Just Us Relatives

Prologue

The party is small, only littered with a few of his closest friends, but loud enough to attract attention. He probably wouldn't have noticed--he probably wouldn't have thrown that breathtaking smile at the shrubs dividing the neighbors' yard from his and melted Evelyn's heart--had Grant Mills not pointed out that damned bumblebee. Truthfully, it wasn't Grant's fault. It was Irene's, because the minute she heard bee, she jerked out of the bushes (only to stand there like a deer caught in headlights, until Evelyn promptly yanked her down).

While the party continued on, and no one really paid much mind to the two girls who were clearly crashing the party--indirectly--Evelyn couldn't stop her cheeks from heating up, an ever-present red blush gracing her usually pale cheeks. She had never outright confessed to a crush--she could never, because the utter humiliation she would feel would kill her before she could ever find someone new to pine after--but somehow they always have a way of making her feel rejected.

It wasn't his smile that made her heart hurt; she was hurt that, despite knowing they were there, he did nothing to invite them in. Of course, she could understand how teenage girls hanging around his place could come across as weird, but she had expected so much more from him. It is not as if they don't know each other. It is not as if she is a stranger.

After all, they would be siblings in four months.