Текст книги "Falling for the Wrong Guy"
Автор книги: Sara Hantz
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Текущая страница: 2 (всего у книги 10 страниц)
“Thanks,” Ruby said, her racing heart gradually slowing. The enormity of what had happened hit her. No one had told her that drunk customers bent on sexual assault were a possibility in a sweet little café like Echoes.
Drew shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
It might have been nothing to him, but that wasn’t how Ruby saw it. Especially because she needed the job so badly and couldn’t afford to rock the boat by having a problem with the customers.
“No, really. Thanks. Let me buy you another coffee.” She glanced at the untouched full mug in front of him. “Or a cookie?” she suggested.
“Sure.” He gave a half smile. But it was enough to make those green eyes sparkle.
Ruby’s heart flipped. She was hooked. Again.
“I didn’t mean to upset you earlier when I compared you with my dad.” She held her breath, waiting for his response.
“Forget it.” He shrugged, again. “It was nothing you said. I’m on a short fuse these days, and I don’t like talking about stuff.”
It felt like she was talking to Blake. She only had to say one wrong word and he’d jump down her throat. And when she tried to talk about Reese and what had happened, he totally ignored her. It was ironic how similar Drew and Blake’s reactions were. And lucky her, she had found herself in the firing line of both of them, without having done anything.
“I understand.” The words were out of her mouth before she could check them, and she wondered if he’d get upset again.
“It’s hard enough dealing with this,” he replied, seeming to ignore her comment and holding out his arms so she could see the burns on his wrists and hands. “But they’re nothing compared with what happened to Reese.”
His eyes glazed over, and a pained expression crossed his face. Ruby perched on the edge of the bench opposite him. She leaned over and touched him lightly on the arm, causing him to jump.
“Drew, are you okay?” she asked, feeling guilty for taking him by surprise.
“What?” He frowned. It seemed like he had totally zoned out from everything.
“Are you in pain? Your face, it was all contorted and—”
“I’m fine,” he interrupted, drawing in a couple of deep breaths. “Fine.”
It was obvious to Ruby that he wasn’t. “Do you want to talk about it?” She couldn’t help asking, even though she suspected he’d say no. And Blake would probably disown her if he’d overheard her trying to help his sworn enemy.
“No. Thanks. But no.”
Ruby glanced across to the door as it opened and saw a group of girls walking in. “I’ve got to get back. Let me know if you change your mind.”
Drew didn’t reply, just acted like he hadn’t heard her.
While she served the newest customers, Ruby was hyper-aware of Drew as she moved around the café. She had started wiping down the counter when out of the corner of her eye she noticed him standing up. To her surprise, instead of heading out the door, he began making his way toward her.
She smiled at him, and he gave her that half smile in return. She was about to pop around to talk to him when the door opened and Blake walked in.
Panic washed over Ruby. She knew Blake would go mad if he saw her, but she didn’t want to cut Drew off, either. Not when he’d finally lost that haunted look he’d worn all day at school.
Blake strode over to the counter, his face set hard. Ruby risked a glance in Drew’s direction. Except he wasn’t there.
She looked up to see his retreating back as he pushed through the front door and left.
Chapter Three
Ruby sneaked a peek at Blake. His arms were rigid, and he’d wrapped his hands so tightly around the steering wheel that his knuckles protruded like tiny mountains. His mouth was stretched into a thin, angry line, the muscles in his face clearly defined by tension.
After seeing Drew, Blake had informed her that he would be taking her home, and he’d spent the rest of Ruby’s shift sitting in the corner glaring at her. She didn’t even know what had made him come to the café. They hadn’t arranged anything. The old Blake, the one who’d existed before the fire, would have popped in to see if she’d needed a ride, no question. New Blake, on the other hand, always seemed too wrapped up in himself to bother, so she had fully expected to have to take the bus home.
She’d wished the floor could’ve opened up and swallowed her whole when Blake had come into the café. If only he hadn’t seen her talking with Drew. She knew he wouldn’t understand. And she got that. After all, Drew had devastated his life.
But…Drew had clearly paid for what he had done. Was still paying.
“Blake,” she said tentatively, unable to bear the silence between them any longer.
They had always gotten on well together, even though Blake had withdrawn into himself since it all happened, and they had worked together to help their mom when they could. Blake especially had a bond with their father, and he would sometimes sit playing cards with him, more so in the past than recently, though.
