There’s something deeply disturbed about the paranoia Sheri targets me with. I’ve had my suspicions for a while that I remind her of someone from her own past.
“How old were you when it happened?” I ask, taking a shot. “Fifteen? Sixteen?”
She recoils like I’ve slapped her. A moment later she goes from looking stricken to shuttering her expression. “Stay away from her.”
“No.”
Sheri’s fury is palpable as she glares at me.
“If you don’t think she’s safe around me, tellherto stay away from me. I promise that’s a better use of your time because you’ve still got influence over her. You’ve got none with me.” There’s a beat while I let that sink in. “Zero.”
Avery chooses that moment to show up to check on things. She swoops in and clutches her mom’s arm. “Mom, everything okay?”
Sheri glances my way, and Avery turns to look at me.
“Shane?” Avery says.
When I answer, my voice isn’t particularly friendly. “Yeah?”
Avery steps closer to me.
I’m pissed about Sheri’s ongoing harassment, but my ability to be a hardass is seriously impaired with Avery’s big blue eyes imploring me to be nice.
“Are you all right?” Avery whispers.
That takes me off guard. When has anyone in the core family unit ever asked me ifI’mokay when something’s going down? Honestly, I am all right. There were many days I was torn to shreds by having Sheri’s paranoia targeted at me, but those days are long gone.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Your mom has concerns. As usual. I told her she should talk to you, not me.”
“Okay, good.” Avery’s smile is sweet. “Thank you.”
Her gratitude is misplaced, which I’m sure she’ll hear soon enough from her banshee mother. For now though, I’ll roll with it. I have bigger issues to deal with than Sheri Kershaw’s hysteria. “Do you mind if we stop in Back Bay after brunch?”
“No, I don’t mind,” Avery says. “Wanna say goodbye to Ethan while I say goodbye here?”
After a moment, I nod, and I’m rewarded with another smile that tries to pulverize my defenses. This girl is all kinds of dangerous in her own right.
20
AVERY
“Please don’t go, Ave,” Mom says. “Come home with us instead. Ethan would be happy to drive you to school tomorrow. We can have a movie night and make Nutella protein balls for you to take back as a snack.”
My mom, who wears sample size designer outfits, doesn’t indulge her sweet tooth often, which means if she’s talking Nutella balls, she’s clearly in some kind of panic.
“Brunch went pretty well, right?” I try to make my voice cheerful. I already evaded Ethan’s questions with light, casual replies. I want to do the same with my mom. “Why don’t we try to do this again next week? I’ll work on Shane to see if I can get him to agree to spend the weekend at home.”
“At whose home?”
“Yours and Ethan’s. That’s Shane’s home, too, Mom.”
She purses her lips.
I sigh. “You do realize that not seeing Shane is hurting Ethan, right?”
Mom’s sigh is much heavier than mine. “Ethan can see Shane any time he wants. He’s had dinner with Shane at Granthorpe several times. I support that decision. I’ve encouraged it!”
“Ethan can’t see Shane any time he wants because Shane isn’t open to it. But he could be.”
