“Not yet. Doesn’t mean I won’t.”
Keeping hold of my arm, Braden steps in front of me, his face mere inches from mine. “Secrets are secrets for a reason.”
“It’s not a secret if we know.”
“It’s a secret if you keep your mouth shut.” He slowly lets go of my arm. “He doesn’t want us to know. If he did, he’d tell us.”
“I’m sick of him deciding what I can know. This is about my dad. Brock should’ve told me he was adopted.”
“Yourdadshould’ve told you.”
I sigh. “Yeah, well, we didn’t talk much when I was growing up.”
Braden folds his arms over his chest. “You find him yet?”
“No. Why? Have you heard anything?”
He leans in and whispers in my ear. “Secrets are secrets for a reason,” he says again.
I take a step back. “What do you mean? You know where he is?”
He laughs. “No. I’m just messing with you.”
I sigh and walk away.
“Hey!” Braden catches up to me. “He finally broke up with Morgan. At least we don’t have to deal with that bitch anymore.”
“She’s not a bitch.” I stop when I reach the sliding door. “She was nice, and she seemed to really like your dad. I don’t know why he broke up with her. He knew when he met her she’d be traveling for work all the time.”
“That’s not why he dumped her. That’s just the story he’ll tell. He dumped her because she didn’t get him the role. He started dating Morgan as soon as they announced she got the lead role in that movie. Dad thought she’d be able to get him a part in it, but she didn’t so he dumped her.”
“That’s pathetic.”
“It’s the industry. It’s all about who you know. It’s like at school. You do what you have to do to survive.” His eyes narrow. “If you understood that, you wouldn’t have turned me down just now.”
I lower my voice. “You’re my cousin, Braden. I’ll always think of you that way, even if we’re not related.”
“Your loss.” He walks off and goes in the house.
When I’m back in my room, I take a long, hot shower to wash off the feel of Braden’s hands on me. Even after I’m done, I still feel like he’s touching me. I really wanted to punch him tonight, but it would’ve just gotten me into more trouble. Brock would ground me for even longer, and Braden would find a way to punish me. He might even kill me.
The more I get to know Braden, the more I can imagine him doing it. Getting so angry at Andrea that he pushes her off the railing. Leaves her for dead. The thought of that makes me shiver. I get into bed, pull the covers over me, and fall asleep.
* * *
In the morning, I see three texts from Jackson asking if I’m okay because I didn’t check in with him last night. I usually send him a text before going to bed, but last night I was so freaked out by Braden that I forgot.
Going into my closet to make sure no one can hear me, I call Jackson.
“You okay?” he answers.
“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t call last night. Are you at school?”
“In the locker room so I can’t really talk, but tell me what happened last night.”
“Nothing. I was just tired and fell asleep.”
I hear some noise in the background, and then it’s quiet. “Okay, I’m alone. Tell me what happened.”
