Ihave no idea what I’m going to say when this door opens. I’ve only ever been here to work on the project, and Cam always opened the door. He’s home. He’s always home, according to Ember.
I already have no idea what’s happening with Ember and me, but if Cam opens this door, my face will say it all.
I’m in love with your sister.
Shit… what am I doing here? I should know better than to let Zeke talk me into things. I mean, he’s the idiot that bought me a stripper for my twentieth birthday, and I was bombarded in the kitchen after a game.
I knock…. finally.
But no one comes to the door.
So, I knock again. Harder.
Think of something, you idiot. You can’t just ramble the second the door opens and hope that Cam doesn’t murder you before you can say how much you care about his sister.
“The thing is… no. Cam, I never expected.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “When I first met your sister—”
“One sec Brin, someone’s at the door.” Her voice pierces through the door, and I freeze. I wasn’t expecting her to get the door… and I definitely wasn’t expecting her to be on the phone with my sister. “Yeah, of all weekends for you to be gone—”
Her face falls when she sees me. I can’t tell if it’s anger coursing through her veins or if she’s going to be sick.
“Hey, Brin, I need to call you back.” She hangs up the phone. I don’t even know if she gave Brin enough time to respond. “What are you doing here?”
“You weren’t at the game.”
Really, Declan? That’s what you came up with?
“I wasn’t feeling well.” She’s standing in the small space between the door and the frame, closing me off. I guess I can’t blame her. I deserve the cold shoulder.
“Is that all?” She folds her arms across her chest, and now the red on her face is clear… definitely anger.
“Can I come in?”
She taps the back of the door and then turns around. She doesn’t give me a direct answer but leaves the door open, so I assume that’s her way of sayingokay.
The first thing I notice is the claw clip holding up her hair… which is strange, but I needed something to focus on, and that was the first thing my eyes hit. Something I didn’t know existed until Brinley chewed my head off when I accidentally bought her the wrong clips.
I follow her into her room and shut the door behind me. I don’t know if that’s the best idea, but the last thing I need is for Cam to see me in here and ruin my whole plan.
The next thing I notice when she sits on her bed and looks up at me is the puffiness surrounding her eyes. It’s hard to believe I didn’t see it before when she opened the door, but I guess I was trying to avoid eye contact in hopes that it’d make it easier.
“Have you been crying?”
Dumb question. Of course, she has. She told me she loved me… and I ignored her.
“Are you gonna tell me why you’re here?” she asks. “Or are you gonna leave. Because I have a bunch of stuff I need to catch up on.”
“I don’t want you to think I’m not serious about us. I wouldn’t have shown up here ready to face your brother’s wrath if I wasn’t.”
Her eyes soften, but there’s still a fire burning in them. Part of me wonders if she’s madder at herself for letting it slip than she is at me for not saying it back.
“I think you said everything you needed to last night. Or I should say the deafening silence was a pretty strong answer.”
My head falls, and I give her a small nod. That’s fair. I could’ve said something, anything, and I didn’t.
“Okay then.”
“Wait.” She releases a shaky breath, stopping me at the door. “I’m sorry.”
