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He gave me a quick grin before disappearing down the hallway to his room. I slowly closed my bedroom door and turned off my music entirely. I didn’t need it anymore.

I finished off my homework in silence before putting myself to bed. It was almost midnight, and I was half asleep when the door slowly opened and my dad popped his head into the room.

“Dad?” I murmured, blinking my eyes open.

“Hey, sweetie. Just wanted to check in on you before you go to sleep.”

I pushed myself up slightly, but he shook his head. “Don’t get up for me. I know it’s late. I just wanted to see how you first day of school was.”

Part of me wanted to tell him what happened with Chase, but Dad looked so tired. His shoulders were slouched with exhaustion, and I could almost see all the weight of his work sitting atop them. Dad was a family lawyer, and I knew he struggled with how emotional his job was. It looked like he’d had a hard day, and I didn’t want to burden him any further.

I made a quick decision not to tell him about Chase’s antics. I knew Dad wouldn’t kick him out for having a girl in his room. He’d get a stern talking to, sure, but right now, I was more concerned about Dad than I was with Chase.

“It was great,” I said, giving him a bright smile.

“And you did your homework?”

“Yep, all done.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, his voice gentle and filled with warmth. “I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“Night, Dad.”

He smiled again before he eased the door shut. I snuggled into my pillow, trying to get back to sleep, but the deep lethargy I’d felt before Dad entered the room had disappeared. I couldn’t stop thinking about Chase and wondering if I’d done the right thing in keeping his secret from my Dad.

I slammed a fist into my pillow in an attempt to make it more comfortable before rolling over and huffing out a breath. Shane was going to talk with Chase, but I had a bad feeling that girls in his room and stolen leftovers were only the start of my problems with Chase. He needed to be dealt with. Tessa’s plan wasn’t sounding all so crazy anymore.

6

Chase

“Dude,you can’t have girls in your room. Dad will lose his shit if he finds out,” Shane warned.

It was too early in the morning for a lecture, but I nodded and took a long drink of my coffee. It was scorching hot, but exhaustion seeped through me, and a burnt tongue seemed like a small price to pay for quick a hit of caffeine.

“And Jenna, of all people? I thought you’d decided you were done with her,” he continued.

“Iamdone with her.” It had been a massive mistake to bring her back to the house yesterday after school, but it felt like I’d been doing the right thing at the time.

“Then why did you bring her over here?”

“She said she just wanted to talk,” I replied. “That she needed closure after the breakup.”

Shane shook his head at me. “Didn’t sound like closure from what I heard.”

“I know.” I grimaced as I recalled being caught by Ally. I’d had no intention of doing anything more than talk with Jenna last night, but she’d had completely different ideas. Ally walking in on us had been like a much-needed splash of cold water to wake me up. I’d stopped kissing Jenna right away and reminded her that it didn’t change anything and we were over. I still felt so stupid. “It won’t happen again,” I said.

“Good,” Shane replied. “While we’re talking about last night, I also need to talk to you about the leftovers you ate.”

I lifted an eyebrow at him. “You need to talk to me about leftovers?”

Shane let out a breath and nodded. “Just ask before you take them next time. Our dad doesn’t cook much, and Ally gets upset if there are no leftovers for her.”

“She’s upset I took the leftovers?” I knew the princess was precious, but getting upset over leftovers was just ridiculous.

Shane nodded. “I know it’s stupid, but if you were serious about your little truce with my sister, then this is a hard rule for her.”

I shook my head, still unable to believe how irrational the girl was. “Fine, fine. No girls and no leftovers. Anything else I should know? Does Ally also freak out if I drink the tap water? Am I allowed to watch the TV?”