“Good luck,” I tease sarcastically and I laugh, leaning back against the wall and crossing my arms over my chest. This should be good. Entertainment at its finest.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dave explodes as soon as he steps foot in the hall. He comes marching down toward us, but for once, his glare isn’t directed at me. No, not this time. It’s Eden’s turn. “Do you even know the time? It’s almost noon. Where have you been all night?” he interrogates, all of his worry releasing itself as anger. His eyes are nearly bulging out of his damn head. “The least you could have done was answer your phone. I’ve been worried sick, Eden.”
“I’m sorry, I—” Eden begins, but then her words seem to get stuck in her throat. What is she supposed to say? What explanation can she offer him? That I dragged her to a party and then abandoned her, only for Mr. Player of the Year to swoop in and rescue her, and that she’s been with some guy who’s pretty much still a stranger the entire night? As if she’s telling her dad that. He’d kill me first, and then Jake, and then her. Fear is flashing across her face as her eyes dart all over the hall, and I realize just how vulnerable she looks. She’s usually pretty confident, saying whatever’s on her mind, but right now, she looks small and terrified. It’s not as entertaining as I’d hoped.
“She was at Meghan’s place,” I cut in quickly. I’m not throwing her under the bus. Not after what I did to her last night. My eyes meet hers and I fix her with a firm look, one that tells her to keep quiet while Ifix this for her, and then switch my attention to Dave. “I already told you that,” I lie.
Dave stares at me for a few seconds, perplexed. His eyebrows draw together. “No you didn’t.”
“I’m, like, pretty sure I told you last night when I got back, because she asked me to let you know,” I say, feigning innocence. I even pull it off in my eyes, which is hard for me because I’mneverinnocent. “Remember?”
“No.”
“Man, I must have forgotten.” I shrug as though I’m deeply sorry, and then look back at Eden once more. “Sorry, Eden. My bad.”
Dave is silent as he glances between Eden and me, confused. He’s not buying this, but at least I tried. Eden looks stunned that I have. Idofeel guilty about last night, so saving her from getting into trouble over it is seriously the least I could do. She just stares at me, her expression twisting with disbelief.
“Next time, don’t leave in the first place without telling me,” Dave finally mumbles. Amazing. He actually let me get away with my shitty act of innocence, though he still doesn’t sound too pleased about it all. “By the way,” he says just as he’s about to turn around to leave, “we’re going out for a late lunch. All of us. That means you too, Tyler. Dress nicely.” He gives me a stern look. I take it I’m not getting a choice in the matter.
“You get off the hook so easily,” I comment once Dave heads back into the kitchen. Sure, I helped Eden out with a bullshit cover story, but shedidstill stay out all night without letting her dad know. When I do that, he puts me through hell and back.
“Why did you do that?” Eden asks. She’s staring at me, much calmer now than a few minutes ago, and her eyes are bright with curiosity.
“Do what?”
“Lie for me,” she clarifies with a small shrug. “I don’t get it.”
“I owed you one,” I say, and then, just to be clear, I quickly add, “For taking you to that party last night. I didn’t think it through. Sorry.” I’m not one for apologies, so although I’m being blunt and straight to the point, it’s the best I can give her. I also mean it.
“Why did you even invite me along in the first place? Did you honestly think I’d want to be around that stuff?” she questions, and her annoyance has returned. It’s always such a subtle change in her tone of voice, but I notice it every time. It’s when her voice deepens a little more, bringing out its huskiness. I like it when she’snotannoyed, or angry, or in disbelief. I like it when she just…talks. But we don’t often do that.
“I’m sorry,” I say again. Iknowit was a bad decision on my part, and Iamsorry for it, so I hope she knows I’m not just apologizing for the sake of it. I’m mad enough at myself already, because maybe she wouldn’t have ended up with Jake if I hadn’t taken her out with me. Which reminds me…“So you were with Jake, huh?”
“What does it matter to you if I was?” she shoots back, which confirms it: shehasbeen with Jake the entire time. He’s got a lot to answer for the next time I see him. “You have your opinion of him, and I have mine. I don’t want to talk about it again because it’s got nothing to do with you.”
She’s right; itdoesn’thave anything to do with me, but if she just took a damn second to consider why it gets to me, then she’d realize that maybe I just don’t want to see her get hurt. And not just because she’s my stepsister who I’mexpectedto look out for, but because I genuinely don’t like the thought of Jake messing with her head. She seems too switched on, too wise, to fall for his bullshit. I’d hate to see that. She wouldn’t deserve it.
“I need to take a shower,” I say, changing the subject. There’s no way I’m admitting it out loud that I actuallycare.Because Tyler Bruce doesn’t. “We’ll talk about this later. After this bullshit meal that we’ve gotta sit through.”
“We’ll talk about it later?” Eden echoes. It sounds like she doesn’t want to, but if it’s the last thing I do, I’mnotletting Jake play her.
“Yeah.” I head for the stairs so that I can make a start on getting ready for this first broken family outing. It’s not something I’m particularly looking forward to, but I don’t have the energy to put up a fight. As I make my way upstairs, I glance back at Eden one last time. She’s staring after me, watching me leave. “And remember what your dad said,” I say. “Wear something nice.”
I don’t know what it is about this girl, but I’m so damn changeable around her. I’ve never slipped up as much as I have around anyone as much as I have with her. I messed up again last night too. When we were fighting… She wasn’t fighting with Tyler Bruce. She was fighting with me.Myweaknesses.Myhonesty.Myfear. And even now, in this split second, I’m just being myself.
And the way I can tell? I’m smiling at her.
25
Five Years Earlier
I’m not hungry enough to eat. I’m too distracted, so I just numbly move forkfuls of food around on my tray, my eyes set on a random spot on the table and my mind in a complete trance. It’s lunch and the cafeteria is wild. It always is. The buzz of chattering, the random shrieks, the echoing laughter. I hate it. I wish everyone would just sit down and shut up.
“Hey,” I hear Jake say sharply, right as he throws an eraser across the table at me. I blink and force myself to tune back into my surroundings again, slowly lifting my head to look at Jake. He grins across the table, the fluorescent lights shining against his braces. “Are you in?”
“On what?” I ask. I glance sideways at Dean for backup, but he just rolls his eyes at me and continues chewing a mouthful of food. I think they’re used to me zoning out a lot, though it’s something I wish I could stop.
“We’re gonna try out for the varsity team in high school. All three of us. Deal?” Jake says, and then holds out his fist and bumps it with Dean’s. He holds his fist out to me too, and when I only stare blankly back at him, his smile fades and he sighs. “Football, you idiot. Are youin or are you not? Everyone knows that if you want to be cool in high school, yougottabe on that varsity team.”
