“Easton, are you in there?”
“Jesus,” I grouse.
Shooting a final lingering look at Eva, I step into the hall and quietly close the door behind me.
Mom folds her arms across her chest, cell phone in one hand, as always, and narrows her eyes. “What were you doing in there with that girl?”
“That girlhas a name. It’s Eva.”
“Eva then.” She glances toward Eva’s door. “What were you doing with her?”
“Exactly what you asked me to do.”
“I asked you to bring her some food.” She looks at her watch. “Even Sasha is quicker than that.”
I roll my eyes at her ongoing feud with my dad’s secretary. “I was just checking on her. Are you done now? I have stuff to do.”
She holds my gaze, her heel giving a thoughtful tap on the floor. Believing the conversation is over, I move to step around her, but her rigid form blocks my path.
I raise a brow.
Her red-painted lips thin. “That girl”—she points to Eva’s door—“will not be a part of your wild escapades.”
“Escapades?” My jaw clenches. “It was a few small incidents, Mom.”
“Smallincidents?”
I glance away because even I know I’m downplaying it.
“Do you remember the embarrassment you brought to this family?”
“You’ve brought it up so many times, how could I forget?”
I know my actions last winter were stupid, and if I could take them back, I would in a heartbeat. I’m slowly beginning to learn nothing gets my dad’s attention anymore.
Mom’s cheeks redden with irritation. “Was it not enough for you to get obscenely drunk? No,” she huffs. “You just had to skinny dip with that Kristy—”
“Britney,” I correct.
“And that was after I had to hear from the mayor—who just so happens to be hermother—that you were caught with your pants down in Britney’s bedroom!”
Not my finest moment ...
“The point is, there are pictures of you two jumping into our pool naked still circulating online. And you knocked over my swan ice sculpture!” Her eyes narrow dangerously. “Hell of a Rutherford Christmas party, don’t you think? How will I get anyone to show up this year?”
I sigh. “I already said, I’m sorry. All right?I’m sorry.”
She only stares me down, so I move to brush past her, but her reply stops me dead in my tracks.
“I will send Eva away, Easton.”
I compose my expression before turning to face her. “She just got here a few hours ago.”
“Yes.” She slowly closes the gap between us. “And she will continue to stay here ... as long as you stay away from her.”
I open my mouth to argue, but with her eyes on her pinging phone, she beats me to it.
“She’s a pretty—if not dirty—looking girl. The kind of pretty that could get boys like you in trouble. The last thing I need is you two getting close and creating more gossip.” She taps her screen, muttering, “I can just imagine the next tabloid cover. Not to mention, a scandal between the two of you would defeat the entire reason for taking her in in the first place—” She shuts her eyes, presses her fingers to her temples, and sighs. “Never mind. That’s beside the point.”
