“Uh, guys,” says Eli. “I think someone might want to—”
Landon grabs me again, snatching me up before I hit the ground. “I’ve got her,” he says, arms tightening around my body, and then I’m being lifted and carried into the house. The walls are spinning faster now. I tell Landon so.
“Just don’t puke on my shirt,” he murmurs, ascending the stairs. “It’s expensive.”
“Those Mai Tais are evil,” I mutter, nearly unintelligible, as we enter my bedroom. He sets me down on the bed with surprising gentleness, and I squeeze my eyes shut tight, half exhausted, half sick. “Mel’s mad.”
“Yeah, well. What else is new?” I groan as a wave of dizziness washes over me, pressing my hand to my forehead. “Do you need a trashcan?”
“No,” I mutter, peeking up at him. “No trashcan. I’m good.”
His nose wrinkles. “You don’t look it.”
“Why do you hate me?” I blurt the question without thinking, disoriented from the nausea and the whirly, swirly ceiling, and nearly groan again. Drunk Violet needs a better filter. “Just kidding. Forget I asked that.”
He doesn’t respond, and I crack my eyes open to make sure he’s still standing there. He is, but I can’t focus on his expression long enough to read it. I shut my eyes again.
“I don’t hate you,” he says finally, surprising me.
I don’t hate you.
I don’t know why, but his response activates the giddy part of my drunk brain, and I suddenly feel happy. Really happy. I smile dopily and roll to my side, resting my head on my bent arm as my eyes grow heavy. Really heavy.
“Is she okay?” I hear Mel ask after some time. I should acknowledge her question, but I’m too tired.
“She’s out,” Landon assures.
“I can’t believe you,” Mel snaps. “Letting him do this. Letting him stay here.”
“Oh, so your family can stay, but mine can’t?” Landon’s tone is so biting that even in my intoxicated state, I flinch.
“That’s different. Who knows what your brother would have done if you had left them alone.” Mel’s words are equally as abrasive, and a part of me is aware that this is a conversation I probably shouldn’t be overhearing. I’m too tired to make it known that I’m awake, though, so I just lie there with my eyes shut, listening to their back and forth.
“Eli wouldn’t have done anything to her,” Landon says coolly. “You think I would have let that happen?”
Mel scoffs. “I honestly don’t know what to think anymore.”
“Please. This isn’t about Violet or how much you care about her, which must not be a lot considering you never mentioned her once in the past six years. She’s just your excuse for the night to pick a fight.”
“That’s not true.”
Landon huffs, and I peek my eye open long enough to see him glaring at my sister. “What would you know about the truth? Violet told me about your dad. He’salive. You lied about your father. You lied about her. What else have you been lying about?”
“Don’t.” Mel’s voice holds a clear warning, one that Landon blatantly ignores.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t start something you won’t finish,” Mel snaps, and if I thought Landon had the upper hand moments before, Mel’s snatched it back in an instant. When I squint my eyes open again, she’s encroaching on his space, not at all intimidated by the man before her. “It’s late, I’m tired, and you don’t know the half of it.”
“I don’t knowanyof it, Melanie! Because every fucking thing you’ve ever told me was a lie.”
“Drop it, Landon. I swear to God, you better drop it.”
“Or what?”
“You have too much to lose, and you damn well know it.”
So many questions pop into my mind, but they burst before I can focus on them, and my mind clouds over with exhaustion. Mel’s threat is the last thing I hear before sleep drags me under.