“Blake,” she repeated.
Blake’s eyes remained facing forward; it was as if he hadn’t even acknowledged her presence.
“Blake. If you’re not going to answer then just listen. It’s not like you’ve got any choice seeing as you’re driving.” She paused a moment to stare at his profile. She witnessed a slight twitch under his eye and watched as he bit down onto his bottom lip. She had his attention. Whether he admitted it or not. “I had to speak to Drew. He protected me from a drunk guy in the café, and he—”
“I don’t want to know.” Blake tossed an angry glance in her direction. “He’s bad news. Keep away from him.”
If only it was that easy.
Ruby couldn’t explain it, but despite the thousands of reasons why she should do exactly as her brother said, something about Drew pulled her toward him. She didn’t know whether it was because she felt sorry for him on so many levels, or what. Not that she’d tell Blake that.
“But—” Ruby’s words stuck in her throat as she was thrown back in her seat when Blake suddenly swung the car to the side and pulled up to the curb, bringing them to a screeching halt. Her heart pounded in her rib cage.
“There is no ‘but’, Ruby.” Blake leaned across and locked eyes with her.
Ruby hated to see him this way. The day Reese died had changed him so much. Yet, Ruby knew that Blake and Reese weren’t even meant to be together. Their relationship had been constantly on-again, off-again, and they were always arguing. Blake had broken up with her many, many times, saying he’d found her too manipulative. In fact, he’d broken up with her again the day before the fire, so strictly speaking they weren’t together. But after she’d died—after sleeping with his best friend, mind you—it was like Blake had put her on a pedestal and had totally forgotten their split and all those things about her that he hadn’t liked.
Ruby had often wondered whether Blake would have reacted so badly if it had been another guy with Reese and not Drew. Maybe he was really grieving the loss of his friendship. Not that she’d have any way of finding out, because he refused to confide in her.
“I’ll try,” Ruby said, not wanting to upset him any more than he already was. She wasn’t prepared to commit to anything other than trying to keep away from Drew, because something inside of her wanted to help him if she could. There was a definite similarity between Drew and her father, who, after his accident, had grown self-obsessed to the detriment of everything else in his life. At the moment, Drew seemed headed down the same path. She couldn’t help but want to keep Drew from ending up like her dad.
She also wanted to make her brother happy, but Blake wasn’t exactly making that easy. Yes, he’d lost his on-again-off-again girlfriend, which was horrible. And yes, his best friend had betrayed him. But Blake still had his life ahead of him, with no disfigurement to deal with and no one’s accidental death sitting on his conscience.
She sighed, wishing that everything wasn’t so confusing.
“Good.” Blake broke into her thoughts, voicing his approval over her promise to try to stay away from Drew Scott.
The rest of the journey seemed to last forever. Tension hung ominously in the air like a thick cloud threatening to choke them both. Ruby deliberately kept her eyes focused on the houses they passed. Eventually, Blake pulled up outside the front of their house, and before Ruby had even undone her seat belt, he’d jumped out of the car and was walking down the path and through their front door. When Ruby finally got inside, she heard the door to his bedroom slam.
She walked into the kitchen where her mom was standing at the counter and her dad was sitting reading the newspaper.
“Hey,” Ruby said, the bright tone in her voice forced, as she didn’t want to alert her mom there was anything wrong.
“Hello, love. How was work?” her mom asked, looking up from rolling out some pastry. Ruby’s mom baked every day. She said it was her therapy. Ruby didn’t mind. She’d kill for one of her mom’s chocolate and banana muffins any day of the week.
“Okay. I didn’t make as many mistakes as on my first shift. And—” Ruby stopped herself just as she was about to mention what had happened with the drunk guy, thinking that it was best left unsaid. Otherwise, she’d have to mention Drew being there, and she wasn’t sure how her mom would react once she found out that he had returned to school.
“And?” her mom asked.
“Um. Nothing. Hey Dad.” Ruby glanced at her father, who seemed oblivious to her presence. He didn’t seem to be reading, either, just staring into space. “Dad?” she repeated.
He glanced up and grunted a greeting. Then he resumed staring at the paper. She guessed this was one of his bad days and knew better than to push things.
“So what will you do?” Tiffany’s eyes were wide as she leaned forward and rested her elbows on her legs.
