I can make it seem like it’s his idea, I reply.
Three dots strum at the bottom of the screen for a moment, then disappear and reappear a couple more times before she finally responds.
Why does this feel secret?
If it was secret, I’d find an excuse to stay behind instead.
I wonder what her face is doing. We’ve always flirted, yet something about this feels different. She isn’t brushing me off like we’re just friends as she usually does. She isn’t ruffling my hair and nudging my side like I’m just a younger guy her brother is friends with.
The entire notion makes my palms sweat.
I’ll be ready when you guys get back.
It’s the end of the conversation, and I throw my phone into my bass case.
CHAPTER FIVE - ANDI
WHY AM I nervous?
I stand in front of the mirror to look at my outfit for the tenth time, ignoring the loud noise of the horror movie I have going on in the background.
Dad brought a television up here while we were out this morning, along with an actual mattress, and while he offered to clean all of his manuscripts out and buy new furniture so that the room could be mine officially, I had to remind him that I was only here for another week.
The same sadness I’d known as a child when my mom would take me away flickered in his eyes, and I felt so horrible about it that we went out for donuts and coffee. I told him everything I could about my new life, job, therapy, and everything I’m doing to try and keep myself level-headed.
It was nice.
Maddox texted just when we got back, and ever since the exchange, I’ve been so nervous that I took the car to the local shopping center in the hopes of finding an outfit somewhere near suitable for a private party.
“Fuck it,” I say out loud.
I use the door that goes directly into the house from this room and wander down the stairs to the kitchen, where I know Tina is busy making more of those delicious pumpkin cookies.
Koen, my youngest brother, whistles when I come around the corner.
“Whoa—where’s the party, sis?” he taunts, throwing an apple at me across the room.
“Is Reed not back yet?” I ask as I look past Koen’s dark hair toward the pool house.
Koen looks so much like my dad—more so than Reed or Kamden—and the most like me. He and I share Dad’s Italian genes and brown eyes, while Kamden and Reed inherited Tina’s pale Irish complexion and blue eyes. All of us, however, have dark hair like Dad.
“He’s showering,” Koen answers.
As if on cue, I spot Maddox exiting the pool house wearing brown pants tucked into his heavy black boots, a black hooded jacket, a white tee, and a denim jacket atop all of it. He’s obviously put something in his hair to make it appear fluffier, and I feel myself shift as I watch him head this way.
I know better than to stay in this fucking kitchen where Koen is sure to figure out that I’m suddenly crushing on someone who is essentially our fifth sibling.
I sit my bag on the table and go through the sliding door to meet Maddox instead of waiting in the kitchen.
Maddox is picking a gummy out from his tin when I close the door behind me, and he stops mid-stride. His brows raise as he looks me over—everything from my fishnet tights to my sweater dress with rips that show off the lacy bustier I’m wearing beneath, the thigh-high socks on my legs, and black chunky boots on my feet.
I push the form-fitting forearm sleeves up to try and keep it from falling entirely off my shoulder and pause a few feet away from him.
“Jesus fucking hell, Andi,” Maddox says once he stops gaping. “You should come with a warning label.”
I press my lips together in a thin line, and those green eyes gleam at me from where he’s still standing.
I really want to know what he’s thinking.
