Page 40

Declan
I’ve beenin her room for a while now.
Long enough to know that she has a thing for 80’s hair bands and doesn’t keep a diary.
At least not one that I can find.
I told myself I was breaking into her room because she took off like a lunatic the last time I saw her and left me with two tons of cat litter and squeaky toys that I have absolutely no fucking use for. That I was going to slip in, throw the shit in her room and bounce.
As usual, when it comes to Tess, what I told myself is a big, fat fucking lie because once I was in, I found every excuse to stay.
I fed the cat.
I played with the cat.
I even set up the goddamned litter box.
And watched the clock.
I should probably leave before she gets home from school. If she finds me in her room, she’s going to blow a gasket. The thought turns me on more than it should, which is probably why instead of leaving, I stretch out on her bed and let the scraggly scrap or fur she calls a kitten claw its way onto my chest.
I’m lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the faint clang of tools and idling engines floating up from the ground-floor garage. Tess and her family used to be our neighbors. When her mom died, Tess and her father moved in here. The place is a dump. With the money I’m making him, her dad could afford a better place. A place where Tess could have a real home. Maybe—
I hear Tess laugh downstairs, the sound of it instantly clenching my gut. I’ve never heard her laugh like that before.
You’ve never heard her laugh, period, asshole.
Against my better judgment, I get up. Open her bedroom door and make my way down the short hallway, past the bathroom and through the kitchen. Total travel time is less than five seconds before I’m in the living room, standing in front of the huge plate glass window over-looking the garage. It’s mylared. Like the two-way mirrors that have in interrogation rooms on cop shows. She can’t see me.
But I can see her.
She’s with my brother.
I watch her present him to her father like a fattened calf. Mr. C wipes the grease off his hands before offering one of them to Con.
Con takes his hand and shakes it, mouth moving and smiling.
Nice to see you again, Mr. Castinetti. Don’t mind me, I’m just here to fuck your daughter. I’ll be through with her before you know it.
All that moon-eyed bullshit about loving Henley and here he is, practically five minutes after she dumps him, trying to move in on her best friend.
I watch Tess gesture up the stairs and her dad nods.
Of course you can fuck my daughter, Conner. You seem like a nice young man and not at all like your thieving asshole of an older brother.
I can hear them on the stairs, getting closer and for one insane moment I don’t have any intention of moving. I see Tess opening the door, Conner behind her. The look of absolute shock on her face when she sees me. Con will stand his ground. He might be a fucking freak but he’s no bitch. When I go for him, he’ll meet me head on. He won’t know why we’re trying to kill each other but he has so many reasons to hate me that he won’t care.
They’re on the other side of the door before I come to my senses. Retracing my steps, I duck into her room and shut the door, just as they step into the living room.
I listen to Tess ask Conner if he wants something to drink.
Con declines.
Leave, asshole.
She’s going to catch you.
Start screaming and yelling.