Ruby had met Tiffany before school started that morning, and they were sitting on a bench outside. She’d told her all about the drunk guy and Drew’s involvement and then about Blake turning up, hoping to get some perspective. Not that perpetually happy Tiffany would know how to handle the complex situation, but it made Ruby feel better to talk about it with someone she trusted. “Good question.” She shook her head and chewed on the inside of her cheek, wondering why she never managed to have a simple life like Tiffany’s.
“Do you still like Drew. As in like him?” Tiffany asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
“No. Yes. No. I don’t know,” Ruby replied, waving her arm in frustration.
“That’s covered all of your bases.” Tiffany laughed but not in an unkind way. Tiffany was the only person who’d known about Ruby’s secret crush on Drew last year. And the year before that. And probably the year before that. When he used to hang out with Blake at home, Ruby would invent all sorts of excuses to be with them. She was surprised they hadn’t ever guessed. And she was pretty sure they hadn’t, because Blake would have definitely teased her about it had he even the slightest inkling.
She remembered one Halloween the three of them had dressed up as pirates and went out trick or treating. Drew shared all the candy he had with Ruby, and at the end of the night, he’d given her his eye patch. She still had it in her memory box.
But that all seemed like a lifetime ago. And indeed it was. Were Blake and Drew ever going to even speak again, let alone actually hang out together?
“The thing is, I think I do still like him,” she said. “But he’s so different now. I don’t mean his scars. He’s a different person. You can’t blame him, though, after such a tragedy. Not that he wants anything to do with me. Which doesn’t matter, because Blake will never speak to me again if I have any contact with Drew.” Ruby jumped up, unable to sit still any longer. She kicked the gravel path, and clouds of dust flew into the air. “Come on, let’s go to class. Just talking about it is driving me crazy.”
They made their way toward the lockers, and on the way passed the science noticeboard.
“Stop a minute. I want to check which group I’ve been put in for the project,” Tiffany said. Instead of a midterm exam, the junior chemistry classes had to do group projects that counted for a full third of the grade. Ruby had forgotten that the group assignments were being posted today.
Tiffany scanned the board while Ruby peered over her shoulder, looking for her own name.
She’d always heard the expression “her jaw dropped,” but she’d never actually had that happen—until now.
Ruby Davis, Richard Kent, Jessica Peters, Bradley Rydell.
And Drew Scott.
“Crap. I’m in Drew’s group,” she whispered loudly. Tiffany turned and gave her a slightly pained but sympathetic look and then went back to looking for her group. “That sure as hell complicates things. I just can’t catch a break,” she continued.
Or can I?
As quickly as her panic had hit her, it subsided. Maybe being in his group wouldn’t be such a bad thing. It meant she’d be able to legitimately talk with him without worrying about what Blake might think. After all, her brother couldn’t blame her for being put in the same group by a teacher. It wasn’t like she’d engineered it somehow.
“Do you want to ask if you can swap with me? I don’t mind being in his group,” Tiffany asked as she stepped back from the board.
“No, it’s okay. I don’t want to cause trouble.” Ruby gave a nonchalant shrug. At least she hoped it came across like that.
Excitement bubbled in the pit of her stomach as she realized that in less than two hours’ time, she’d be working with Drew. And three others, of course, but she could take or leave their presence.
“Have I missed something?” Tiffany asked, tilting her head quizzically like a confused puppy. Her eyes widened as she got it. “Ohhhh. Now you want to be with him. Why didn’t you say?”
Ruby laughed. Tiffany knew her too well, like she had a hotline to Ruby’s thoughts. But she had to be careful—if Blake caught on that she was happy being in a group with Drew, it could damage their relationship for a long time.
Drew crushed the empty soda can in his hand and threw it into the trash can a few feet away. Two points. At least he hadn’t lost his throwing arm. Probably the only thing that hadn’t changed.
He’d just left the cafeteria after lunch, where he had sat alone again. But he’d actually enjoyed it. The other students still gave him a wide berth, but they were growing used to him being around, so the whispers and stares had finally died down.
And he’d never minded being alone—it gave him time to be calm and think. Even being a loner at school certainly beat the constant attention he’d gotten from his parents over the last twelve months. On the odd occasion when they were sober, they hovered like two helicopters, wanting to know everything he’d done and would be doing and was even thinking of doing. His mom would even text him from the kitchen when he was in his bedroom. It drove him bat-shit crazy.
