It was a shame we only had a two-week agreement.
When I turned to put my new lingerie back in the bag, a knock on the driver’s side window startled me. Expecting Knox, I was surprised to see Adrian motioning for me to roll down the window.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I told him when the glass lowered.
He leaned against his crossed arms, peering past me onto the center console, where my new lingerie was still on full display. “Wow, big night planned?”
I followed his gaze and groaned. “Don’t look at that. Where did you even come from?”
“Saw you getting in the car. Figured I’d say hi,” he said with a shrug. His eyes flicked back to me. “So where are you headed, little sis?”
“None of your business.”
“That sounds sketchy as fuck.”
I rolled my eyes. “And where are you headed? Here to mooch off Mom and Dad and steal their food?”
I knew I had no business in calling him out for mooching off our parents, considering I was living on their property andalsostealing their food–but thankfully, Adrian didn’t point that out. Instead, he lifted the beach towel and goggles that were tucked under his arm. “No, I’m here to get some laps in. And I leave with half a rotisserie chicken, that’s purely coincidental.”
“Yeah, okay. Try not to drown,” I said, beginning to roll up the window. But his hand shot into the car to stop me. “What?”
His brows furrowed, and for once, he didn’t look amused. Adrian was usually all jokes and deflection, so the sudden seriousness made my stomach dip. “Everything good with you?”
My heart began to race. “Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know, my Spidey senses are tingling.” Adrian scratched the back of his neck. “And I’m just trying to be a good brother. Just know that if something’s wrong, you can talk to me. And I promise not to be a dick about it.”
He almost sounded… sincere.
The words were on the tip of my tongue. My confession. I could admit that he wasn’t the only one in the family wasting his college degree. I could tell him right now that I’d quit my marketing job and I’d been running food deliveries all over the suburbs, and the secrecy would be over. But telling him would mean saying it out loud for the first time. Making it real. And once it was real, I wouldn’t get to pretend I was still the capable, together version of myself everyone expected.
I imagined the look of pity on his face, and I couldn't say the words.
“Thank you, but you don’t need to worry about me. And I’m trying to leave, so you need to get out of the way.” I put my hand on the gear-shifter so he’d get the message.
Adrian nodded, taking a step back. “Fine. See you at Mom’s party tomorrow.”
Shit. I’d almost forgotten our mom’s birthday was the next day, which meant the Rutherfords would be once again crowding into the corner booth of the local Mexican restaurant to cause a ruckus. She loved being the center of attention, and the rest of us indulged in her theatrics.
I told Adrian goodbye, backed out of the driveway, and said a silent prayer for a decent night of tips so I could get my mom a present that didn’t scream:I’m poor.
I shook my head at myself in the rearview mirror, biting back a smile. Just a poor girl with a couple hundred dollars worth of lingerie riding shotgun.
Ten
Knox
El Castillo was onlytwo blocks from the arena, and the Rutherford matriarch’s birthday party just happened to coincide with the end of my work day. Which meant I had no excuse to skip it. And it wasn’t that I didn’t want to celebrate with them and wish my second mom a happy birthday—I usually loved joining in on all the Rutherfords’ chaotic celebrations.
But tonight the thought of sliding into that crowded booth made my stomach twist in a way it never had before.
Because Hallie would be there.
Hallie, who’d pleaded for me to stop while her body begged me to keep going. Hallie, who’d looked up at me with tears in her eyes and still hadn’t said the word “red.” How the fuck was I supposed to sit across from her at a table full of her family, pretending I hadn’t tied her wrists to the headboard and feasted on her ass?
As I entered the restaurant, following the sound of Adrian’s booming voice to the booth in the back, I chewed on my cheek. I knew mynerves were probably nothing compared to how vulnerable Hallie felt. She was the one who’d been humiliated, repeatedly, after all.
So when I rounded the corner beneath the arched doorway and the Rutherfords cheered and yelled my name, and Hallie’s cheeks flushed pink as she leaned onto her folded hands on the table, something in me softened. My own tension melted away in an instant, and I felt a flicker of satisfaction as they made room for me in the booth and I slid in right next to Hallie.
