"You always say you'll make pancakes but you don't," Kyla points out. She's not wrong. Usually, the only way they'll come to the dinner table is if I mention pancakes.
I sigh, giving in. "How about I let you have a Pop Tart before dinner?" I barter.
"Yes!" the twins shout, rushing over to the kitchen cabinet where they know the Pop Tarts are stored.
I stir the pasta on the stove and pour them both some milk to go with their Pop Tarts.
"Bee, there's a biker dude outside," Kyla says. You might think her words would concern her, but she barely even looks up, turning back to her Pop Tart in a matter of seconds.
"A biker dude?" I repeat, confused.
Suddenly there's a loud knock on the door. I leave the pasta on stove, walking over to answer the door.
Ethan is at soccer practice, and my mom is picking up Ollie today. That leaves Destiny and the twins here with me.
I open the door to see Sin standing there, a black leather jacket over a maroon shirt and black jeans. Soft-looking chocolate brown curls threaten to fall over his tan face, as I can tell he hasn't cut it in a while. His motorcycle shines in the background, making him look like the bad boy of every cliché teen girl's dreams.
"Sin? What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you, too, Sunshine."
I let out a breath of air. "Sorry, um, hi."
I reach to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear before stopping myself. Sin's eyes are too keen on my nervous habits.
An odd moment of silence follows as I wait for Sin to say something.
"I heard about what you did yesterday," he finally says. He folds his arms, looking really good doing it.
It seems like a bit of a shame, honestly. Sin is so incredibly gorgeous for someone who is so rude and unsociable most of the time. It doesn't seem fair.
Sin was missing all day from school, and missed the incident with Emily at the café. It doesn't surprise me that someone caught him up quickly.
I remember Taylor's comment then. "Sin is usually the one to pull stunts like this."
"What, are you mad that you didn't get a chance to get revenge first?" I ask him, crossing my arms to match his stand-offish stance.
"What?" he asks, seeming confused about my insinuation. "No, I came here to-"
"I CAN'T REACH THE MILK!" Kyler screams from the kitchen, cutting off Sin, and then I hear something crash.
I turn away from the door and see Kyler sitting on Kyla's shoulders, reaching for the gallon of milk on the top shelf.
"Get down, you two!" I shout, running away from the door to stop them from breaking something or hurting themselves.
I pull Kyler off his twin sister's shoulders and put him down on his feet. They rush back over to the table, and I pick up the empty metal pot they somehow knocked over in the process, putting it back in its place.
"You weren't kidding when you said your house is chaos," Sin remarks, trailing behind me inside. I smile, refilling Kyler's cup of milk.
"And you came on a calm day," I add, walking back over to put the milk in the fridge.
"Is this your boyfriend?" Kyler asks with a bright white milk mustache around his top lip.
"No," I tell him. "This is Sin. He goes to school with me," I introduce them, walking back over to the table with a small hand towel. I wipe Kyler's face off, but he immediately drinks more from his cup, creating another milk mustache. I roll my eyes, giving up.
"Your name is Sin?" Kyler asks him. "Isn't that what Ms. Scott told us not to do because Jesus gets mad at us?"
I smile at Kyler's innocence. Ms. Scott is his and Kyla's Sunday school teacher. "Sometimes words have different meanings, Ky. 'Sin' can mean a bad thing, like something God doesn't want you to do, but it's also a name."
It's not really a name, but I don't add that. I still don't understand the meaning behind Sin's name, but I have yet to ask him. There's no way his parents named him Sin, but I don't know why he calls himself that either.
"Is that why he's not your boyfriend?" Kyler continues. "Because his name is too complicated?"
"No. She's too good for him," Kyla states, making me smile.
I look up at Sin, a haughty look on my face. I see that even he's even cracked a smile at her comment. Moments like these remind me why I love my siblings.
"Sorry, Sin," I apologize, realizing I'm being a bit rude. "This is my brother and sister, Kyla and Kyler."
"You have a lot of coloring on your arms," Kyler tells him before taking a giant bite of his Pop Tart.
Sin walks over, bends down beside him, and pushes up his jacket sleeve, turning his arm over so Kyler can see his tattoos better. "What do you think? Are they scary?"
Sin's actions shock me as I watch him from the kitchen. He's always so guarded and stoic. Seeing him so kind and caring toward my siblings is unusual for me.
The next thing Sin does shocks me the most.
As Kyler reaches out and grabs his arm, he shouts, "No way. They're so cool!" Sin's face lights up in a big, dazzling smile.
His smile is so enchanting, I can't hardly look away. He's still bent over, smiling at Kyler as he looks intently at Sin's tattoos. I stop stirring the pasta on the stove and take in the rare sight.
He stands up and Kyler turns back to his food, Sin's smile fading away too quickly. He looks back up at me, but surprisingly, his hard, stoic expression doesn't return immediately.
"Sorry," I say, joining them beside the table again. "Kyler, try and behave yourself."
"He's fine," Sin assures me. "Really."
For such a guarded guy, Sin really seems to be able to let his walk down around my siblings. Maybe he's still just a kid at heart.
"Guys, why don't you go upstairs and get Destiny to come down for dinner?" I ask them, wanting to get to the bottom of why Sin is here.
"Whyyy," Kyla whines. "Dee won't even eat anything! She just complains about calories and stuff."
