She bounced up and down, gleeful, then she grabbed my copy of her calendar and flipped to her page. I studied it for a second, and then a small laugh escaped me. Shaking my head, I flicked a quick glance at her father. He looked happy sitting on a nearby couch, but he also looked weary, and I didn’t think it was because of me at the moment. Anna wasn’t wearing a bra under her thin, white tank top in the photo, and I could just make out a hint of…well, everything. Poor Martin. Maybe one of the reasons he picked on me so much was because Anna was slowly killing him. If he ever met Griffin…he would love me, I was sure.

Smiling at Anna, I told her the honest truth. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks,” she said with a bright grin. Leaning forward, she added, “You don’t think the nipple shot is a little much?”

I could only laugh and shake my head again. I tossed a piece of wrapping paper at her in answer, and she assaulted me right back with it. We got into a playful paper fight after that, and I was suddenly struck by an overwhelming sense of…family with her. Somewhere along the line, Anna had shifted from a hot girl who wanted to screw me, to my sister. Another sister. I loved the fact that I had two now.

We played for a little while, laughing, then Anna sat back and said, “We should get everyone to play a game. I bet I could kick your ass at Monopoly.”

I laughed at her assessment of my skills. “Probably. Sure, sounds like fun.”

I was about to go get Kiera when Anna grabbed my right hand. She stared at my ring with a sigh. “This is nice. I saw you give Kiera hers. For a minute there, I thought you were proposing.”

A smile crept onto my face. Someday, I will. My eyes drifted to Kiera in the kitchen. She was looking over my way, watching me, and I gave her a brief nod. I’m still fine, Kiera, if you’re still worried. I was turning back to Anna, to tell her that maybe one day we might truly be family, when I heard something that stopped me cold. My phone had just loudly chimed with a new message…and I knew exactly who it was from. Damn it.

Ice shot up my spine as I noticed Kiera heading toward where my jacket was hung up. She looked like she was going to check it for me. She probably thought it was from one of the guys, but I knew…I just knew, that wasn’t who was texting me.

No.