Can’t do this when Marco keeps hiding behind his door.
“Let’s get my stuff,” I tell Ethan. “And then I’m done.”
47
Marco
I’m standing in my room staring at the mirror. At the ridge that runs down half my face like a seam on badly butchered meat. Ben is away with the in-laws.
Then I hear it. Voices downstairs. The front door.
My pulse kicks.
I cross the room in three strides. Press my ear against the door like the pathetic hermit I’ve become.
Ethan’s muted voice filters through. “Get your belongings. Make it quick.”
What?
No...
A pause. Then: “I’ll be right back.”
I hear footsteps. Heavy. Purposeful. Coming up the stairs.
I know that stride. The same one he used when we’d spar at the gym. When he thought he had me cornered and was about to make me tap.
Except this time I deserve whatever’s coming.
The footsteps grow louder. Closer.
And finally stop outside my door.
A knock comes, hard and angry, followed by Ethan’s voice.
“Open up, Marco.”
I don’t move.
“Open the goddamn door or I’m breaking it down,” Ethan finishes.
“Is Jess with you?” I ask tentatively.
“No,” he says. “She’s downstairs. Getting her fucking things.”
So the day I’ve been dreading has finally come.
The day she leaves me.
I’d hoped I would have more time.
I’d...
I unlock the door.
Ethan shoves it open. His face is tight. Controlled fury radiates off him like heat from a grill turned too high.
“You fucking befriended me to orbit my fucking sister?” he hisses.
