“Nova!”Moreno says, pleased to see his daughter.“You’re home late.You’ve already got guests attending your party.”
“We’re hardly guests,” I say, “just me and my girlfriend.”I grab Harper’s hand before she can think twice about this situation and intertwine our fingers together.
Nova tilts her head slightly, a look of confusion on her face, and I’m not sure if she’s well aware of the game we’re playing for her benefit.
“Honey, you didn’t tell me you were dating anyone,” Mom says, her eyes wide with excitement as she hurries across the hallway and toward Harper.
I want to apologize to Harper, but the words don’t come, and instead, Mom grabs Harper and pulls her into a hug, yanking our hands free.The duffel bag between us falls to the floor in a heap, which is pretty much how I feel, a bit out of sorts.And this is entirely my doing.
Nova stalks over to me, giving me a look that sayswhat the fuck are you up to?Is this for real?
I hurry over to Nova, embracing her in a hug.“Long time, no see,” I say and whisper into her ear, “I’m trying to protect you since they don’t know you’ve been visiting us.”
“Thanks,” Nova whispers.
“We brought you a present,” I say and nod toward the gift that Harper is holding.
Harper shoots daggers at me as she hands the gift bag over to Nova.“You did not help in the least bit with this gift,” my fake girlfriend sells me out.“I asked you what I should get her, and you blew me off.”
“Sounds just like my son,” Mom says.“Come on into the kitchen.Let’s grab some hot cocoa.”
“Mom, Ashton is outside, and we should get the bonfire started soon.”
“Bonfire?”Nova asks, glancing at me, confused.
“Yeah, I know you wanted a sleepover, you kept texting me how you wanted to do a girls' night, and I thought it’d be great to make a huge bonfire and maybe do a sleeping under the stars party for your birthday.”
“It’s a bit cold outside for that,” Mom points out, and I know she’s right.
“I could run out to the store and buy a couple of tents for the kids,” Moreno offers.
“We’re not kids,” Nova huffs.“We’ll enjoy the bonfire and then we can crash in my room.There’s plenty of space for the party.Ember and Violetta already canceled.Right now, it’s just the three of us.”
“Four,” I say.
Nova gives me a confused look.
“Ashton is outside,” I say.
Nova nods.“Oh, right.”
Moreno rubs at his jaw.“If your friends aren’t spending the night, then I’m sure these guys don’t want to all crash in your bedroom.We’ll make sure the guest rooms are ready for this evening.”
“That isn’t necessary,” I say.
“Where do you plan on sleeping?”Mom asks.
“After the bonfire, we were planning on driving back to university and spending the night at home,” I say.
“Nonsense,” Mom says.“This is your home.”
Moreno clears his throat.“Then why did you and Ashton both bring duffel bags with you?”His stare alone reminds me that he’s interrogated men for a living.
“We’d love to stay over,” Harper says, cutting the tension with a smile.She wraps her arm around my waist, pulling me against her.“Wouldn’t we, babe?”Leaning up on her tiptoes, she plants another soft, chaste kiss on my cheek.
She has no idea what’s happening, the intensity of which I’m dying inside every minute under this roof reminds me of the hell I’ve witnessed and the bloodshed I’ve seen.I tried to bury it, move on, and forget the things I saw as a child in the basement.
Harper has no idea about any of it, because I’ve never told her.
