The Broken Sister Part 29

And he'd made it his special mission to obviously and overtly bug Ally. He went to great lengths to irritate and bother her. She wasn't imagining that. He actually tried to be in her sphere and then irritate her. She detested most interactions they shared.

"They are not your family. They are mine. You are simply some add-on tag-along who likes to flirt with your own stepmother. It's gross. And I, for one, don't need to witness it."

Nate rubbed his hands together and stepped closer to Ally. She held her ground, teeth grinding, as that knowing little half smile of his moved closer. He often invaded her personal s.p.a.ce. "You sound a little jealous, Ally-cat. I swear you spend time trying to sharpen your claws to get to me."

She pushed his shoulder so he had to step back and rolled her eyes in exaggerated annoyance. "As if I give you a thought when I don't absolutely have to."

She was halfway to the door when he asked, "So how did the geology test go for you?"

She stopped dead as her hand was in mid-air to grab the door handle. She dropped her hand to her side. That cla.s.s. It was that cla.s.s she'd gotten the B+ in. How did he know? She was sure in that moment he knew she'd bombed it and now was gloating to rub it in. For he never inquired how her cla.s.ses went. He didn't care how her cla.s.ses went.

"Fine." She kept her voice even and kept her back to him.

"I thought it was a killer. But I'm sure you aced it, right? You always do."

Yes, she always did. Always. Her brain felt like it was going to short-circuit at his mockery. He knew. There was no other reason. If she lied he'd obviously call her out, as that was most likely was what he hoped she'd do. "I didn't. I didn't ace it." She kept her voice low and casual like it was a mild disappointment to her. It was just one of those things that sucked but didn't send a girl off wanting to hurt herself.

"Are you for real? You didn't?"

She held her back erect, her neck a degree higher so her chin was raised up. He could not know how it had affected her. He just wanted to rib her about it like he did every other area of her life. But she wasn't sure right now she could handle it.

"Whatever, Nate, as if you didn't know. It's just a grade. You don't need to be such an a.s.s about it. Why don't you go talk to someone who remotely wants to see you?"

"Hey, Ally, I didn't know. Honest. I know a few other people complained it was hard too. I never dreamed it was so for you. Nothing seems to be hard for you. I'm sorry. Really."

She didn't turn around. "Whatever. Next time a door is locked, why don't you respect it?"

The house was crawling with her entire family, from her grandparents to cousins. Her sister was there with her boyfriend Tristan. The shocking knowledge that her sister had a boyfriend hadn't totally registered with Ally. She usually ignored any guy her sister was with because if her sister had picked them, they were a terrible loser, a player or a drug addict. That was just how her sister's taste had run for years. Until one day she'd shown up with Tristan Aderly. It was a shock when she met the man. He'd just turned thirty, seemed to have a well-paying corporate job, and was actually even decent to her sister. She had watched for two years as Kylie had made out with guys, sometimes several guys... all while she was drunk or high or both at some college party or another. Ally had been at the parties mostly to keep an eye on her wild, often destructive sister. Ally had gone to parties and drank. She'd had boyfriends on and off throughout all of high school and college, but she couldn't quite understand Kylie's needs to sleep around so much or with such crazy wild abandon. Ally lived in fear her sister would end up pregnant or fighting some nasty venereal disease. She listened to the comments about her sister and it made her want to stick her fingers into her mouth. She could not stand to hear Kylie be diminished by gossip and terrible slurs. They merely beat down her sister's already fragile personality.

Ally wasn't fragile. She wasn't soft-spoken or shy. She was b.a.l.l.s to the walls with anyone she caught saying the hate-speech about her sister, or any girl really. It was all so hypocritical to Ally.