When they were drunk, which they were most often, they were the total opposite. Then he was only good for target practice, as they hurled a constant barrage of verbal abuse at him. They’d even told him that he had better get used to looking out for himself because no one else would, not looking like he did. Cutting, yes. But true. He couldn’t argue with what they’d said.
In his peripheral vision, he spotted Ruby, wearing a short green dress and heading in the direction of the science labs. He could hear her unique laugh as she walked with her friend—if sound could sparkle, her laugh would. He’d always thought she was cute, but in a brotherly sort of way. Since he was an only child, she was the closest thing he’d ever had to a sister. And she always made him laugh with her ridiculous, quirky take on things.
Seeing her on his first day back at school had shocked him. She had changed a lot over the last year. She’d gone from cute to hot. He loved the way her chestnut-colored hair framed her face and brought out her enormous, expressive brown eyes, made even more enormous by the fact that over the summer, she’d obviously learned how to put on eyeliner. And since when had she developed such long legs?
Crazy talk.
Blake would hate him even more if he knew what Drew was thinking. Plus, this was Ruby. She was kind, she was funny, and now, she was suddenly gorgeous. She deserved better than the likes of him—his parents were right to use the word “grotesque” on him. And even if there was the remotest chance that she felt something for him, no way would he ever make a move on her. He was never going to make a move on anyone ever again. He knew he had to pay for Reese for the rest of his life, and even that wasn’t long enough.
He forced the thoughts of Ruby to the back of his mind and kept on walking toward class, stopping to check the chemistry noticeboard to see which group he’d be in for the project. He’d gotten so used to wandering around campus like a ghost, refusing to interact with anyone, that he had no clue what it would be like to be forced to talk with four other people. Four people who probably wanted nothing to do with him. He’d even asked Mrs. Weatherall if he could do the project alone, but she’d just given him that pity-filled stare he was really starting to hate and told him no.
He scanned the list and found his name. Not the only name to stick out in his group.
Ruby Davis.
He’d been assigned to the group that Ruby was in.
Maybe he should ask to be reassigned.
Except he didn’t know if he wanted to be reassigned.
Chapter Four
“I still say let’s look at whether EMF affects plants and bugs,” Brad, one of the guys in Ruby’s science project group, insisted.
The science teacher had made them sit in their groups in the lab and start to brainstorm ideas. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done as Ruby’s group couldn’t agree. Everyone had different ideas. Well, everyone apart from Drew, who slouched behind his desk in stony silence, content to watch them all with those unfathomable green eyes. The rest of the group had tried half-heartedly to include him, but when he’d made it clear he wasn’t going to say anything beyond negative and affirmative grunting, they’d let him be.
Brad continued to argue passionately for his experiment, causing Jess to counter loudly that it would expose them all to microwave radiation, which would give them all cancer, and then Brad would have to pay their medical expenses. Ruby tuned out the drama, mainly because she didn’t need any more in her life. She glanced over at Drew as he pulled the hood of his black sweatshirt over his rumpled dark hair, his lean legs sprawled in front of him. What was it about guys acting like hoodies were some kind of protective armor?
Although for Drew, they probably were, since the hood hid the scars on the left side of his face and neck.
Ruby looked away, checking out the other groups, who all seemed to be getting down to business, judging by the air of quiet concentration that had come over all of them but her group. Then again, they didn’t have Brad, the walking, talking textbook in their group. Despite the fact that Jess was neck and neck with him for valedictorian, Brad still gave off the vibe that he thought he was smarter than them all. He probably was, except for Jess, but that didn’t mean he had to ram it down their throats. Ruby hoped that wherever he went to college, they’d make him take a course in interpersonal skills before he graduated and inflicted himself on the real world. She couldn’t wait for the end of class so she could go to Starbucks.
Starbucks.
She sat upright as an idea popped into her head. “I’ve got it,” she said, a broad smile on her lips. “Caffeine. Let’s look at whether caffeine enhances performance. In sport. In class. Wherever.”
And she was more than happy to be one of the volunteers. Right now.
“No,” Brad said, waving his hand dismissively. “We’re juniors, not in eighth grade.”
Ruby ground her teeth. She might not have his IQ, but there was no need to belittle her ideas. “I hardly think eighth-grade students would do anything with caffeine, since no parent wants to make their middle schooler even more hyper,” Ruby retorted. Normally, she wouldn’t care what they chose for a project, but Brad’s smugness brought out the competitor in her.
