Miah (Lane Brothers #2) Read Online Free Page A

need to get to the bathroom before I disgrace myself.”
    She waddles into the kitchen a few minutes later as I’m unpacking the mountain of junk food and taking it all in with dread. Ellie is great and I usually love being around the girl, but ever since she married Wyatt, she’s been stuffing her face with all manner of junk and she expects me to follow suit.
    I’m not complaining since I enjoy a good tub of Rocky Road and chocolate, but she takes this stuff to a whole other level.
    “Now then, ahh , that’s better,” she moans, lowering herself into a chair at the table and kicking off her flats. “You didn’t call.”
    “Sorry. I kind of got sidetracked by Nick and his stuff again,” I groan, pulling my hand back in the nick of time when she lunges for the ice cream and chocolate sauce.
    “Nick called? How? I thought you changed your number when you left.”
    “I did. Twice. But he keeps ferreting it out, and no, I’m not impressed, either, since he’s taken his stalking to a whole new level and sent me clothes this afternoon,” I huff, taking a scoop from her ice cream.
    Eating with the rabid wolverine is a chance I take at my own peril, but this conversation definitely requires a sugar coma and the endorphins that come along with it.
    “What! Crap, Clari, the man is getting worse. He knows where you live?”
    “Apparently. He called to let me know that he wants me to wear the clothes. Oh, and get this, he still thinks I’m coming home.”
    The ice cream helps now that I’m not as afraid or angry as I was before Ellie arrived.
    “You need to be careful, Clari, this does not sound normal.”
    No, but it’s not exactly what Ellie went through with her stalker, and we both know it. While I appreciate her concern, I’m conscious of the fact that to Ellie, it’s never going to seem anything less than a DEFCON situation when a man shows a little too much interest.
                  “It’ll be fine, El. He’s just annoyed that I haven’t run back to him with my tail tucked between my legs. He should really know better, though, because after growing up with Mary in that trailer, even my humble little cottage is a palace.”
    It’s not exactly the huge, pristine house Nick bought for us, but it’s enough for me and definitely a step up from my childhood home.
    “God, remember when we went to visit your mom that one year?”
    As if I could forget. The trailer looked like hell and she’d confessed that the last time it was cleaned was when I was still living at home. We’d eaten takeout I couldn’t afford but was forced to buy when the cupboards yielded only an expired can of bean soup, bread hard as a brick, and the refrigerator actually echoed when I pulled it open because it was so bare.
                  “Yup. She’s doing better now after Nick started sending her checks, but I can’t see her all of a sudden turning into Martha Stewart and cleaning things up.”
    Ellie huffs and starts eating in silence—a sure sign that she’s been making small talk and has more than just Nick and Mom on the brain. I already know what she’s come here to say, and while I love her for trying to include me in her family, I’m not happy about it, either.
    “Jude invited you to dinner, and before you say no, I have to warn you that she’s dropping by in about ten minutes to get you there. Kicking and screaming if she has to.”
    “Ellie…come on! You know why I don’t—”
    “Miah’s not going to be home for a while. He left to go to DC this afternoon, so calm yourself, sister. This is just a family dinner, not us matchmaking again.”
    “Ugh, fine. I’ll come, but I swear, Ellie, if Jeremiah is there, I’m not going to be happy.”
    The sly little minx just grins and keeps eating her contraband ice cream, all the while giving me sidelong glances.
                  An invitation is one thing, but having Jude arrive on my doorstep is another. So if the oaf gets moody