Revealing Kia by Airicka Phoenix Page A

my sister, legs curled under her, chin resting on the heel of her hand. I kept getting distracted by the persistent nibbling she was doing on her bottom lip, filling the thing with blood so it was swollen and pink in a way that was doing delicious things to my insides. I knew the look, the furrowed state of her brows and the dark uncertainty in her eyes. She was overthinking something, and I was smart enough to know it was about what had almost happened between us in the kitchen and about her promise to Van and whatever else was rolling around up in her head. I felt like the worst sort to be part of the reason she seemed so lost, but I largely blamed Van. I also blamed my parents. They were the reason she was such a spoiled brat who refused to share or take responsibility for anything. Kia could have already been mine. We could have been together, if it hadn’t been for my sister. Then she wondered why people didn’t like her. I was her brother and I had a hard time liking her sometimes. She had no idea how lucky she was, not just to have Kia, but because she was free of all the expectations. Yet she was as miserable as ever.
    In the armchair, flipped upside down, long legs dangling over the back, head dangling nearly to the floor, Kenny said, “I could dance for quarters if you like.” He drew his eyes away from the phone screen hovering inches from his nose and peered over at Van. He smirked. “It’s extra if I’m naked.”
    I made a face even before Van curled her lips. “Ew.”
    Kenny snickered, going back to his game of Angry Birds . “You say that now, but that’s because you haven’t seen all this in the flesh.”
    Making a sound of disgust, Van turned her focus away to check her phone. Her brows creased as she looked something over. Then, with a sneer, she flipped it off and turned to Kia.
    She frowned. “Hey!” She nudged Kia with an elbow.
    Kia, who had been staring unseeingly out the window for the last hour and a half, jumped. The open book balanced on her knee tumbled to the floor with a muffled thud. She blinked those big, brown eyes of hers.
    “What?”
    “What are you looking at?” Van craned her neck to peer out the window over Kia’s shoulder. “What’s out there?”
    Nothing, I wanted to tell her. We were completely isolated and surrounded by trees and snow. The closest house was two miles away. But Kia beat me to it.
    “I was reading.” She snatched up her book as though to prove it.
    Van narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t turned a page in over an hour.”
    A flush crept into Kia’s cheeks. “I’m a slow reader.”
    “Liar!” Van leapt to her feet. “You’re as bored as I am. Admit it!”
    “No, I—”
    Van ignored her, moving like a bullet around the room towards the phone. “I’m calling Mom and Dad. How much shopping can two people do?”
    “Considering that Christmas is only days away and you gave them six pages of crap you wanted … I’d say a while,” I remarked casually, drumming my fingers on the armrest.
    Van growled, stomping her foot. “I don’t want to just sit here for the next week!”
    “We could go skiing,” Kenny said, flipping himself around, eyes still glued to the screen. “Dill just messaged me. The gang’s on their way to shred some powder on Blackcomb .” He glanced up and around at the rest of us. “Any takers?”
    “Oh, uh, I don’t—” Whatever Kia was about to say was drowned out by Van’s elated screech.
    “In!” she shouted, doing a little jump.
    “No!” I said with a little more snap than I’d meant. “We should do something else.”
    Three pairs of eyes were trained on me now, watching me with a confusion and annoyance, in Van’s case.
    “And why would we do that?” she challenged. “You love skiing.”
    True, but…
    “It’s not a good idea,” I answered. “We could go into the village—”
    “What gives, dude?” Kenny interjected, making me want to reach over and kick him.
    “Yeah, Adam,” Van chimed in.