“…at this point I could tell them you’re actually blood-related and they’d believe it. Wouldn’t take much to photoshop some birth certificates.”I fast forward a little, then press play again.“Don’t need truth or proof. People will eat this shit up because you boys are?—"
I stop the playback, not wanting to hear the whole thing over again. The wind rustles dead leaves across the carport, the silence notably tense. I smile at Don as I push the phone back into my pocket.
“Maybe you don’t need proof, but I’m the one who actually has it,” I say quietly.
“You think that’ll scare me? I’ll still get paid?—”
“If you ever come near me or Ari again,” I say, stepping forward until we’re nearly chest to chest. It reminds me of the times I did this even when I was a foot shorter than him, but now I tower over him. “If you so much as speak our names to anyone, I will ruin what little you have left in this world.”
His bravado cracks just enough to see the uncertainty beneath. “You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” I say bluntly. “I’ll come for your piece of shit car, your dilapidated shithole house, your livelihood. I’ll take everything away from you, and I won’t stop there. Because when you least expect it, I’ll come for you. If you haven’t learned by now, there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him. If you fuck with him, I’ll come for you with everything I’ve got.”
For a long time, we stand there, staring at each other. In the mess of the yard, in the memories that have rotted like the wood that barely holds this house up.
Finally, he looks down, and I step back.
“This is the last time you’ll ever see me if you play your cards right.”
Then I turn and walk to my waiting car without looking back. I don’t even look to see if he’s still standing there once I’m behind the tinted windows and the doors are locked. And I don’t let myself breathe until the house disappears behind us.
THIRTY-ONE
WILL
“Hey!” Ari calls as soon as I walk into the condo. “Where’d you go?” He stops when he sees my arms full of stuff and luckily gets distracted the way I hoped he would, because I can barely stand to look him in the eye. “What is that?”
“It’s a popcorn maker,” I say, hoisting the box onto the kitchen counter.
“Well, I see that,” he says, raising an amused eyebrow at the picture on the box. “But what about the rest of this?”
“Popcorn…stuff.”
“Stuff?” He looks curiously into the bags I set on the counter next to the brand-new popcorn machine, finding an array of different kinds of kernels, flavored butters, and seasonings, as well as bowls that match the old-fashioned look of the popcorn maker. It looks like an old movie-theater style popper, but it uses hot air instead of oil. “You don’t think you maybe went a bit overboard?”
“Luc texted and said we were having a movie night,” I say. I know he saw the text, too. He’s obviously in the same group chat.
“You said you’d pick up some popcorn, not a whole theater setup.”
“When’s the last time we did something like this? And Jesse’s been so down, I thought we should do it right. Have fun with it. And I was out walking around near the HomeGoods, and it was there, so why not?” I give an exaggerated shrug like this isn’t odd behavior for me. “It seemed like something Jesse would do,” I say, which isn’t a lie. It just isn’t the whole truth.
Ari watches me for a moment, as if deciding if he should question me further or laugh, but then he gives me a disarmingly soft smile.
“That’s really sweet,” he says, then deadpans, “What’d you do wrong?”
“What?” I shriek, realizing halfway through my stomach dropping out that he’s making a joke. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying to cover my moment of panic with humor. “I’m always sweet.”
Ari hums and pushes himself up to kiss me. It starts as a sweet, lingering peck on the lips, but I chase his mouth, deepening the kiss and crowding him into the counter.
A throat clears behind me, and I freeze.
Shit.I forgot Zane followed me up. He was waiting outside on the phone, but I left the door open for him.
“Uh, just wanted to let you know that Naz is ready. He headed down to the car. We’ll, uh, meet you down there,” he says awkwardly, backing away slowly before spinning on his heel.
“Well, at least we know Scott hasn’t been gossiping,” Ari says in a small, amused voice. “Whoops.” The way he says it, and the peel of laughter that follows, helps my shoulders relax some.
“We should probably…” I gesture to the bags of popcorn stuff, and Ari grabs a few bags while I get the box.
