“Not really.”
“You walk all the freaking time. I’ve seen you on the cameras.” He smiles. “And yeah, I saw you sneaking out. Better not let Dad catch you doing that.”
“What cameras?”
“There’s security cameras all along the outside of the house. Front and back.”
“Why were you checking the cameras?”
“Because I don’t trust you,” he says, his smile now gone. “You may have Dad and Braden thinking you’re all sweet and innocent, but I can see right through that shit.”
“Braden?” I laugh. “He doesn’t think I’m sweet and innocent. He hates me. He called me a bitch.”
“That’s his way of saying he likes you.”
“He doesn’t like me. And I’m sure he doesn’t trust me. I don’t trust you guys either.”
“So where do you go?”
“What do you mean?”
“Where do you go on all these walks you keep taking?”
“Nowhere. I just walk the neighborhood.”
“And the beach.”
“Sometimes.”
“The beach is private. You’re not supposed to be on it, except for the part we own.”
“Nobody’s complained about it. I don’t think half the houses even have people living there.”
He stares at me, his arms crossed. “You just walk the neighborhood, huh?”
“I’m bored. There’s nothing to do here and I can’t leave because I don’t have a car. Or a license.”
“So get one.”
“Maybe I will.”
“I could probably teach you,” he says.
“Why? You just said you don’t trust me.”
“Doesn’t have anything to do with teaching you how to drive.”
“Thanks, but I’m not ready for lessons. I have enough going on.”
“Your loss.” He walks off.
My heart’s pounding again. I’m not a good liar. I need to get better at it, or Trystan’s going to find out I’m lying.
He’s watching me. Watching what I do and where I go. I wasn’t even thinking about the cameras. They can’t see all the way down to Jackson’s house, but still, I need to find a different way to get there, or Trystan will wonder why I keep going that direction.
* * *
At three, I show up at Jackson’s house, hiding behind the small palm tree that’s in a planter on his porch. I wonder if he has a gardener. I can’t imagine him planting this, or any of the other plants around his house.
