What are we going to do for my birthday? You planning a party for me?” he asks and my eyes widen.

“You want me to? Don’t you have some friends over the age of twenty-one that would be better at planning a party for you? Not your underaged sister?”

He rests his forearms on his knees and plays with his empty glass before turning his gaze to me. “No one knows me better than you. Besides, I would rather spend my birthday with you than just about anyone.”