But things had been so much better since Tristan had entered Kylie's life just two months ago. He was so anti-Kylie's type that Ally had been secretly totally sure it wasn't even worth meeting him. Not for two days did Ally think this would stick. But then she'd met him and saw the oddest d.a.m.n thing: he was crazy about Kylie, and she him. It was obvious in the way they interacted, looked at each other, the little touches they both did without much thought that they were doing it. It was not how Ally had ever pictured Kylie's life developing. It shamed Ally but when she'd met Tristan her immediate first and impulsive thought was that he belonged with her, not Kylie. There was nothing about Tristan that, at first glance, fit with Kylie. He was put together, well-presented and well-spoken, stable, and seemed so normal. Kylie was none of those things. Even their looks didn't match. Tristan looked like he'd be Ally's boyfriend. Ally had always pictured she'd end up with an older guy just because she found guys her own age, like Nate, for instance, immature and stupid. They were a waste of time and s.p.a.ce for anything real in her opinion. They were good for college memories but for her real life, once it started, she truly pictured someone older, established, successful... Someone like Tristan Aderly.

But Tristan was into her sister. It didn't totally compute.

Still, witnessing Kylie like now, smiling and chatting at a Christmas party while her hand rested in Tristan's and she leaned her head back to rest casually on his shoulder and he just leaned down and absently kissed her forehead as he chatted with their uncle Tony. So far, the entire family loved Tristan. He was good at small talk. He was polite, well-informed, and capable of handling most types of personalities. It was just so odd it was Kylie who brought home the normal, successful guy and it was Cousin Olivia who'd found the screwed-up drug dealer last year, and Ally who had never found anyone worth even bringing to the family.

Check my website to stay tuned for a release date!.

My Other t.i.tles:.

The Sister Series is about the emotional scars and battles that are often hidden in people.

Rape. Drugs. Abuse. Violence. Pain. Betrayal.

And how they can be overcome.

Love. Joy. Family. Forgiveness. Faith. Hope. Redemption.

The Other Sister.

The Years Between The Good Sister.

The Best Friend.

The Wrong Sister The Years After.

The Broken Sister.

Daughters is a spinoff series of the Sister Series about Jessie's (The Other Sister) daughters.

Christina.

Natalie.

The Rydell River Ranch is a large horse training, boarding and breeding operation, owned and operated by four brothers who are left in charge of their century old legacy in the small, rural town of River's End.

River's End.

River's Escape.

River's Return Share in the fall, rise and fulfillment of rock band Zenith's destiny...

Zenith Falling.

Zenith Rising Zenith Fulfilled.

The characters are all connected to Seaclusion, Washington a fictional town set along the Pacific Ocean.

Poison.

Notorious Secrets Seclusion.

My Standalone Novel.

Jason Malone has spent his life being denied by his family. His father, the respected mayor of his hometown, has all but ignored his existence, while his drug-addicted mother has always caused him more harm than good. After being unjustly imprisoned for crimes that lead back to his absentee family, he is finally starting to get his life back together again.

Until the day his estranged brother's fiancee walks into his life and changes everything.

Christine Andrews is the dutiful daughter of a rich and powerful family, engaged to Trent Gallagher, her father's right hand man, and poised to join her father and Trent in running the empire her father has built. Until Christine discovers the existence of Jason Malone and suddenly she begins to doubt everything around her, including her fiance.

Christine becomes caught in a power struggle between the two brothers, but she soon realizes there is far more at stake than her heart, when one night everything is altered forever...

About the Author.

I live in the rainy area of Western, Washington, and spend as much time as I can getting away from the rain by traveling to destinations all across the state where my family and I do tons of camping, boating, fishing, and horseback riding. Many of the locations we camp become the basis for my books. Most of my settings are fictional but are based on real places.

I earned my business degree from Western Washington University. I worked for several years in the construction management field before turning to writing and being home with my kids.

Other t.i.tles by Leanne Davis.

Diversions.

River's End Series.

River's End River's Escape.

River's Return The Sister Series The Other Sister.

The Years Between The Good Sister The Best Friend The Wrong Sister.

The Years After The Broken Sister Daughters Series.

Christina Natalie.

The Zenith Trilogy.

Zenith Falling Zenith Rising.

Zenith Fulfilled.

The Seaclusion Series.

Poison.

Notorious.

Secrets Seclusion.