Having grown up with parents who loved him, Andrew’s childhood was the polar opposite of mine. The closest William and I got to those Hallmark happy family moments was when our mom returned after some loser dumped her. We would watch a show on our crappy TV set, snuggling up on a worn-out couch, eating cheap Little Caesars Pizza, and drinking up all the attention we could get from our mom before it inevitably disappeared again. That would last for a week or two until our mother met another douchebag that swept her off her feet, and our snuggle time was gone for an unknown period.
Andrew went quiet again, sketching with a vacant smile on his face, no doubt thinking about the adventures his grandparents took him on. I didn’t even go on a school field trip because there wasn’t enough money. While Andrew explored decaying manors for lost treasure, I was brawling with the nursery of raccoons outside our crumbling trailer. The biggest adventure I had in my childhood was when Mrs. Rudy took us to a Six Flags theme park for William’s fifteenth birthday.
My eyes grew heavy, and I fought hard to keep them open, but eventually, I lost that battle.
Sometime later, I rapidly blinked while my mind figured out exactly where I was.
In Andrew’s bed with a thin blanket thrown over my body, drool running down my cheek.Great.
I wiped my face, propped myself up on an elbow, and surveyed the room. The desk lamp was on, illuminating Andrew where he was slumped in the chair, his head resting on his folded forearms, his eyes closed. His broad back slowly rose and fell. He was even more handsome when he was asleep. The fluttering in my chest was back again.
Careful not to wake Andrew, I threw the blanket off and got up. The bed made a measurable squeak, and he opened his eyes.
“Sorry,” I whispered. “I should go to my room.”
He dragged a hand over his face and then over the back of his neck, groaning. “Thank you for staying.”
“Did you get everything you needed off the bracelet?”
With a tired but triumphant smile, Andrew turned the notebook my way. “We have half of a map.”
ChapterEleven
When I told Andrew that we should hit the road early in the morning, I didn’t mean before daybreak. Still, he knocked on our door before the sun even tried to reach this part of the planet.
Dazed and half asleep, I pushed on William’s shoulder. “Time to get up, handsome.” He mumbled a string of curses. “I agree.” I yawned, rubbing my eyes. “But we need to keep going. The treasure awaits.”
I checked the time and moaned: 5 a.m. Leaving the overhead lights on, I shuffled to the bathroom. When I was done washing my face and applying make-up, William pushed past me and turned on the shower, letting it warm up. His hair resembled a bird’s nest, but there was no hint of a hangover on his face.
“How are you feeling?” I passed him his toothbrush.
“Tired.” He stared at his reflection. “This can’t be accurate.”
“What?”
“My skin. God, it looks awful.”
I wanted to roll my eyes. William could spend a month with his face in the dirt, and his skin would still be better than anybody else I knew. “I tried to clean it a bit.”
He picked up the toothpaste. “Yeah. I saw bottles by the bed. Thanks.”
I pressed my hip against the door, holding my make-up bag. “Do you want to talk about it?”
He glanced at me through the mirror. “About how you don’t know a simple skin cleansing routine? That was the morning cleanser.”
Now I rolled my eyes. “No. About what was going on with you yesterday.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he said and began brushing his teeth.
“It’s about Rai, isn’t it? This whole trip reminds you too much of him.”
I waited for him to finish brushing. He spat and washed his face.
Tentacles of panic grasped my stomach. I wasn’t sure what had changed in William, but this was new to me. William and I were more than brother and sister, we were best friends, sharing everything, and never keeping secrets.
He hooked his fingers into the waistband of his boxers. “Are you going to stay here and watch me undress?”
“I’d need to bleach my eyes if I did.” I collected my dry dress and left the bathroom.
