The memory of our almost-kiss last week rippled through me. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore, I had it bad. But it was way beyond the physical desire churning in my gut. I wanted every piece of her…she just wasn’t ready to give them to me yet.

“Is Amber coming?” Sean asked, rounding the corner while I heard Tessa race back upstairs to change clothes.

I blinked out of my thoughts.

“Nah,” I said, waving him off. “This is family tradition.”

Not that I wouldn’t love to have her here. To be a part of something so important between my siblings and me.

“Wow,” Sean said, sinking onto the couch and cracking open a can of soda. “I hadn’t realized we meant that much to you.”

I rolled my eyes, taking my seat at the opposite end of the couch. “Sure,” I said. “And you’re missing college-level parties on a Friday night to watch a movie with your kid siblings because you don’t care.”

He set the can on the coffee table, grinning. “It’s not just any movie. It’s the movie.” His brow furrowed and he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling like he’d forgotten something.

“What?” I asked.

“Come here,” he said, whispering while he stared at the ceiling.

Is Tessa talking to someone up there?

I leaned in closer, straining my ears to hear.

A hard, solid punch stung my shoulder, and I flinched back, instantly rubbing the sore spot. “What the fuck, dude?”

“Just keeping you on your toes,” he said before arching his head back. “Tessa!” he screamed.

“I’m coming!” she yelled back.

“Damn,” Sean said. “How long can it take to put on PJs?”

I laughed. “Dude, you’ve been away too long. She takes two hours to get ready in the morning.”

“No shit?”

“It’s so annoying. I have to steal Mom’s bathroom to get ready.”

Sean snorted. “And all her products she’s obsessed with are everywhere.”

“For real,” I said. “I walk out of there smelling like a chick every time.”

We laughed until our sides hurt. Until Tessa finally came downstairs.

“Why are you two always laughing when I walk into the room?” she asked, plopping down between us.

“Because we’re talking about you,” Sean said.

“Naturally,” I agreed.

She rolled her eyes, folding her legs beneath her before she reached for the remote. “First up?” Tessa clicked the remote’s source button, pulling up the Blu-ray I’d put in earlier. “Yes!” She fist-bumped the air and hit play.

“This movie is such a classic,” Sean said.

“Seriously,” Tessa agreed.

“A time when it was all new and not corrupted,” I added.

“Shh,” Tessa chided me as the Hackers opening flashed across the screen. She grabbed a slice out of the pizza box and handed it to me. Then Sean, then herself. “Cheers,” she whispered, tapping her pizza against ours.