By the time she looked at me, her smile had returned. “I’m glad you’re going, Ryan. You’ve always been the more sensible one.”
Max’s nostrils flared at her words and I bit back a sigh.Here we go.
“Ryan isn’t coming,” he said icily, jabbing at his plate with vigour. “He’s not invited.”
“What?” Mum’s head swivelled between us. “Why not? Max, you need to include Ryan. It’s not kind to leave him out.”
“Give it a rest. We’re not seven, Mum,” Max muttered. “Ryan’s a big boy and can find his own friends.”
“Watch your tone,” Dad barked, glancing up from his plate. “Respect your mother, Max.”
“Sorry,” Max muttered.
Dad’s attention returned to his dinner. Like me, he was often a silent participant at these dinners, only speaking when required.
“Ryan doesn’t like festivals,” Dominic said, his dark eyes mocking as they met mine. “Isn’t that right, Ry?”
I knew what he was doing. This was always how it went. Dominic was baiting me into a reaction so Max could save face. It was his twisted way of protecting my twin.
I gritted my teeth and kept my head down. I wasn’t rising to it. Not this time. I was done taking shit for Max on just about every level.
I should’ve known Dominic wouldn’t leave it there.
“He wouldn’t enjoy it,” Dominic said smoothly, bringing out that smile once more. “None of Ryan’s favourite bands are playing, so it’d be pointless.”
The metal of my cutlery bit into both my palms. “Actually,Caffeine Daydreamsare performing.”
Mum clapped her hands together while Max did a great impression of someone who’d sucked on a lemon. “Fantastic news. That’s all worked out well then.”
“Ryan can’t come,” Max blurted out. “There’s no tickets left.”
“I’m sure we can find a resale one somewhere,” Mum said.
Dominic sat back in his chair, resting his arm on the back of Max’s chair. Like me, he’d spotted the warning signs that my twin was about to blow. The tinge of red at the top of his ears. The muscle jumping in his jaw.
For some reason, the sight of Dominic’s arm so close to my brother’s shoulders had my own temper flaring. Did he think he needed protection from the rest of us? Why was it that Max always got his unwavering support even when he was being a dick?
It was just another example of how fucking unfair everything was. Max was popular. Attractive. Never without a girlfriend. And to top it off, he had a best mate willing to die for him.
Dominic’s role was supposed to be mine. Once upon a time, it had been. I’d been the one Max had looked to. The one he wanted to spend time with.
But Dominic had changed all of that. He’d appeared and I’d been relegated to the shadows.
His cruel nickname had never seemed more apt that it did right now.
“We can look into it,” Dominic said slowly, his hair falling over his forehead as he tilted his head at me. “If Ryanreallythinks it’s his scene, maybe he can tag along.”
I counted to ten in my head.He’d got me to rise once today; I wasn’t doing it again. We all knew there was no fucking way either of them was letting metag alongon their little festival trip. They’d been discussing it for months. Years, even. Their last hurrah before they went off to uni. Probably together. It wasn’t like they shared their future plans with me.
Why would they?
Regardless, I wouldn’t be going to the festival. We all knew it.
The only one who was oblivious to was Mum. She couldn’t understand why Dominic had come between the two of us. It pained her that the three of us couldn’t just be friends.
And, like always, it was my fault that we weren’t. At least, that was the way the two of them played it.Ryan doesn’t like to play football.Ryan would feel uncomfortable with this crowd. Oh, we invited him, but he doesn’t like action films.
What I said now wasn’t important. I wouldn’t be going and, if I pushed along with this little game, it’d be flipped back on me when I was least expecting it.
