"You are the sweetest feeling I know"

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

"Alright, Charles! You better be ready, I'm coming out!" I yell from the kitchen.

I'm currently playing hide and seek with Charlotte. Oh, Owen and Luke too. Obviously, I'm the seeker and they're hiding.

Boy do I love Charlotte, but god does she suck at this game. For some reason, she insists on hiding in the same place every time.

She had a day off school today and my dad couldn't get out of his meetings so I picked her up and brought her here.

I walk around the house and begin my hunt. After about a minute I manage to find Luke and Owen who are both in the worst hiding spots. I mean there aren't many great hiding spots for tall and built guys in our small house, so it's an easy job for me.

"Is she in the same spot again?" Luke asks as Owen puts back the clothes he dumped out of his laundry basket for his hiding spot.

"Probably," Owen chuckles.

"Why don't we walk around for a little bit longer, pretend it's hard to find her. She'll love it."

So that's what the three of us do. We spend the next couple minutes walking around the house and talking loudly about how great of a hider she is.

Eventually, we decide it's time to find her, so we walk over to the cabinet she always squeezes into. Her giggling is audible through the wood and I just about melt at the noise.

"We found you, Charles!" I open the door.

"I won!" She jumps out. "Yay!"

We spend the rest of the afternoon playing board games with her and watching a movie.

Now, she's asleep with her head in my lap as Frozen plays in the background. Afraid of waking her up, I don't move. Instead, I close my eyes and fall asleep too.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, startling me awake. I look down at my phone and answer the call.

"Hey, Coach? Is everything okay?"

"Sorry about this, Blake, but apparently I'm going on a small trip this weekend with my wife, and I need to cancel practice. I'm rescheduling it for later today, in about half an hour. I need you to call the guys and get everyone to the rink."

I sigh as I look down at Charlotte's sleeping body. I hate that I need to leave her. "Alright, will do," I say as I end the call.

I shoot my dad a text telling him I need to take Charlotte back home but he's stuck in an important meeting and won't be able to watch her.

Think, Sterling.

Who can watch Charlotte?

The babysitter isn't free and the boys need to be at practice with me. I would ask Daisy but I know she's studying tonight.

So, I turn to the one other person I trust with this. The person I trust with just about everything.

"Darling?" Laney's voice is soft on the other line.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the short notice, but I need your help."

"Yeah, anything."

"I'm watching Charlotte today but coach needs me and the boys to be at practice in about half an hour. My dad is busy at work and the babysitter isn't available. I know this is totally last minute, but do you think you could watch her? Probably for a few hours."

"Of course!" Her voice is cheery now, making her excitement evident. "I'd love to! The girls are all doing things today and I was going to be alone all night. I'm totally free and you know how much I love your sister."

"I do know." A smile forms on my face thinking about the two of them together. "If it's alright with you, you can just stay over here at the house with her until I get back."

"Sounds good, I'll head over now."

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure. I'll be there soon." She ends the call, and I send a text to the boys telling them about practice tonight.

I quietly get off the couch, careful not to wake Charlotte, and get ready for hockey.

I hear the front door open and I head downstairs to meet Laney. She comes walking into the house with a backpack full of stuff — probably for her night with Charlotte — and a smile glued to her face.

"Charlotte is still asleep over on the couch but you can go wake her up if you want, I'm sure she'd love to see you."

"Alright," she replies as the two of us walk into the living room.

Laney kneels down beside the couch and runs her hand through Charlotte's hair affectionately. "Hey, sweet girl," she whispers.

Charlotte's eyes flutter open and they widen as she takes in Laney. "Delaney!" Charlotte jumps into her arms when she realizes who is in front of her.

The two girls fall into their own conversation and I give my little sister a quick hug goodbye before I leave for hockey practice with the other guys.

⋆✧⋆✧⋆

Tonight was rough. Coach wanted to make sure we were extra prepared for the games coming up and, fuck, did he work us hard.

Thankfully, it's over and I'm driving back home now.

I walk into the house quietly knowing they're probably both asleep by now. I head straight to the kitchen, needing a glass of water and I find a baking tray of sugar cookies, clearly decorated by the two of them.

I admire their artistry as I scan over the colourful and messy baked goods.

My attention moves to my girls as I make my way into the living room. I admire the two of them sleeping peacefully and just take in how sweet they are. Both girls are on the couch and a movie is playing quietly on the TV.

Frozen.

Of course it's frozen.

It always is.

But this time, I'm actually left to wonder who picked the movie. Because as much as Charlotte loves it, I think Laney loves it that much more. I have to laugh at the thought, and the fact that I know deep down it was Laney who chose it, makes me love her even more.

Wait.

Love?

Fuck.

Do I love her?

But as I watch her chest rise and fall with every breath, her hair straggled all over the pillow, and her arm around my little sister, I know, love is the right word.

I am in love with Delaney Lawrence.

Shit.

What have I gotten myself into?

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Sorry for the short chapter but It's really late right now and I need to sleep. I hate this chapter so much but I don't have time to re-write it so its going to have to do. It was nice getting back into Sterling's POV, I feel like It's been a hot minute even though it hasn't really.

A quick heads up, I may be taking a short break from posting soon but I'm not sure. I'm going to my cottage with some friends and I won't have time to write. Hopefully, I will have some chapters pre-written but if I don't get time to do that this week, I won't. I'll keep you guys updated though.

Anyways, I hope you're all doing well!

Question of the chapter: What country are you from?

Please vote and comment!!!

Stay safe and healthy everyone <3