I frown at Kyla's words, swallowing hard. "Just go, please. I want her to come and eat something."
Sin looks at me closely when I say this, and I wonder if he can tell what we mean. Hopefully not. That'd be a bit embarrassing.
"Sorry about the chaos," I apologize as the twins leave the room. "What were you saying earlier?"
I lean against the column between the kitchen and dining area, waiting for Sin's answer.
"Peyton told me what you did for him earlier. I was pretty impressed."
"Wow. A compliment? From Sin Black himself? I feel honored," I say with an amused smirk.
"I'm serious, Haven. Peyton's family is tough enough on him without Huntington causing more trouble. Someone needed to do something," he tells me.
He looks away, then says, "I won't lie, I do wish I would have been there so I could be the one to take care of it."
Is Sin feeling guilty?
"But since I wasn't, I thought I should just..." His eyes flicker back to mine, continuing, "say thanks."
He does feel guilty. Sin might be tough and intimidating, always keeping his emotions hidden behind a stoic expression, but I can tell he feels like it's his responsibility to watch out for his whole group of friends.
"You don't have to thank me, Sin," I say. "I just wanted to do something to make Peyton feel better."
His eyes cloud with darkness at that information.
"Well, either way, it needed done. So thanks," he says, his expression back to being as hard as ever.
"It's not your responsibility," I tell him suddenly.
He looks back up at me, his green eyes full of intrigue. "What isn't my responsibility?"
"Protecting all your friends," I answer. "I can tell you feel... guilty." I speak carefully, not wanting to piss him off any more than necessary. "They're all adults. You shouldn't worry too much. They can take care of themselves."
He looks at me intently. I seem to have hit right on the money, because he takes a deep breath as his eyes widen ever so slightly with surprise.
He surprises me in return by not denying it.
"Just because they can doesn't mean they should have to."
I stay quiet and let him go on. "You've only been here a couple weeks," he points out. "There's a lot that's happened in the past that you don't know about. The least I can do is try and keep them out of trouble."
I take this information in slowly, not sure what he means. Everything Sin ever says seems like a new piece of the puzzle he is, but it's so unique I can't tell how to connect it with another piece, if I even have enough of them to work with.
"I wish I could read you," I say abruptly, speaking my mind without intending to.
Sin scoffs lightly, then mutters, "You don't seem to have any trouble with that."
Before I can ask what he means, my three little siblings come bouncing down the stairs.
"I told you I wasn't hungry, Bee," Destiny says. I furrow my brows in concern.
"Destiny, please just go to the table. We're having salad and pasta," I tell her.
She looks at me as if I threatened to shoot her.
"Do you think Kendall Jenner eats pasta?" she asks me, a petulant preteen expression on her face. "I'll answer that for you. No. She does not. And she has a great figure."
"You should really eat something, Destiny," I tell her. "And honestly, Kendall Jenner should not really be your role model."
Someone has clearly deemed today "Sin Shocks Haven Day" because he decides to step in and back me up.
"Believe me. There's nothing hotter than a girl with a big appetite," Sin says, his eyes flickering between me and Destiny.
Destiny nearly drops her jaw at these words, staring up at Sin with awe. She looks him up and down, clearly noticing the appeal he has on all teenage girls. I can't imagine how she feels having this six-foot-something, tattooed, walking-intimidation named Sin Black tell her to have an appetite.
"You... you really think so?"
"Absolutely," the tattooed man beside me says, leaning casually against the edge of the wall. "It shows you she's confident. That she doesn't care what other people think about her. What matters is just that she's happy."
My heart swells as I hear Sin say this.
I've been worried sick over Destiny's health, and how much she already worries about her looks. Sin has no idea how much his words mean, or how much they could potentially help.
I deem myself a master of reading people, but now... I'm convinced I'll never know how to read Sin. I kind of hated him a little at first, after he called me Hellen Keller, but after seeing this side of him, I can hardly even remember feeling that way.
"I mean..." Destiny considers this, looking between Sin and I. She nods and says, "Okay." She walks over to the dining table, and I beam.
I look over at Sin. I have no idea what to even say.
Luckily, I don't have to because Sin speaks first. "Where is your brother?"
"Ethan is at soccer practice," I say, then lean over to check the clock on the wall. "...but he's probably going to be home any minute."
I remember Sin asking me if Ethan was my brother, but he said he didn't know him.
"Is he staying for dinner?" Destiny asks, looking shyly at Sin as she asks me.
"No," he tells her. "I'm actually leaving now." He turns back to me after that. "See you tomorrow, Sunshine."
"BYE, BIKER DUDE!" Kyla and Kyler shout in unison, waving their arms frantically.
He gives them another smile—shocking me again—then a small wave before walking out the door.
I walk back to the kitchen, finishing the pasta and cleaning up a bit as my thoughts run wild.
Sin came all the way to my house just to thank me for defending our friend? He must feel very strongly about protecting his friends if that's the only reason he came here.
"Who was that?" Destiny asks, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Biker Dude," Kyla answers, looking at Destiny through her knotted reddish hair.
"That's not a name," Destiny argues.
"Trust me, you want to stick with Biker Dude," Kyler gives her a look. "His name is complicated."
Destiny looks a little confused, but doesn't object to the nickname.
"Well, I like him."