Page 78 of Forbidden

I smiled. “So, we are in for a burnt tea then.”

“I spend hundreds of dollars on high-quality meat, just for Tyson to burn it, because we all know he won’t be listening to his father’s instructions.” Mum paused at the back door which was wide open. “Can you grab the plates?”

“Sure.” I headed back and grabbed the plates. I saw Mum walk out the back door and then I hovered in the kitchen for a few more seconds.

Okay, now was time to face Brad. What I was about to face occurred to me. My heart sunk; he was totally going to ignore me and pretend like last night didn’t happen.

I took a sharp breath in. Well, I had told him it was just a one night deal. I couldn’t be acting brokenhearted now because he wasn’t keeping the fairy tales he told me this morning. Nope. I had no right to hold him to anything he’d said this morning.

It was best if I wasn’t left alone with him. That way he wouldn’t feel awkward. I should just pretend it didn’t happen. Like I said, it was a one night deal.

He gave me one night and it was over now.

I walked through the back door and wiped my expression clean as I walked onto our enclosed porch.

Dad looked frustrated as he watched Tyson at the BBQ. Mum was talking to Eve but Eve wasn’t listening; she was staring out into the backyard and she had the same expression she had on her face when she left my room this afternoon.

I placed the plates down on the table. One person was missing. The person I was so scared to face: Brad.

I took an easy breath in. I think the fact that he wasn’t there said enough. It confirmed my thinking. A deflated smile went across my face. I’d known that what he’d said this morning couldn’t be true.

Good thing I didn’t get my heart set on what he promised.

I walked around the table and sat down next to Eve. Mum had given up talking to her. It was clear to see Eve wasn’t here, she was somewhere else. Well, I was going to change that.

I nudged her shoulder and her head snapped sideways. She hadn’t even realized I’d sat down next to her.

“I hacked your iPhone music library.” I gave her a smile.

She rolled her eyes. “I thought I picked a stronger password.”

“Eve, ‘fuck off’ isn’t a strong password.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll add a number.”

“I bet you are thinking of number one, aren’t you?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Get out of my head.”

I kept grinning. “Nope, your head is more fun than mine.”

She scoffed and reached for her beer. “Trust me, it’s not.”

I looked at her a bit harder. Something was wrong with her. Something she was hiding. I could see it. I was glad she couldn’t see through my walls.

“Eve,” I leaned in, “do you want to talk about it?”

Her eyes locked with mine. She slowly shook her head, keeping her lips clamped shut. I watched the tears build up in her eyes. What had her so upset?

I placed my hand on her knee. “Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Next step is that we handle it.”

She turned fully to face me. “I’m failing.”

“At what?”

“Life.”

My expression softened. “Eve, you aren’t failing. You can’t just define whether you are successful or not by school work.”