Page 86 of Pack of Crooks

Milly pats my hand. “You’re bruising me.”

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Did you see that?”

She chuckles. “I did. She’s great!”

“Great?” I shake my head. “She’s amazing!” When the routine is over and they strike their final pose, I jump to my feet and scream, clapping so hard my palms hurt. Lottie’s gaze finds mine and she blushes, grinning even wider.

Lottie’s team emerges from the backstage area with giant smiles and the second place trophy. I honestly expected tears for not getting first, but the girls all seem happy. Lottie says bye to a few friends and heads toward where Milly and I wait. I clap and hop from foot to foot.

“You’re number two, you’re number two,” I chant quietly.

She rolls her eyes. “Stop, you’re embarrassing me.”

Laughing, I sing it one more time because it’s my job as an older sister to make her a little miserable, and then fling myself at her. “Holy crap, Lottie! I had no idea you were going to be a flyer. I thought you were going to fall.”

My sister laughs and pulls back. “Really, Haze?”

Milly nods. “It’s true, she almost ripped my arm off she was so scared.”

“What do you want to do now? Dinner? Ice cream? Oooh, what if we go get Thai?”

“Um.” Lottie looks away. “We can go home.”

My forehead wrinkles. “What? No way, you did something amazing. We have to celebrate.”

Picking at her nails, she shakes her head. “I’m okay.”

“Did something happen?” I say softly. “Show me who I need to fight.”

She gives me a look that borders on venomous. “Can we not?”

Whoa. I rear back, glance at Milly who’s just as confused by Lottie’s tone, and sigh. “Hey, come here.” I lead Lottie to a private corner, make sure she’s tucked out of sight, and hold out my hands. “What’s going on? Are you upset with me?”

“I don’t think we should go out and celebrate.”

“Second place is great, Lo?—”

“It’s not about us getting second,” she says firmly, anger flaring her nostrils.

“Okay.” I frown. “Then what is it about?”

Huffing, she crosses her arms across her chest and stares at a spot over my head. “When were you going to tell me about the eviction?”

A fist sucker punches me in the gut, and for a moment I don’t know what to say. My mouth opens and closes, like a fish trying to survive on land, and that only makes things worse. Lottie scowls at me.

“I’m not stupid, Hazel. I saw it in the trash. I heard you talking to Milly about it the other night.” Tears swim in her eyes.

Fuck. Fuck. This is not how I wanted this to go. Today was supposed to be special. With a hoarse voice, my own tears threatening to fall, I explain myself. “I didn’t want you to worry, not before this competition. I was making a plan.”

“Mom would have kept that secret, too,” she whispers, face scrunching, but she presses her lips into a tight line to keep from crying.

Ouch. I think there’s a knife in my heart. Pressing my hand to my chest, I shake my head, trying to find the words to tell her that I’m not Mom, but they won’t come out. Maybe because no matter how hard I’ve tried, I keep fucking failing my sister.

A throat clears, and I glance over, surprise washing through me. “Ezra?”

Lottie glances at him in confusion. “Who—” And then he steps closer and his scent surrounds us. “Oh. It’s you.”

Ezra smiles despite Lottie’s muted tone. “It’s me.” He quickly glances at me before focusing on my sister. “The pack and I were thinking we could take you both out to dinner to celebrate. Does that sound okay with you?”