Thrive (Addicted, #4)(23)

“Are we having a sister powwow?” Daisy asks as she jumps on our father’s oak desk.

Rose said she had something important to tell us, so the four of us retreated to the study before our mom calls us back for pie.

I sit on the uglier paisley armchair, a spring hurting my butt. I silently wish for the Hale’s leather couches that I can sink into.

“Did Connor propose?” Poppy asks, a smile already enveloping her face. She crosses her legs on the suede couch.

Rose flinches back in surprise. “Of course not.”

I try to adjust on the chair. Nope, the spring is definitely going to bruise my ass after this.

Poppy says, “I thought you were scared of babies, not matrimony.”

“First of all”—Rose paces in front of us—“I am not scared of babies. I hate babies. They scream for no reason and can’t walk properly.”

I shake my head.

Daisy laughs, swinging her legs and tossing a crystal paperweight in her hand.

“They’re little—” Poppy tries to justify.

“Devils. They’re little devils that only exist to annoy me.”

She’s too dramatic for her own good.

“And strangely,” Poppy says, “Maria adores you out of every person in the family. Why is that?”

“I don’t know. That’s obviously a character flaw on your daughter’s part. She can’t tell who her enemies are.”

I snort.

Poppy sighs heavily and then looks to me. “Is she afraid of marriage?” She wants a confirmation since I’m the closest to Rose.

I hold up my hands. “I know nothing.” I wait for someone to mention Jon Snow and Game of Thrones, but I realize that Lo’s the only one who’d understand the reference. Wrong audience. And he’s in the den with Connor and Sam.

Ryke was invited, seeing as how he’s not on speaking terms with his mom, but he refused to come. He said that he couldn’t be in the same room as Jonathan Hale, his father. There’s still bad blood there, but I wish he’d show up for Lo and for himself.

I picture Ryke all alone at his apartment, watching sports and eating a sandwich, no big fancy dinner. No family or companions, not even the loud, rowdy kind. There’s something sad about Ryke Meadows that he won’t let us see, but its quiet moments like this, where he’s gone, that I feel it anyway.

“…we haven’t even had sex.” I catch the tail end of Rose’s explanation.

“Yeah,” Daisy says, “but I thought you were just waiting until marriage.”

Rose pauses in the middle of the floor. “I’m waiting until I’m ready and with someone I love,” she refutes. “I’m not even sure I want to be married. And Connor wouldn’t propose just so he can have sex with me.”

“How do you know?” Poppy asks.

Rose shoots her a scathing glare.

She’s as used to them as the rest of us. “I’m just asking.”

“It’s like cheating at a game,” she says. “It’s too easy for him.”

Their weird relationship deserves to be observed. By me. I love it too much not to be a spectator. My smile consumes my face the longer I think about Connor and Rose’s back-and-forth nerd wars.

Rose rolls her eyes at me and starts pacing again.

“Why are we here then?” I wonder.

She pulls her shoulders back like she’s layering on armor. “As you know, Calloway Couture has been doing less than average lately.”

My stomach immediately plummets, my smile fading, and turkey starts rising to my throat. I swallow it back down. Apologies swim in my head.

It’s my fault. My sex addiction ruined her fashion line. There is no forgiveness for me, and I don’t want it.

She continues on, “I’ve been struggling with serious solutions, but recently, someone made an offer that might actually work. The only problem is that it involves the three of you.” Her yellow-green eyes ping from me to Poppy and then to Daisy. “I don’t want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. I’ll understand if you say no.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Daisy says with a mischievous smile. “Color me intrigued.”

“Sounds like nothing,” I correct her. “She hasn’t said it yet.”

“What is ‘it’ exactly?” Poppy asks with air quotes.

“A reality show.”

My mouth immediately falls.

The room cakes in thick silence, but not the awkward kind. We’re all processing. And if we were in an X-Men comic right now, Poppy, Daisy and I would be the cuckoo sisters—thinking the exact same thing with their creepy telepathic hive-mind. There is no other response to Rose’s proclamation.

“You’re insane,” Poppy says first.

I mock gasp. “That’s what I was thinking.”

“Me too,” Daisy agrees and gives me a side-eye. “And you stole my mock gasp.”

Rose waves us off, as if commanding us to stop talking. “I’m not insane. Calloway Couture needs good exposure, and I may be rolling the dice with this show, but it’s something.” Her eyes travel to me. “And maybe the world can see you how we do. Funny, sweet, and not just a sex addict.”

Can that really happen? Won’t a reality show just place a bigger spotlight on our family? But…Rose is the genius…so she should know better, right? If it’ll help my sister, I won’t ever say no.