“Yes, sir.” She salutes me, then takes back her drink. “I’m just saying you were drinking way before you were legal.”
“Yeah, well, most people don’t try and take advantage of me if I get too drunk.”
Her shoulders drop. I’m not saying there aren’t enough people here who care about Brin that they wouldn’t protect her if something happened. But after that talk with Ember, sometimes you trust the wrong people.
“I’ll stop after this one,” she mumbles. “Pinky, promise. Now, where were you hiding?”
“I needed to clear my head,” I respond.
“Because winning requires clearing your head?”
“It had nothing to do with the game.”
I should tell her. This would be the perfect Segway to tell her what I found out. But it’s not the right place to tell her… and if I pull her away now, Jaxon will know something's up, and I don’t know if I’ve had enough time to process it, let alone deal with everyone else processing it.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I was able to talk about it with—” I wonder if she’ll be upset that I talked to Ember about it. Or maybe she’ll be upset that I don’t want to talk toherabout it. “—someone.”
“Someone.” She grins. “Was there actual talking or—”
“Brin.” I scowl.
“Come on, Brin,” Jaxon throws his arm around her shoulder, and she gazes up at him, “we all know your brother doesn’t get any action.”
“I get more than you.” I lie.
Brinley studies him like she hopes I’m right.
“We’ll see about that.” He sticks his tongue out and pats me on the back as he heads into the sea of people.
Brinley’s eyes follow him through the crowd, and the second he finds a girl, her eyes are back on me.
“You haven’t seen Ember, have you?” I wonder, hoping the change in subject will bring her back to Earth.
“No.” She takes another drink, but when her cup comes down, there’s a knowing look in her eye. “Why?”
“I just wanted to thank her for coming to the game.” I shrug, grabbing a beer out of the cooler.
“I’m pretty sure she left,” she continues. “I saw her talking to Cam a little bit ago, and then she disappeared. I thought maybe she was getting a drink, but I haven’t seen her since.”
“Got it.”
Ember couldn’t get away fast enough after Brooks’ phone call. Maybe it brought her back to reality and saved her from a huge mistake. I, on the other hand, can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like I can still feel her on my skin.
“You seem disappointed.”
“I’m not disappointed,” I lie.
“Is everything okay? You seem off.”
“I’m fine.”
“Is it Ember?”
“Brin, I said I’m fine.” My words are sharper than I mean them to be.
“I know you like her, so if it’s that—"
