“Welcome home, Jake,” I say on his behalf.
“Mmm,” he replies, his attention still on his work. Finally, he sits back and looks at me with the eyes of a man who wanted a different son.
“You’re on thin ice,” he says simply.
“Am I?”
“You just got out of jail, Jake. You never finished school, and now you have a criminal record.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
Dad smiles to himself, but it’s an angry smile. “If you want to live here, you get your act together. Quickly. Any more nonsense out of you and you can fend for yourself.”
“Nonsense? Defending Mom was nonsense?”
“She’s not your mom anymore,” he replies, narrowing his eyes at me. “Wendy is.”
“She’s mystep-mom,” I correct him.
He just looks back at me, and for a second, I could swear he’s about to get up and hit me. Not that he could take me. I’ve been dealing with real criminals for the last two years. I can handle myself.
“Just keep yourself in line,” he replies, turning back to his laptop. “And don’t embarrass this family again.”
My fist clenches at my side. There’s so much I want to say right now, but I don’t. I just keep my mouth shut and turn away. No need to start an uproar when I just got home.
“Oh, and Jake?” Dad says as I’m about to leave the room. I turn back.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t eventhinkabout it.”
I raise my eyebrows. “About what?”
Dad doesn’t respond. He just gives me one of those looks—those guy looks that you give another guy when nothing more needs to be said.
And in this case, I know exactly what he’s talking about.
Piper. He’s telling me to keep my hands off her.
And God help me, I don’t how I’m going to be able to do that.
2
PIPER
“Shots, baby! Put 'em up!”Emily shouts, raising her glass high as she hands me one.
“Oh, I can’t,” I reply, looking around like I’m about to be caught robbing a bank. “I’m not twenty-one…”
Emily scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Would you stop being such a goody-two-shoes? Aaron’s about to show up, and you need to relax. Andthiswill help. Now drink up!”
Before I can do anything, Emily is pushing the glass to my lips.
I gasp and gulp down a liquid that tastes like poison and burns my throat like fire. She laughs as I start coughing and pats me on the back. “That’s my girl!”
“Ugh, that’s awful!” I reply, grabbing for a glass of water that somewhat soothes the fiery sensation. “How do you drink that?”
Emily’s still laughing. She’s been my best friend since Mom put me in gymnastics when I was five. I didn’t last long, but our friendship did. In every way that I’m not confident, she is.