“I need a good grade for this project,” Brad said. “Which means doing something with gravitas.” He folded his arms across his chest and had a self-satisfied expression on his face.
“What?” Ruby spluttered. She’d always known Brad was full of himself, but really? “Gravitas. Who talks like that?”
“You know what I mean. We have to do something worthwhile. And there’s nothing worthwhile about testing caffeine.” Brad sneered, his top lip curling up.
Ruby could feel her stupid, sensitive face going up in flames, but she wasn’t going to be walked over. “I don’t agree. Testing the effects of caffeine is useful and worthwhile, considering a sizable portion of the US is probably addicted to it.” She resisted the urge to slam her palm on the desktop for emphasis. This was chemistry, not Law and Order.
“I agree. Let’s do it.”
Drew. That was Drew’s voice. Coming from inside Drew’s hoodie.
All four of them turned and stared at him in stunned silence. Jess’s heart-shaped mouth actually dropped open from the shock.
Ruby was the first to recover. “Thanks.” She grinned at Drew, but her sense of the two of them as co-conspirators disappeared as he quickly averted his eyes. Not stopping to think about why that hurt her feelings a little, she turned to the rest of the group. “Anyone else like the idea?”
“I’m with Drew. Let’s go with Ruby’s idea,” Jess interjected. Even though Ruby knew she probably just wanted to jab at Brad, she couldn’t help but feel grateful that Jess had actually acknowledged Drew’s presence by saying his name. It was more than most of their classmates had done.
Ricky quickly nodded in agreement, and Brad glared at Ruby.
“Majority rules. Sorry, Brad,” Ruby said, trying desperately to hide the smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“It better work,” Brad said, just as the bell for the end of school rang. “We’ll meet tomorrow in the study section of the library thirty minutes after school ends and work out what needs to be done.”
Ruby was so high on her triumph over Brad’s ego, she didn’t even care about him trying to save face by ordering them to meet after school instead of asking if everyone could make it. And okay, a little bit of it had to do with the fact that she’d also managed to pull Drew Scott into the light, even if only for a few seconds.
Drew pushed open the door to the library, glad to have an excuse not to go home right away. The previous night, his mom had been really bad, even by her standards. He’d found her fast asleep on the bathroom floor, having fallen off the toilet. She had stunk so bad of vomit that he’d had to hold his breath for the entire time from when he had picked her up off the floor until he reached her bedroom, where he left her lying on her bed. On her side so she wouldn’t choke if she threw up again.
His father was nowhere to be seen, as usual, until he’d staggered in just after ten. Drew guessed that he’d spent the previous few hours in his favorite downtown bar, after getting off of work. If it wasn’t for the fact that his dad worked for himself, he’d have lost his job a long time ago. He owned a well-established and successful insurance brokerage, and Drew suspected that his employees covered for him much of the time so they could keep getting their paychecks.
Drew headed toward the tables in the back, planning to do some of his homework before the others arrived. Just as he turned into the study area, he came to an abrupt halt. He wasn’t the first to arrive. Ruby sat at one of the tables.
He ran his fingers through his hair. What was it with that girl that she always seemed to be wherever he was? It seemed like she had some sort of GPS locator inside her brain and knew exactly where he would be at any given time. It was bad enough that they were going to be working together on this project. He was half an hour early, so there was no reason for her to be around right now.
As he stood there, wondering if he should go study in one of the carrels on the other side of the room, Ruby glanced up.
“Hi,” she said, smiling at him. Like she was actually happy that he was there.
When he didn’t respond, a flicker of uncertainty showed in her eyes. Maybe she’d realized she shouldn’t be talking to him outside of the group. Because of Blake.
Every time he saw her, he thought of Blake. Of what he’d done to him.
“Hi,” Drew muttered. Unable to be rude and walk away, he pulled out a chair and made a big deal of taking out his math book from his messenger bag. According to the clock on the wall, there was still another twenty-five minutes to go before the others arrived. He needed to catch up on his math. A year of not doing any had meant he’d gotten behind and couldn’t remember all of the formulas he was supposed to know before starting algebra II. He opened his book and tried to focus on working out the equations, except he couldn’t. Ruby was too distracting. He sneaked a glance at her a couple of times, like a moth drawn to a bug zapper. Engrossed in her copy of The Scarlet Letter, she seemed not to notice. On the third time, she looked up and caught him, so he quickly averted his eyes.
