Bryce is in the kitchen on the phone when I let myself in. He says goodbye and hangs up, smiling when he sees me with my weekend bag.
“Going to keep an eye on the place for us while we’re gone, Nathan?”
Something bubbles in the pit of my stomach at the sound of his voice. He doesn’t even notice. He’s already tapping something into his phone.
“Bryce?”
“Yes?” he asks without looking up.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, but be quick. The car’s on its way. No wild parties by the way when we’re gone.” He looks up, grinning before he catches the look on my face. “Nathan, what’s wrong?”
I take a deep breath, remind myself of howhurt Evan was when he thought I’d thrown him under the bus. “Did you tell your lawyer to put the blame on Evan?”
He frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“Back when I crashed that car. Did you throw Evan under the bus to save my skin?”
He tuts. “Why are we talking about this now? It’s all water under the bridge.”
“You know it was my fault, right? You knowIwas drunk and stole that car. You knowIwas driving. Evan had nothing to do with it.”
Bryce comes around the counter, his jaw set. “Your mother doesn’t need this stress, just like she didn’t need it back then. Regardless of whose fault it was, he was there when the police arrived, and if I used every means at my disposal to keep you out of trouble and stop you from getting a record, then sue me.”
“It was juvenile, it wouldn’t have mattered-”
He raises his voice. “Everything matters in our world. Don’t you understand that? The stakes are much higher. The margin for error so much tinier.”
“That’s bullshit.” I don’t mean to say it, it just comes out. I see the shock on Bryce’s face but can’t stop myself.
“It’s people like Evan who suffer when we screw them over. His stakes are whether or not he’s going to be able to pay his bills this month. It’s him who one mistake can fuck up forever. If he loses a paycheck, he’s out on the street, you lose a paycheck? No fivestar luxury resort for you this year.”
Bryce’s face is red. He looks like he’s going to blow his top before I see him visibly calm himself down, resting his hands on the waterfall counter and taking a deep breath. “Listen very carefully, Nathan. I took you on. I didn’t need to. But if you’re going to carry my name, you will behave accordingly and not embarrass me. I wasn’t just protectingyour reputation, I was protecting my own. I took a big chance marrying your mother and adopting you. But I love her, and so I did. You’d do well to remember how much I’ve given you.”
He smooths his hand over his shirt and walks back around the counter, acting like I don’t exist. My skin prickles and I go cold. Is this the man I’ve been trying to impress all these years? No matter what I do, will I always be a burden? Baggage he has to deal with if he wants my mom?
“Your mother wants to say goodbye to you before we leave, you should go up to her, and tell her to get a move on.”
When I go upstairs, Mom’s in the main bathroom, dressed in a cashmere sweater and putting cosmetics into a bag.
“There’s plenty of food in the fridge, or I’ve left the number for Fiorentini’s. They’ll deliver if you tell them it’s-”
“Ma, I’ll just order Uber Eats.”
She stiffens and I freeze.
“Ma?”
“Sorry. Slip of the tongue.”
I take my weekend bag into my room and hope she doesn’t follow, my heart hammering in my chest.
When I turn around, she’s standing in the doorway, one skinny arm resting on the frame.
“What’s going on with you?” she asks.
I shrug. “Nothing.”
