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It was my turn to watch over our parents, make sure Dad didn’t kill Mama, and I was ready.
My brother drummed his fingers over the back of my door, stalling. “I invited some friends over. Rhy, Piper, and Chrissie. That okay?”
“Sure,” I said brightly. “Of course.”
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for my brother to hang out with pretty, interested girls from home when he vacationed here from Le Cordon Bleu, but I knew he’d never have any of them. He was hopelessly in love with my best friend, Cal.
“Dyl…” Row halted.
“Hmm?”
“Why aren’t you going to college?”
The question impaled my stomach like a rusty knife. I inhaled through my nose. My shoulders tensed. “Honestly? I don’t want to accumulate student debt to get a BA in bullshit. I’ll figure things out at my own pace. Decide what I want to do.”
“It’s not because of me, right?” Row asked after a beat.
It is, and I won’t ever let you drop out of culinary school. You’ve already sacrificed too much.
I snorted. “No, Row. The world doesn’t revolve around you.”
The next few hours slogged by. My parents weren’t home: Dad was at work, and Mama was visiting Uncle Antonio in New Jersey. I retired from my desk to my bed, texting with Cal and skimming a book. I wasn’t even sure what I was reading. There was a murder, a cabin, and a good amount of cheating between two couples. Downstairs, I could hear girlish giggles and screeching and beer bottles popping open. Row and Rhyland were talking in their deep, authoritative voices. My ears tunedout everything other than Rhy’s voice, though. The husky, deep burr of the last guy I should be attracted to.
My stomach rumbled, announcing it was empty.
I sighed and put the book on my chest, glancing at the clock on my nightstand.
Just grab something quick. You can’t avoid him forever.
Checking my phone to procrastinate, I noticed a few text messages.
Cal: We should go to the graduation hangout. I’m leaving tomorrow for New York.
As much as I was happy for her, I was depressed for myself. Cal was my only ray of light in the otherwise gloomy Staindrop.
Tucker: Want me 2 pick u up 4 the party?
Tucker: I rlly like u.
Tucker: You’re eyes look like 2 graceful beetles. Shiny and black.
Tucker: Your so beautiful dylan. Idk how I never noticed it before.
Flinging my legs over the bed, I padded downstairs. The lights were turned off in the kitchen, the house mostly dark in the dusky evening. I glanced past the backyard doors and caught Row and his two lady friends sitting around a bonfire, drinking beer. I noticed Row had stuck to water. Probably didn’t trust me not to change my mind about the party.
This is why you’re doing this for him.
He’s always taken care of you. He’s loyal to a fault.
The toilet in the house flushed noisily, followed by the sound of a faucet running. I grabbed a bowl from the overhead cabinet and poured some pretzels into it. I dumped a few grapes and baby carrots into the mix, my stomach brushing the kitchen counter. I was about to turn around and go upstairs when two hands bracketed me from either side, fingers splayed across the countertop. I immediately recognized those fingers. Tan, long,and rough from manual work. He worked in construction every summer when he was off from college.
I sucked in a breath. Rhyland.
An erection ground between my ass cheeks through our clothes. A hot, humid mouth came crashing down over the shell of my ear. The faint fumes of beer and the bitter bite of weed skulked into my nostrils.
Was he drunk? Stoned?
Knowing Rhyland, he was both.