She closed the book and tossed it on the table. “Thanks for supporting my idea for the project,” she said, forcing him to look at her.
“That’s okay.” Drew shrugged. “The other ideas were crap, and it beat spending hours staring at plants and bugs.”
Ruby grinned. “Exactly. What’s not to love about my idea? I could think of a lot worse things to do than sit drinking coffee every day.” Her previous awkwardness had disappeared, and it felt like the old Ruby was sitting across from him. The one who’d been his friend.
“It’s more involved than that,” Drew offered, wishing he could shake his own awkwardness.
“I do know that. I’m not a total idiot.” Her gaze flicked upward, a look of mild annoyance crossing her pretty features, even though she was still smiling.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that you were.” He rubbed the back of his neck, which felt so tense and rigid, he felt more like a wooden puppet than a human. God, would he ever know how to interact with people again without being a socially inept disaster?
“I know.” The corners of Ruby’s mouth turned up, and he realized that she’d been teasing him. It had been so long since anyone had done that, that it had flown right over his head. He could feel the tension gradually easing away from his body when she full-on grinned at him.
Drew resumed his math, but again he couldn’t focus. He wasn’t sure how much Blake had seen the other day in Echoes but was convinced that he wouldn’t want them talking. Drew didn’t want to come between the two of them. Ruby loved her brother, and it would hurt her if something drove a wedge between them.
“What are you working on?” Ruby asked.
Drew looked up from under his eyelashes. “Nothing.” He cleared his throat and then refocused on his book. The numbers in front of his eyes blurred and smashed together, meaningless to him. He used to like math. The logic of it appealed to the way his mind worked. But now, it felt like he’d forgotten everything he was supposed to know about the numbers before him.
“It can’t be nothing. You’ve been frowning and looking puzzled ever since you sat down.” Ruby leaned forward and rested her arms on the table.
“Why are you so interested?” Drew felt drawn to her long, pale, perfect neck. His fingers itched to trace a line from her chin downward, along her collarbone.
Every muscle in his body tensed as he tried to shake off the feeling. She was Blake’s sister, for God’s sake, and definitely off-limits.
“I just wondered if it’s anything I can help with. That’s all,” Ruby replied, chewing thoughtfully on her pen cap, her bottom lip jutting out just slightly to convey that her feelings had been hurt.
It reminded Drew of how she used to act when she’d been a lot younger and couldn’t get her older brother to let her have her own way. She’d have ridiculous girly tantrums, which made Blake and him laugh so much that they had inevitably given in to her demands. She’d really known how to play the both of them.
“Algebra? Really? Math has never been your strong point.” Drew laughed. He couldn’t help it.
“How do you know?” Ruby leaned back in her chair, looking really indignant.
“Because you were always asking Blake or me for help with your algebra homework when you were a freshman. And I think I remember you bribing me once with a bucket full of chocolate-chip cookies to do your geometry your sophomore year.” Drew arched an eyebrow.
“Well, that was in the past. I’m fine with math now.” Ruby tossed her head, causing her curls to swing softly about her shoulders.
“If you say so. In which case, what about these quadratic equations? Can you remind me how to do them?” Drew slid his textbook across the table fast, and Ruby just managed to stop it with her hand before it careered off the table. She picked up the book and stared at it in silence for a few moments.
“Um—um—” The way her cute button nose twitched had Drew mesmerized.
He inwardly shook himself. This fixation with Ruby had to stop. It was wrong on so many levels.
“So that’s a no, then?” Drew asked, shaking his head.
“I’m taking trig. I hate algebra,” Ruby said, going a light shade of pink. “I won’t remember how to do quadratic equations until Mr. Ernst goes over it again next year.” As juniors, they could either take remedial algebra, algebra II, or trigonometry, and then they’d have the choice of algebra II or pre-calculus their senior year.
They looked at each other and started to laugh at the same time. It almost felt like the fire had never happened, and things were exactly as they had been a year ago.
A loud bang made Drew start, and he jumped back in his chair. His laughter hung in midair as he saw Blake standing at the head of the table. He’d thumped it hard with his fist, and was about to thump it again.
“What the hell?” Blake growled. A vein in his temple throbbed, and he stared daggers at Drew and then at his sister.
