“Yeah, of course.”
“What do you need, baby? I’m sure we have it,” Tina says over her shoulder. I smile, scooping more cut melon into the bowl. God, I love this woman.
“Tina, you have anything a boy could ever ask for.” I grin, and she giggles along with Amber. “But unfortunately, this isn’t an everyday household item.”
Felix reappears with the ice, and soon we’re loading up Aaron’s truck. Ten minutes later, we settle in for the drive. I sit in the back with Felix, and before the engine even turns over, his legs are already swung up into my lap.
I sigh and start rubbing at his ankles and calves. He’s a long-distance runner, and the diva thinks presenting me with his chickenlegs means I’m obligated to massage them. I mean, I’m amazing, so I will—but that’s not the point.
I look out the window while Felix scrolls on his phone and Aaron and Amber chat up front. The drive to my house only takes about ten minutes and you can see the neighborhoods grow more worn-down the farther we go. Felix’s area is a far cry nicer than mine. Greg and Tina both have degrees and good jobs. Dad has… well. Dad has something.
We pull up and I lean forward.
The paint is chipping. The grass desperately needs mowing. One of the neighbor kids has left a bike at the end of the sidewalk, and the stained screen door is still stuck open. A concrete porch with two steps leads to the door, just wide enough for two people to stand side by side. Two bedrooms. One bathroom. A lifetime of misery.
I just need to make sure he hasn’t taken them—that they’re still there—and then I can leave again.
Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned. Shocker.
Dad’s beat-up Corolla sits in the driveway, my signal to hightail it the fuck out of here.
“Hey, Aaron. Never mind, man. Let’s kick it.” My eyes stay latched to the front door.
“Huh? I thought you needed something specific?”
I open my mouth, then shut it again. I don’t want to lie, but I also don’t want them to know. Not even Felix knows everything—just that things are… odd.
Felix leans forward and spots the car, his hand flying to the back of my neck, kneading the tense muscle there.
“Hey.” His voice is soft, and when I turn to look at him, those green eyes are searching mine. So kind. So open. My ears ring and the longer we sit here, the more my wrists itch. I clench my fists, trying to ward off the feeling of tipping forward off the world’s most fucked-up building. “I can get it for you, Bear.”
“No.”
The word comes out too fast, too loud to pass as casual. Panic crawls up my throat at the thought of him seeing inside, of encountering Dad, of this part of me being laid completely bare. I don’t really have anything I’m allowed to bring with me anyway. Has it always been this hot in here? Why can’t I stop the itch?
I scratch at my left wrist where it rests on my thigh, and thankfully, no one notices.
“I think we can just go. It’s really not that important.” A shaky laugh escapes me.
Felix leans forward and rests his forehead against my shoulder. I stare at the house again, catching a shadow moving behind the window.
My heart rate skyrockets.
What if he comes out here?
How would I even explain that?
“Aaron—”
“Right. No biggie.” He pulls away from the curb, his voice light, cutting off my plea as if nothing happened at all.
Something definitely just happened. And everyone knows it.
I take a few slow breaths, and the farther we get from the house, the less I itch.
I glance forward and catch Aaron watching me through the rearview mirror. He’s calculating again. My face heats under his stare—I’m sure he can see it there. The fear. The cowardice. All the things I’ve been hiding.
We shouldn’t have come. There’s no one to blame but me.
