Stranger Read Online Free PDF Page B

astoundingly symmetrical bites. “I said it was cute, didn’t I?”
    “You did.” She’d said “cute” the way some people would say “unfortunate.”
    “Anyway. That’s not what I meant.” Hannah never spoke with her mouth full. She gave me a dissecting stare. “Did you have a…date? Last night?”
    At the memory of Sam’s hand between my legs a few days before, I couldn’t hold back the smile. “Not last night, no.”
    Hannah shook her head. “Gracie…”
    I held up a hand. “Don’t.”
    “I’m your big sister. I’m allowed to give advice.”
    It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Um…is that in the handbook someone forgot to give me, or what?”
    Hannah didn’t laugh. “Seriously, Grace. When are we going to meet this guy? Mom and Dad don’t believe he exists.”
    “Maybe Mom and Dad spend too much time worrying about my romantic life, Hannah.”

    The more I denied having a boyfriend, the more convinced my family seemed to be that I was hiding one away. I thought it was funny, most of the time. Today for some reason, I wasn’t as amused.
    I got up to refill my mug of coffee, hoping by the time I got back to the table my sister would have decided to abandon the topic. I should’ve known better. Hannah with a lecture was like a terrier with a rat. Probably the only thing holding her back from full-on rant mode was the fact we were in a public place.
    “I just want to know what the secret is. That’s all.” Hannah fixed me with the glare that used to be able to yank any secret from me.
    It was still pretty effective, but I had years of practice at resisting. “There’s no secret. I’ve told you before, I’m not seeing anyone seriously.”
    “If it’s serious enough for you to look like that,” Hannah said with a sniff, “it should be serious enough to bring him to meet your family.”
    This veiled reference to sex so stunned me, I could only stare. My sister, older and prone to lectures as she might be, had never been free with advice on lovemaking. Other girls had gone to their big sisters for advice on boys and bras, but Hannah, seven years older, had never made our relationship comfortable enough to discuss sex. I wasn’t about to start now.
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “I think you do.” Hannah picked me apart with another look.
    “No, really, Hannah.” I grinned, defusing her the best way I knew how. “I don’t.”
    Hannah’s mouth thinned. “Fine. Whatever. Be like that. We’re just all wondering, that’s all.”
    I sighed and warmed my hands on my mug. “Wondering about what?”
    Hannah shrugged and looked away. “Well. You always make an excuse for why you won’t bring him around. We’re just wondering if…”
    “If what?” I demanded. It wasn’t like Hannah to hold back on anything.
    “If he’s a…he,” Hannah muttered. She stabbed her salad as if it had done her wrong.
    Stunned again, I sat back in my chair. “Oh, for God’s sake!”
    Hannah’s mouth set in a stubborn line. “Is he?”
    “A man? You want to know if I’m dating a man? Instead of what…a woman?” I wanted to laugh, not because this was funny, but because somehow laughter might make this less strange.
    “You have to be kidding me.”
    Hannah looked up, lower lip pushed out in the familiar way. “Mom and Dad won’t say it, but I will.”
    In a moment of insanity I considered telling her everything. Which would be worse, admitting I paid for sex or that I dated women? Maybe paying women for sex would’ve been worse, and the thought of my sister’s face if I told her that curved my mouth into a smile. I resisted, though. Hannah wouldn’t find it as funny as I did.
    If it had been anyone else asking the question, I really would have laughed, but because it was my sister I just shook my head. “Hannah. No. It’s not a woman. I promise.”
    Hannah nodded stiffly. “Because, you know, you could tell me. I’d be okay with it.”
    I doubted that. Hannah had a pretty