Page 3 of The Other Side of Green

“Please,” she cried, the word breaking.

I wished I could set her free. Wished I could let her fly.

But I couldn’t. Selfish, disgusting greed kept me dangling her on a piece of string.

“Lyra,” I leaned closer, my breath on her skin, the air tight between us, so tight the small alleyway between our houses constricted. “You know I…”

“Jack!” We sprung apart at Luca’s call and I shot a guilty glance at her face. How long could I live like this? Another three years, four years, five?

When would jonesing on my best friend’s baby sister not be an issue?

“What’re you guys doing?” Luca jogged down the steps of the house, his hair wet and dripping onto a bright green T-shirt. He looked between us expectantly and I flashed him a grin.

“Oh, you know, winding the kid up here. You know I like to make it a daily ordeal.”

Lyra’s lips pressed into a firm line and Luca and I chuckled. “Finished for the day?” she asked and I smirked.

I rocked back on my heels, curling my lips into a snarl. “Sure, I think I’m done for the day.”

She turned to leave, and I pushed down the strange gnawing sensation inside.

“Hey, Lyra. Wait.” Luca called her back. “Have you got homework?”

She let out a deep sigh and turned away from us on her heel. “No, Daaad.”

Luca flinched, but then spread his habitual smirk across his face. “I was going to go down the sink hole; you guys fancy it?”

“Me?” She swung back around. “But you hate spending time with me. I’m the… now what was it you called me…” She pretended to think. “Ah, that’s right, ‘Lyra, my baby sister. If you ignore her, she’ll go and read a book’.”

Luca laughed, pushing his dark blond hair back from his eyes where the wet strands had started to wave. “Hey, I’ve only said that a few times. But you are my little sister.” He shot me a glance I couldn’t decipher. “What do you think, Jack, shall we take her out?”

I swallowed hard and glanced between them. I know he liked to moan about his baby sister tagging along, but sometimes I couldn’t help but wonder if he was still stamping his big brother badge all over her just so no one could question it. They looked fuck all alike—and we’d been in enough fights over the years to discuss it. Now she was growing up, blossoming, well, Luca had a job on his hands making sure every douche in a ten-block radius knew exactly who’d be asking the questions.

“Sure?” I answered, almost a question. Did I want to go to the sink hole with Luca and Lyra. I probably shouldn’t. Which of course meant I would.

“I’m guessing you don’t have anything else on?” Luca’s lips hooked into a lopsided grin. “Aren’t there people you want to avoid today, or girls I should say.”

“Who?” Lyra blurted, her quick gaze landing on me with accusation, telling me she knew I’d lied to her about Raven Smoake—I hadn’t, scouts honor. My fingers hadn’t been anywhere near her.

Luca laughed and punched me lightly in the stomach. “All of them, right, Jack?”

My smile tightened and I couldn’t look at her. “Yeah, bro, that sounds about right. All of them.”

The lie slipped out easy. All lies were easier than the truth.

I’d fallen in love with my best friend’s baby sister, and there couldn’t be anything more wrong.

Chapter Two

Lyra ~ Present Day

God, my stomach. It clenched so hard, it ached like a heavy ball. I shifted and wedged my balled-up denim jacket under my neck, forcing my eyes shut.

The town names were becoming more familiar, the air a little drier, the trees different, the neighborhoods starting to look a lot more like home. The Greyhound had taken me back to the south.

Emptiness hollowed inside me. I consisted of nothing but black and the giant ball in my stomach.

Jack. His name echoed in my head.