“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me straightaway?” I beat at the steering wheel. “It’s been three years, Amelia. Three fucking years!”
“Oh, no way.” She shakes her head. “No way, Donovan. You don’t get to guilt-trip me. It’s not my fault you were so self-obsessed you didn’t even stop to wonder why things turned to shit between us.”
“How the fuck was I supposed to know?” A thought occurs to me. “Do Mom and Dad know?”
“Don’t you dare say a word to them. Once I realized I couldn’t count on you, I decided to handle things myself. Then you went off with Dad, Cooper went to college, and that was that.”
By the time we reach the airport, my hands are cold and clammy.
“I want to fix this.”
She holds up a hand. “Just stop, Donovan. That little sister you knew, the one who idolized you? She’s gone. She doesn’t exist anymore. And by the way, I know what you’re like. Despite the distance, I know just how you treat girls. Like they’re your little playthings. And I can’t stand that my own brother acts like that. Honestly? It makes me glad things are fucked between us.”
She pulls her bag off the back seat and steps out of the car, and as I watch her march toward the terminal, there’s a knife twist in my gut. So this is how people see me?
Everything I thought I knew has been flipped upside down. Worst of all, my sister was never a spoiled brat. She was hurting. And the one person who was supposed to be there for her left her to deal with it alone.
And I don’t even think I apologized.
7CARRIE
I won, in the end—I’ve had a peaceful week, free of anything Donovan Wolinski. But while I should be feeling relieved—throwing a victory parade, even—something isn’t sitting right. I might be losing it, but I find myself scouring the crowds for him, my head jolting up whenever somebody walks by, searching for a sign of him.God, I can’t believe what I said to him. I hate myself.
Sure, I warned him to knock it off and leave me alone more than once, but I really regret losing my shit last week. He caught me at the worst possible time—about to burst into tears because of my mom. I know she’s not doing well. I understand why she’s depressed. But I can’t keep accepting the way she’s letting herself crumble. It’ll be two years in December, for God’s sake. Rushing back home to be with her wasn’t part of my plans, but that’s exactly what I did. I spent five days in that house with her—missingwaytoo many classes, by the way—and I was at a breaking point when Donovan got all up in my face. I wasn’t in the mood for his games that day. Not even a little bit.
When I saw him walk by the arena the other day, he had this pissed look on his face, and maybe this is the guilt talking, but seeing him like that gave me the weirdest twisty feeling in my gut. I’m not going to be able to let this go until I squash things between us.
“Hello? Anyone home?”
Becca is waving a hand in my face, and I suddenly remember she’s been standing in front of me for the past five minutes now.
“What did you say?”
“That I might need to crash at our place tonight.”
“What did Carter do now?”
“You know those shoes I love? The new ones? He stretched the hell out of them. They’re basically ruined!”
I laugh, picturing the scene. “What’d he do that for?”
“He wanted the scene to be ‘realistic.’ Imagine his troll feet squashed into my Aquazzuras!” She shakes her head. “I’m gonna need to bleach my eyeballs. He should be glad I’m not dumping him.”
“I have no idea how we’re friends. I mean, I have no idea what Aquazzuras are,” I add.
“And that’s exactly why I’ve loved living with you and your”—she gestures hopelessly at my feet—“your tragic sandals.”
“He can enjoy the company of his Campus Drivers buddies tonight, for all I care,” she adds in a huff—and I take my opening.
“Seen Donovan around lately?” I ask, aiming for casual.
“Yeah, he was at Lane’s earlier this week. Or he was half there, anyway. The guy didn’t say a word all night. I kind of preferred it back when he went on his fangirl rants, he’ssoboring these days!”
My heart is hammering in my chest.
“Is this about your stuff?”
I frown. “What stuff?”
