He slowly wrapped his arms around her, a pained expression on his face. “Don’t talk about it, Zoann.”
“She has to know, Matthew. Tell her it isn’t the end of the world and she can survive. Mama wouldn’t let me get help, but once I talk to Mort and Roxy, they’ll do it for her.”
A frown pleated Uncle Val’s brow. “She hears you,” he said gruffly. “Okay? She hears you andwe’re going to make sure she gets whatever she needs. Her, Mattie, and Rebel. Okay, babe?”
Pulling away from Uncle Val and turning back to Harley, Aunt Zoann hugged her again. “I’m sorry, baby. After Kendall talked to me, I came in here intending to act like a fucking adult and help you.”
“It’s okay, Aunt Zoann. You are helping me. I know what you couldn’t say and just knowing…you survived—”
“It was a long, hard road,” Aunt Zoann admitted. “But we are all here for you.”
Unsure how to bring up her suspicions on what might be wrong with Aunt Zoann, Harley nodded.
“God, I wasn’t this emotional during my pregnancies…” Aunt Zoann froze and gasped. “Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” she chanted. “When was my last period?” she asked no one in particular, and jumped to her feet, then looked at Uncle Val, who’d lost his color. “Matthew, I think I’m pregnant.”
Rebel Caldwell never considered Shakespeare’s work beyond earning a grade. He was arguably the most gifted writer to have ever lived with tragically written work that gave the English language new words, sayings, and names. For all his brilliance, he bored her to tears. She considered a punishment of reading his entire body of work a suitable death sentence.
Certainly, weeks away from fifteen, she shouldn’t know about fading sunsets, glowing fires, or the ashes of youth. She was youth personified, only recently experiencing the rush of her first kiss. But as she stepped into the cool, damp evening and left Diesel’s birthdayparty, her life felt as if it had crashed and burned.
She’d given her soon-to-be sister-in-law the gift she’d not only agonized over but one she’d spent a lot of money on and time spent planning, to commemorate Diesel’s 30thbirthday.
She couldn’t overcome his callousness, not even for one night, and doubted she ever would. It proved to her that what she mistook as love wasn’t an ever-fixed mark. It was shaken at the first tempest and couldn’t bear Diesel’s cruelty. For Rebel, his treatment was the edge of doom and had altered her.
A sniffle escaped her and she realized she was crying.
“Fucking Shakespeare,” she seethed, shoving her phone in her back pocket and swiping angrily at her wet cheeks.
Aunt Kendall, Mattie, and Harley were Bard lovers. CJ went along for the ride because he’d done anything Harley asked of him at one time.Somehow, Big Willie seeped into Rebel’s psyche. Besides, the Language Arts department at Ridge Moore moved like there were no other writers with the credentials to teach students literature. It didn’t surprise her that she’d compare her life to Sonnets 73 and 116. It just annoyed her.
Drawing in a deep breath, she backed herself to the exterior wall and leaned against it, sidling a glance at the door. Light bathed the parkinglot from the stadium lights dotted among the parking spaces, dulling the beauty of the night sky. Unlike most parties, there were no patrols, only a prospect recently moved to Probate status. Another Seven. Hopefully, he didn’t get killed like the other ‘Seven’ had.
Aside from him and her, the entire world seemed deserted because of Diesel’s stupid party.
She thought about going back inside and asking Kaia to leave with her, but he was enjoying himself. Besides, she’d been sitting at the bar and had to walk across the floor to get to the door. Most of the guests saw her leave. Kaia didn’t want to follow her. Otherwise, he would have.
Axel stuck his head out of the door and grinned at her. Music and indistinguishable voices wafted to her. She regretted not slipping into the pocket of shadows that would’ve hidden her from view. The light surrounding her revealed her to everyone.
“Are you coming back in, Reb?”
Not wanting to upset her little brother, Rebel refused to go into detail. Even if she’d known what to say and how to explain her feelings. “No.”
He considered her for a moment, then frowned and walked outside. He was adorable in his jeans, white T-shirt, leather boots, and new cut with a name patch of Sweet Pea. If CJ saw, he kept his opinion to himself.
“What’s the matter?” Axel asked warily.
A lot. Most of which she couldn’t talk to Axel about. Rebel heaved in a breath. “Nothing, Ax,” she swore, wanting peace and happiness when she hadn’t been happy in months. Everything was upside down. “I’m just tired.”
Suspicion darkened his little face and he glanced over his shoulder than looked at her again. “I can walk you home and read a bedtime story to you.”
Rebel smiled. “Who’d walk you back? I’m sure you aren’t ready to leave Diesel’s party.”
“A man don’t need nobody to walk him back,” he huffed.
“I’d worry about you, though,” she told him, not pointing out he was a mini man, not yet a grown one. “All men have someone who worries about them.”
“You’re a girl, so of course you feel that way. Some motherfuckers don’t neednobodyto worry about them. They need to get eaten by a vulture and then picked apart by a bear.”
“I’d switch that around, but I get your point.”
