I’m still calling out for her a few minutes later when we run into JD again, who’s also hunting for his brother. Before I can question him, though, Loren and the other Bourgeois emerge from the pool house together. Her face is unmistakably flustered, and she presses her lips together guiltily when she sees me. Meanwhile, Blake looks entirely too smug for my liking.
“Oh great,youfound her …” I mutter under my breath, and Tenley glares at me again. “Lo, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” I add in a softer tone.
“You have?” Loren asks innocently.
I clear my throat. “Yeah, I hadn’t noticed you disappeared at first.”
Tenley snorts and rolls her eyes, and Loren mumbles something about being invisible. It makes my chest ache to hear the way I’ve made Loren feel so insignificant, especially since I know the feeling all too well. I open my mouth to say more, but I’m interrupted.
“I noticed her,” Blake declares, his chin lifted in a dare. “In fact, she’s been here with me the whole time.”
Oh … oh no.
One job. I hadone. Freaking. Job.
Protect my baby sister and her reputation—that was my mission. But I let her out of my sight for ten, fifteen minutes, tops, and the first thing she did was make a hot dash for the pool house with the preppiest guy in her class—the kid who also happens to be gunning for my QB1 position, and he’s not even technically in high school yet.
I don’t know if I’m angrier with Blake, Loren, or myself at this point. And most of what I’m saying out loud isn’t even registering with me, because all I can think about is the way I’ve failed my father. I can only imagine the look on his face when he hears about this.
“Landry, don’t. Nothing happened, all right?” Loren pleads, bringing me back for a second, but it’s too late. I’ve already let myself get swallowed up by my anger, and before I know it, I’m standing face to face with Blake, daring him to admit that he’s been defiling my sister in front of a crowd.
I’m not sure what I’ll accomplish with this tactic, since I’m certainly not saving her reputation—unless he were to confess that he forced himself on her, which obviously isn’t the case. I can see the way his eyes keep darting to Loren, which I think means he must really care. But I’m also famous for misreading people and situations, as evidenced by my epic failure with Tenley earlier, so maybe he’s just really guilty.
“I would never …” Blake begins, cringing as soon as he says it.
“Right, because who would?” Loren fires back before she begins crying, then Tenley pulls her away as Blake stutters and struggles to save face. Meanwhile, his punk-ass little brother rejoins us, bumping my shoulder as he walks by and making me see red.
“Come on, Tessa’s on her way,” Tenley tells Loren. She shoots one last disdainful look my way and ushers my sister into the front yard, and Blake has the balls to move as if he’s going after them. I plant myself in front of him, daring him to take another step, but JD shoves me out of the way.
I barely get the chance to recover before a hard right hook slams into my jaw, courtesy of Blake, and I stumble backward in shock. I can’t believe the kid actually hit me.
Maybe he does care about Loren … or maybe he’s jealous and trying to make me look bad while he swoops in to steal my starting quarterback spot. Either way, I’m still rubbing my jaw and wondering exactly how this all went wrong as I watch the Bourgeois brothers saunter away.
CHAPTER 1
daisy
Plop.
The pat of butter I didn’t have time to spread slides over the edge of my toast and down the front of my lavender linen dress, leaving a greasy streak down the bodice.
“Mais la,” I groan and shove down the last couple bites before I attempt to peel my dress up and over my head. I’ve almost gotten it off safely when one of the tiny buttons I love so much snags in my hair. I yank harder and yelp as soon as I realize that tactic’s not going to work if I want to keep my long locks intact.
I barely hear the doorknob jiggling before the front door flies open to reveal a ruggedly handsome man carrying a stack of plastic totes. He freezes in place as soon as he crosses the threshold. A jolt of panic induces me to reach for the nearest weapon, which happens to be the cast iron skillet sitting on the stove, but my arms are still tangled up in my dress. Luckily, I recognize the intruder’s dark hair and lovely cheekbones, and I sigh with relief.
And then I’m back to despairing as soon as I remember that my dress is currently hovering above my head. My visitor’s brow shoots up as his eyes skirt over my body, and I can already feel the blush creeping up my neck.
I hunch over and attempt to cover my bits with my elbows. “Um, hi?”
My older brother’s best friend blinks a few times, his chin resting atop the boxes he’s carrying. “Daisy?” he asks incredulously.
“Who else did you expect to find when you barged into my house without knocking?”
He clears his throat and finally turns his gaze away. “Last I checked, this is my sister’s house. What areyoudoing here?”
“I just told you. I live here.”
“But …” He sets the totes on the ground and holds up one hand, making the light glint off a metallic surface. “Blake said I could move in. And I already have a key.”
