“You’re going,” Brock says. “Go up and get ready.”
Braden appears at the top of the stairs. “What the hell you doing here?”
Trystan chuckles. “I said the same thing.”
“We’re taking your cousin to dinner,” Brock says, sounding angry. “Get dressed and be down here in ten minutes.” He looks at me. “Do you need to change?”
The way he’s looking at me implies that I do.
“We can skip dinner,” I tell him, knowing none of them want to go, including Brock. He’s just doing this because he thinks he has to. “I’m not that hungry.”
“She ate my fucking protein bars,” Braden says.
“No shit?” Trystan laughs. “Can’t believe you’re still alive,” he says to me. “If I did that, he’d fucking kill me.”
“Boys, watch your language,” Brock scolds.
“Why?” Trystan asks, glancing at me. “You think Little Miss Perfect doesn’t curse?”
“Little Miss Perfect?” I say. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Dad thinks you’re all sweet and innocent ’cause you’re a girl.”
“Trystan, enough!” Brock says, raising his voice. “Go get ready. Right now! Or I’m taking the car. The same goes for you, Braden.”
“This is bullshit,” Braden says, returning to his room.
Trystan mumbles something under his breath as he goes up the stairs.
“They can be difficult sometimes,” Brock says to me. “They’re not good with change. They just need a few weeks to adjust. I’m going to make some calls in my office. We’ll plan to leave in a half hour.”
“Half hour? I thought you said ten minutes.”
“I told the boys ten minutes because I know they’ll take at least twice that.” He walks off.
“Wait — what do I wear?”
“There should be dresses in your closet,” he calls out as he continues to his office.
Back in my room, I look through the dresses. Some are fancy, some are casual, and some are in between. I don’t know which one to wear.
Deciding on a casual one, I pick a yellow sundress and the white sandals that were placed on the shoe rack just below it. Given the placement, I’m guessing the shoes go with the dress. I’m really bad at putting together clothes, especially nice ones. I mostly live in jeans, t-shirts, and sneakers.
Looking over at the side of the closet that has my things from home, almost everything is black or gray. This is the first time I’ve worn yellow in my entire life. I feel stupid in this dress, but it actually doesn’t look that bad on me.
There’s a knock on the door.
“You ready?” a deep voice says.
Ready?It’s only been ten minutes. I go to the door and find Trystan there, wearing light-colored pants and a pale blue button-up shirt. It looks good on him with his blond hair and blue eyes.
“I thought we weren’t leaving for twenty minutes,” I say.
“We’re leaving now,” he says, glancing down at my dress. “Braden and I want to get this over with and get home.”
Turning back, I go over to the dresser and get my phone. “Why don’t you just not go?”
“You heard my dad. He’ll take the car if we don’t go to this stupid dinner.”
