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I turned my head in an attempt to see if I could see the others. I didn’t make it that far before I caught sight of the sliding glass doors and let out a small, semi-hysterical scream. It was pitch black outside. What time was it, how late? What if my mother had noticed me gone? Would she care? I didn’t know, I’d never had friends to hang out with or somewhere to be other than home before. And I’d never been out past dark.

I shot to my feet, mumbling, “I have to go.”

Holy crap, I had to go, go, go.

Would she be mad? Angry? I didn’t know, but I feared her wrath all the same. Her punishment hadn’t born fruit. My mother would be on the war path and I would be her sole target.

I had to go.

I looked into Tyson’s beautifully dark eyes and almost melted at what I saw there. Sweet concern. Dark longing. I didn’t understand him at all.

“I have to go,” I told him, my voice low and full of desperation.

“Why?” He asked me quietly.

Why?

Why?

What a damn good question.

Also, a stupid one with all things considered. Had he not had the pleasure of meeting my mother when the twins were subjected to it? I believed he had.

So, again, why?

I shook my head, but kept my mouth shut. If this was his way of trying to force me to say something I did not want to, he had another thing coming. I’d already told him too much.

“It’s late and dark,” I pointed out, jerking my hand in the direction of the sliding glass doors. “I need to get home before someone notices I never really made it past the dining room.” By someone, I meant my mother.

That’s what I told him. Really, I just wanted to escape all the questions. I should have thought about what I was saying because I’d let something slip that I had no intention of sharing with all of them.

“Why didn’t you make it past the dining room earlier?”

Why, indeed. Me and my big mouth. I should super glue my lips shut, it would really save me a whole world of trouble.

“Ariel?” Persistent. Tyson wasn’t going to let this one go.

Shit. Stalling with silence clearly wasn’t the way to go here. I licked my suddenly dry lips. His eyes followed the motion as they heated. He should really stop looking at me like that, it muddled my brain.

“Uhh…” I mumbled under my breath.

Everyone in the kitchen had stopped talking and arguing with one another when I told them to shut up, they hadn’t said anything since. I would have forgotten about them being there if I couldn’t feel them behind me. My shoulders felt heavy and stiff under the weight of their stares. I felt their eyes crawling over me like a physical touch. Tyson wasn’t the only one waiting for my answer. I didn’t want to tell them anything.

“I have to go,” I repeated my earlier response.

Addison decided to take it out of my hands and spilled the beans. “She walked in on them doing it on the dining room table and didn’t want to stick around and watch so she bailed. Can’t say I blame her.”

I only knew it was Addison and not Abel by who I’d talked to earlier. I hadn’t mentioned anything to Abel about my mother and Mr. Cole.

My face heated up as I was embarrassed by his words. My mother and the never-ending humiliation she continued to torture me with. I wanted to strangle her. Her physical abuse was almost easier to deal with than the humiliation of being related to her.

I shoved the glass at Tyson and stood up fast. The room spun a little and I had blink, rapidly, to get it to stand still again. When it stopped moving I made my way around the couch, not looking in the direction of the kitchen. I didn’t want to see the looks on their faces after hearing what Addison had just said about my mother.

“Ariel,” Tyson called out softly, sweetly. He felt sorry for me, I could hear it in his voice. Somehow, that made it a whole lot worse.

Ignoring him, I flew past the couch and breezed into the hallway, escaping them all. By the time I made it to the front door I was practically jogging. No one followed me, but their voices did.

“Why is she always running away from us?” One of the twins asked.