Page 11 of My Fault

Before I could say anything, my father butted in.

“You’ve both started off on the wrong foot.” His expression was icy.

It was all I could do not to stand up and walk out with no explanation. I’d had enough of the happy family for one day; I needed to bounce and stop trying to fake interest in all that bullshit.

“Sorry, I’ve got to go,” I declared, getting up and dropping my napkin on the table. No way I was going to lose my cool in front of Dad.

Noah got up, too, without an ounce of elegance, and threw her own napkin down, not even trying to appear polite.

“If he’s going, I’m going, too,” she affirmed, glaring at her mother, who started looking from side to side, overwhelmed and upset.

“Sit down,” her mother ordered between clenched teeth.

I couldn’t waste time on this nonsense. I had places to be.

“I’ll take her with me,” I said to everyone’s surprise, Noah’s included.

She looked at me with suspicion, not believing me, as if she thought I were concealing my true intentions. Honestly I couldn’t wait to lose her, and if taking her home would make that happen faster, then so be it. Especially if it meant I could get away from my father as well.

“I wouldn’t walk five feet with you,” she said proudly, enunciating each word.

Before anyone could respond, I grabbed my jacket, and as I slipped it on, I said to everyone in general, “I’m not in the mood for these grade school games. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Nicholas, wait,” my father commanded. “Noah, go with him and get some rest. We’ll be back in a while.”

My new sister seemed to be wavering. Then she sighed, scowled, and said, “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

5

Noah

The last thing I wanted at that moment was to owe something to that bastard, but I was even less inclined to stay behind with my mother and her husband and watch her drool over him while he waved around his bucks and showed off how much pull he had.

Nicholas turned his back to me and walked out.

I said an unenthusiastic goodbye to Mom and hurried after him. When I reached the door, I stopped, crossed my arms, and waited for the valet to pull his car around.

Big surprise—he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket and lit one up, bringing it slowly to his lips and then expelling the smoke in long plumes.

I’d never smoked; I’d never even tried tobacco when all my friends were into it and would sneak cigarettes in the girls’ bathroom at school. I didn’t understand what pleasure a person could take in inhaling carcinogenic smoke that left a nasty scent on your hair and clothes and was also bad for like a thousand organs.

As if he was reading my mind, Nicholas smiled mirthfully and held out his pack.

“You want one, little sister?” he asked, and then took another drag off his.

“I don’t smoke. And if I were you, I wouldn’t, either. You don’t want to endanger the only neuron you’ve got.” I stepped forward so I didn’t have to see him.

I could feel he was close to me, but I didn’t move, even when the smoke coming out of his mouth snaked creepily around my neck.

“Be careful. I might just leave you here stranded so you can walk home,” he warned me just as his car was pulling up.

I ignored him as much as I could during the drive. His SUV was so high off the ground he could see everything if I wasn’t careful getting in, and as I did, I regretted putting on those dumb shoes. All the frustration, anger, and sorrow had grown worse as the night went on, and the five or more arguments I’d had with this idiot had turned it into the absolute worst night of my life.

I struggled to put on my seat belt while Nicholas stuck the key in the ignition, pressed his hand against my headrest, hit reverse, and then turned onto the road leading out. I wasn’t surprised that he didn’t follow the roundabout—a roundabout that was placed there precisely in order to keep people from driving the way Nicholas was.

I couldn’t help but groan when we got back on the main road. Outside the club, my stepbrother sped up, hitting seventy, deliberately ignoring the traffic signs that said the speed limit was forty-five.

“What’s your problem, anyway?” Nicholas asked in a weary tone, as if he couldn’t put up with me a minute more.That makes two of us,I thought.