The Summer Deal (Wildstone #5)(68)

Brynn stared at her for a beat and then let out a low, mirthless snort. “I laugh when people fall too.”

Middle ground. So they were both messed up. She’d take it. “I couldn’t locate my dad.” At the time, anyway.

“Our dad,” Brynn said.

“Yeah.” Please don’t ask me about him . . . “Our dad.”

Brynn appeared to think about that for a minute. “You called me. And okay, I was rude. But then when I called you back, you hung up. And then you wouldn’t answer my return calls.”

“I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t ask you for a kidney.”

“How about just to let me know we were sisters so that I could make my own decisions on what I would or wouldn’t give you?” Brynn shook her head. “But you didn’t do any of that. You just decided for me.”

“Guilty,” Kinsey said softly.

“You could’ve died,” Brynn said just as softly. “You would’ve preferred that to swallowing your pride?”

“I think you might be underestimating the size of my pride,” Kinsey said, again trying to joke.

But apparently Brynn still wasn’t playing. “Trust me, I know just how big it is. I knew it then and I know it now.” Brynn shook her head. “So why are you telling me all of this? Why did you allow any of it to happen? You could have gone on as is, never saying a word, not letting me move in. I never would’ve known the difference.”

“I thought about doing just that,” Kinsey admitted.

Brynn didn’t look impressed. In fact, she looked even more irritated. Kinsey wasn’t surprised. She had that effect on a lot of people.

“Okay, so clearly you received a kidney.”

“Yes.” Kinsey hesitated, because this part sucked.

“If you want me to walk away, then by all means, please stop,” Brynn said.

Kinsey drew a deep breath. “So my first kidney donor was a kid from my high school.” She polished off her mimosa and turned away to set down the glass, staying where she was, staring out the kitchen window. “Our surgeries went well, but then complications happened.”

“Complications?”

“Yeah. Big ones.” Kinsey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “He died.”

“Oh my God. Kinsey.” Brynn came up beside her. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. So you can see why I’ve got an aversion to talking about this.” She couldn’t look at Brynn. So she went back to staring out the window. High tide, and surf was up. Max was most likely out there. Maybe even Eli by now too. No, Eli wouldn’t have left. He was no doubt standing by somewhere close, making sure she and Brynn didn’t kill each other.

“But you had complications too,” Brynn said.

“Yes. My body’s been trying to reject the kidney ever since.”

Brynn looked sick. “Just how bad is it?”

“It’s not as bad as you’re thinking. I’ve got dialysis three times a week—that’s just a part of life for me.” She shrugged. “I’m used to it. There’re a few other annoying symptoms, but whatever. I’m alive. That kid isn’t.”

Brynn appeared to take this all in. “I assume Eli, Max, Deck . . . and everyone you know has already gotten tested and isn’t a match. I’m getting tested ASAP.”

Kinsey shook her head. “Don’t bother. I’m not taking a kidney from anyone alive. Especially you.”

Brynn blinked, looking shocked. “Kins—”

“I mean it.”

Brynn’s eyes narrowed. “You do realize you’re not the boss of me, right?”

“This isn’t a joke.”

“Agreed,” Brynn said. “And I’m not joking, I’m deadly serious. I’d give a stranger my kidney if they needed it. Why wouldn’t I give my ex-frenemy turned sister the same?”

Kinsey’s heart hitched. “So . . . we’re not frenemies anymore?”

Brynn looked at her for a long beat, during which Kinsey tried to keep breathing.

“To be determined,” Brynn finally said. “But whatever we are, we’re also most definitely sisters. Which isn’t the same thing as friends.”

Kinsey absorbed that blow, but then Brynn said, “Sisters are better than friends. Hand me your phone.”

Kinsey was completely turned inside out, dizzy from the emotional whiplash. “What?”

Brynn grabbed Kinsey’s phone, then waved it in front of Kinsey’s face to unlock it. She brought up the contacts and searched for something. “Where am I?” she finally asked.

Kinsey grimaced. “Under Pain in My Ass.”

Brynn rolled her eyes, then changed it to Best Sister on the Planet before downloading an app called Find Your People.

“What are you doing now?” Kinsey asked.

“This app allows us to locate each other.”

“What the hell for?”

“Because that’s what sisters do.”

Kinsey blinked.

“Look,” Brynn said. “Other than your mom, I’m basically your only blood relative. I mean, since neither of us knows where our dad is, right?”

Kinsey hesitated, then forced herself to look Brynn right in the eyes as she nodded. She hadn’t protected Brynn from much, but she could do this. Because God willing, Brynn would never know their father. “And you’re not getting tested.”