Page 46
He stands, dusting himself off. “Want to see me do it again?”
“Give it a try,” I urge. “You can do it.”
She can’t do it. We both know she can’t. I can pretend, though.
Blowing out a sigh, she gets on her knees, warily eyeing the setup before dropping to her stomach. “Crawling through the dirt. This is what my life has come to.”
“You’re supposed to do this silently,” I point out. “Talking to yourself sort of defeats the purpose.”
“‘Defeats the purpose,’” she snorts before making her first move, sliding under the wire.
And immediately the soft chime of a bell rings through the air.
“Keep your head low,” Theo reminds her. “The way I did. Chin tucked in, close to the ground.”
“It’s not enough to crawl through the dirt. I have to eat it too.” She moves forward, setting off another bell. “Dang it! This is hopeless!”
I can’t disagree. With my hands in my pockets, I turn to my brother. He’s trying to hide his frustration, but I know him too well to be fooled. “You still sure I’ll make it out alive with her at my side?”
He doesn’t answer. He doesn’t need to.
We both know I’m fucked.
Chapter Seventeen
June
“I can’t believe it.”
Adrian barely looks up from the book he’s reading, all flopped out in one of the armchairs by the fire. I almost hate him for how handsome he looks, with the light from the flames casting shadows and making his face look even more chiseled than it already does. “Can’t believe what?”
“I’m actually in regular clothes for the first time in forever.” With my arms held out to the sides, I do a slow turn.
He still doesn’t look up.
“Excuse me? There is a fashion show being put on for you right now.”
I swear, you would think the guy was on his way to his meemaw’s funeral. “You’re reminding me why I never adopted a puppy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re always demanding my attention.”
It’s not that I want his attention. I just want something to do. “Well, you totally took the air out of my balloon. Thanks very much.” I do my pitiful little turn for him. “Voilà.”
Glancing up, he frowns. “You’re wearing a sweater and jeans.”
“Wow. You are so observant. I thought it was a step up from sweats that are around a million times too big for me.” I drop into the chair facing his, bouncing my knee, tapping my fingers against the worn leather.
“I’m glad the clothes order made you happy,” he offers before going back to his reading. “You needed something to wear that doesn’t belong to me.”
Technically, every stitch I’m wearing still does belong to him, since I don’t have any of my cards with me and learned a long time ago not to memorize the numbers. That’s how a girl ends up with life-size cardboard cutouts of Henry Cavill and Pedro Pascal. I mean, they’re fun to look at, but at what cost?
I swear, I’m going to explode before much longer. “It’s quiet out here,” I point out.
“It would be quieter without the constant narration,” Adrian murmurs as he flips a page.
“What do you think he does for fun?”
