After sufficiently filling themselves with the best pizza on the island, the siblings made their way back to Danny's place for their night of catching up. After changing into her PJ's, Kayla settled in on the couch putting her feet in her brother's lap. He looked down at her feet questioningly then up at her and she shrugged and smiled nestling into the cushions before handing him a beer she grabbed from the fridge on her way out. He shook his head putting his arms over her feet. "So. What has my beautiful baby sister been up to for the past year of her life?"
"Well, I'm officially done school as of last week."
Danny smiled and patted her feet, "That's my girl! Now you can get me out of all of the legal messes I'll get myself in when Grace becomes a teenager."
"Danny, I'm a legal assistant, not a lawyer. So please don't kill the first boy who wants to take Gracie on a date."
"I make no promises. But speaking of boys and dates, how's that boyfriend of yours doing?"
She took a swig of her beer, "What boyfriend?"
Danny looked at her trying to hide the look of awe that was spreading on his face. "I thought things were going well with… I'm trying to remember his name."
"Jackson, and everything goes well until you find them in your bed with another woman."
Danny sat up straight in his spot. "The bastard did what?"
Kayla held her feet up against Danny's chest. "Down boy. It's over now, nothing to worry about."
"This guy cheats on my baby sister with another slut, in her bed, and that is somehow nothing to worry about? I'm a cop, remember? I own a gun."
"Which is exactly why I didn't tell you. I didn't need you flying to Jersey and beating the shit out of this guy, or shooting him," She sat up beside Danny, "I kinda like seeing you walk around like a free man, not an over grown orange behind bars."
Danny looked over at his sister, then took a big swig of his beer. "I hate that you know me so well sometimes. But I hate that bastard even more for hurting you." He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close into his side.
She shrugged, "It was a while ago, I'm over it now. Just trying not to peg all the men in the world to be jerks like him!"
"I told you that I knew a bunch of good guys down at the station that I could have easily set you up with, but did you say yes? Nope. You found dickwad!"
She took another drink of her beer. "I've tried to avoid cops and firefighters when looking for guys."
Danny looked confused and half offended. "Why? Because what Dad and I do isn't good enough for you?"
"No. Because I spent enough of my life worrying my dad may not come home, then worrying my brother may not come home. I'd rather not worry that my boyfriend may not either." She took another sip of her beer, looking away from her brother.
He didn't say anything for a minute; instead he just grabbed her hand in recognition. Knowing that now was probably the best time to drop the topic, he decided to mention the plans for tomorrow evening.
"So, don't worry about dinner tomorrow night. We're going out!"
Kayla looked over at him confused. "Where are we going?"
"To your welcome to the island dinner, that's where."
"Oh really? And is this just us?"
"Noooo, no. You've already spent time with me, now we make you get out and unite with others."
"I'm going to have to meet the people you work with, aren't I?"
"And why do you sound like I'm going to water board you or something?"
"Well if it's anything like past experiences, I may want the option of water boarding."
He rolled his eyes at her. "I can almost guarantee you're going to have fun. Okay?"
She looked at him and sighed. "Fine, but as long as I know that the option of water boarding is still left on the table." She sent a teasing wink his way, and he shoved her feet off of him.
"Go pick a movie before I send you back to Jersey."