Free Eminent Love by Leddy Harper

time over here…with you, in your bed. She’s never been in a relationship before, and Colin has filled me in with how you were—you know, hookups and nothing serious. I don’t want her to get her heart broken. For all I know, she’s deeply invested in this and you’re not.”
    “First of all, don’t form your opinions based on outdated information from Colin, of all people. If that’s your argument, then you should ask yourself something. If I’m spending this much time with her, it must mean something. Right? You act like you’ve seen me bring girls home, which isn’t true. How I was over a year ago doesn’t reflect the person I am today.”
    Drea held her hand up in front of me, as if conceding my point.
    Except, I didn’t let her off so easily. “Secondly, I’m not going to break her heart.”
    “What’s with lawyers and their constant need to argue?”
    I ignored her rolling eyes and answered her rhetorical question. “I’m not a lawyer yet. And I’m not arguing. You made accusations; I’m simply dismantling them. If I haven’t told Layne how I feel, what would make you think I’d tell you? Shouldn’t it be a conversation I have with her?”
    “Fine.” She waved me off and leaned back into the couch. “Are you aware she’s a virgin?”
    Drea’s question caught me completely by surprise. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened. Throaty half stutters came out, not even full syllables, but it was all I could come up with. To be honest, I wasn’t so much shocked over the news as I was the way it’d been brought up. I knew Layne hadn’t dated anyone before me, and even though I understood you didn’t have to date to have sex, I knew Layne wasn’t like that. She was good. Pure. Innocent.
    “Well, that’s good to know.” Drea’s smile widened.
    I blinked a few times before finally pulling myself together enough to speak. “What’s good to know?”
    “I’ve been worried about her being in your bed so much. And since you didn’t know she’s a virgin, I can only assume it’s because you two haven’t taken that step yet. Which makes me happy.”
    “No…we haven’t—not like it would be any of your business if we did. And I don’t understand why you’re so concerned about it. I know you and Colin don’t go in his room to take a nap. These walls are thin.”
    She leaned forward and licked her lips, showing a glimmer of embarrassment. “Layne and I may be twins, but we’re very different people. Where I fly by the seat of my pants, my sister doesn’t. It’s what was so hard on her when she first got sick. She was scared she had run out of time to experience things. She put school first, thinking she had plenty of time to live. Why do you think I always gave you such a hard time about studying? There’s more to life than a test or a grade, and I learned that firsthand watching my sister go through the fear of regret.”
    I didn’t know what to say. I simply stared at her, letting her words sink in as I tried to wrap my mind around what it must’ve been like for Layne. How facing a death sentence had altered her life to some degree, and I couldn’t help but conclude we might not have ever found each other had she not gone through something so awful.
    A year ago, she’d planned for the future instead of living in the present.
    Whereas I’d lived in the moment while expecting my future to be secure.
    A year had changed us both, and somehow, without meaning to, we’d met in the middle. Balanced each other out. Together, we learned how to enjoy the moment without being too careless like I once was, and at the same time, preparing ourselves for what we hoped would come. Tomorrows aren’t promised, although it doesn’t mean you can’t plan for them while enjoying your todays.
    Thankfully, our heavy silence was interrupted by the groan of my bedroom door, and then Layne came out to join us. Except she’d left her wig behind. The quietness she walked into grew thicker as Drea