“I already asked to rotate to a different subject because I know jack shit about geometry,” I tell him. “So, there’s a high likelihood they’ll pick me to take over your classes.”
“Oh, cool. You’ll be better than the ex-cop,” Julian says. “He tends to scare the kids.”
“Were you able to get some sleep?” Diego asks, and my cheeks heat immediately. Elena’s keen eyes fall over me, and I try to cover by clearing my throat.
“By some miracle, yeah.” Julian laughs easily. “Though it’s not fun being woken up every two hours to answer the same questions over and over, that’s for sure.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to say we had plenty of fun, but there’s no way I’m saying as much in front of my sister. She’s already looking at me funny as it is.
“Sounds like Leti was the perfect caretaker.” Elena smirks at me, and it only grows as Julian sputters out a response.
“Oh, um, definitely, yeah.” His voice is too high, and he’s talking too fast. “Great, she was great. No complaints here.”
“Okay, I’m taking you off speaker,” I tell Julian. “Elena and Diego need to finish packing up so they can get back home.”
“Oh, Leti.” Elena grabs my arm before I can escape to my room. “Thissoisn’t over.”
Once I’m tucked inside the comfort of my bedroom, door closed and perfectly alone, I put the phone back to my ear. “Hi.”
“Hi.” I can hear the grin in his voice. “Was I too obvious before?”
“Yeah, but it’s Elena.” I shrug even though he can’t see me. “She would’ve figured out something happened last night eventually. I’ve never been able to keep anything a secret from her for very long.”
“That’s one sibling we don’t have to worry too much about at least,” he says. “Speaking of, you want to tell me what happened with Andrew?”
“Not really.” My nose wrinkles. “You shouldn’t be worrying about me and Andrew right now. Besides, I think we have a much bigger conversation ahead of us before we get into that.”
“I agree,” he says. “Which is why you should come back down here so we can talk. My mom and her doctor boyfriend are about to leave, and I’m about to kick Andrew out, so you won’t have to worry about seeing him again.”
“Sure.” I blow out a breath, my hands suddenly shaking with nerves. “I’m on my way.”
33
Leti
Despite Julian’s promise that my brother won’t be there, I run into Andrew in the hallway.Fucking great.I’m getting ready to gear up for round two when he raises his hands as I approach.
“I don’t want to fight anymore.” He lets out a sigh as he drops his duffel bag. “Please. I’m already in for another earful when I go back to Kayla’s.”
“Since when are you fighting with Kayla?”
“Since I made the stupid, life-altering decision to tackle my best friend at my birthday party.” He glares at me as if this is my fault. “Mom and Dad know, by the way. I just told them.”
“You did?” I blink at him, stunned.
“Yeah, I did,” he says. “I told them Julian and I got into a fight over something or other. They really didn’t appreciate not being told a reason, but I kept you out of it as much as I could.”
“Okay.” I nod at him. “Thank you.”
“And I really am sorry,” he says. “For calling you pathetic and fighting with Julian. Mom and Dad taught us better than that. They taughtmebetter than that. I never should’ve laid my hands on Julian, even if he did throw the first punch. There was a better way to handle the situation, and I didn’t do what I should have.”
“I appreciate you saying that,” I tell him, and it’s the truth. “I’m sorry I made Julian keep our friendship a secret from you. I…” I take a breath. “I thought it’d be easier being friends with him if you weren’t involved in it in any way.”
“Because you hate me that much?” He sounds pained.
“I don’t hate you, Andrew.” Though that’s not exactly the truth, is it? There has certainly been more than one occasion where I told him as much. “Well, not right now at least. How about that? Miracles do exist.”
He smiles sadly, and I nearly return it.
