“Beckett!” My mother gasped. “You yelled at Britte? That’s not like you.”
Beckett rubbed two hands over his face and mumbled something I couldn’t understand. Grayson watched him carefully, which set off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. Beckett was one thing, but Grayson paying attention was an entirely different/worse thing.
Sometimes my brothers got along. And sometimes, in situations far and few between, they really got along. Usually, when all three of my brothers stood together, united in some cause, they were unstoppable. Most of the time, because they protected me above most other things, this worked out for me, like when they beat up Colton after he dumped me. But on the rare occasion, when they teamed up, or like now, when Grayson bailed Beckett out for who knows what reason, I was sacrificed for a greater cause, given to the wolves, thrown under the proverbial bus.
“I saw you eating lunch with Hunter last week, Ellie.” Grayson’s voice dropped to a fatherly pitch that made it clear how disappointed he was in me.
“Hunter?” Beckett snapped, his hands not in front of his face anymore and furiously gripping the table.
“Mmm, which day?” I asked, hoping for vague.
“Why? Do you eat lunch with him often?” Beckett grated.
Shoot. “Oh, you must mean Wednesday.” I shoved a bite of fried chicken in my mouth.
“Who is this Hunter anyway?” My mom looked betrayed, like I kept some huge secret from her on purpose. Ok, it was on purpose….
“He’s a guy, from, uh, school.” I averted all their eyes.
“That you eat lunch with?” My mother, the detective.
“Once, I ate lunch with him once. And really, I was just tagging along. Britte wanted to eat lunch with them and she bought my lunch.” There, now I was throwing people under the bus.
“Them?” My mom and Beckett asked together.
“Fin and his friends. They all run track together. Jameson McKay, Charlie Ryan and Gunner Gu-, no Ben Gunning.” My mother started to ask more questions but my brothers made grumbling sounds of disapproval. “We’re justfriends.”
“But he wants to be more,” Grayson asked, suddenly calm and collected. Where Beckett was all impulsive anger and reactive action, Grayson was thoughtful and calculating. Silence and reserve were deadly on Grayson.
“I don’t know what he wants,” I answered honestly. And I didn’t. After last Thursday when he went from acting like my boyfriend to practically recoiling from my touch. I officially had no idea what he wanted.
Beckett snorted. “How many times do I have to tell you, he’s bad news, Els?”
“You’ve told me enough times. However many it’s been, that’s been enough. What do you have against him anyway?”
“Plenty,” Beckett growled.
“What does that even mean?” I sighed, giving my mom a beseeching glance.
“It means whatever it is was probably over a girl and he’s embarrassed to talk about,” Grayson interpreted.
“Oh, Ok. I get it.” I smirked at Beckett even though the idea of Fin with another girl was giving me indigestion. I knew that didn’t make sense since I had been reminding myself that he was with other girls frequently. Earlier today I had even confirmed- as Fin- for a date later tonight.
But now it made me feel all icky inside.
“It wasn’t over a girl,” Beckett defended.
“Beckett, dear,” my mom looked at him over the bridge of her nose and he slunk down into his chair with his arms crossed. Classic Beckett pout.
“Fine, it was over a girl,” he mumbled.
With that settled we fell into easy conversation and I was thankful the issue of Fin wasn’t brought up again, although both of my brothers were giving me discerning looks.
After lunch Beckett fell asleep on Grayson’s couch while mom and I took over the dishes and Grayson chatted with us some more in the kitchen. Once the dishes were done and the food stored away I felt like I could escape without making much fuss. I walked casually over to my purse and picked it up.
“I better go, I have to study,” I announced.
“Oh, I suppose,” mom sighed but she stepped forward to give me a hug. “We will see you next weekend. And if you can get away, your father and I are going to fly to Beckett’s super-regionals; we would love for you to come. It’s not for a while yet though, you have time to think about it.”
