Page 18 of Holding On To Good

“Who said he wasn’t going to do anything about it?” Toby asked, as Ian climbed onto the chair. “He’s probably biding his time.”

“More like I’m waiting for the right moment,” Urban said, taking the seat next to Kat.

“Which is when?” Miles asked.

“When she wants something.” Urban paused. “Like when she wants to use the car tonight—”

“First of all,” Verity said. “She... I mean I... am right here, so don’t talk about her…” Argh! See? They were driving her insane. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not. Secondly, it’s my car.”

Urban leaned back in his seat, coffee cup cradled against his flat stomach. “Whose name is on the registration and title?”

She pressed her lips together so tightly they went numb. “Yours.”

“Who bought it and pays for the insurance?”

She tossed her hands in the air. “Oh. Sure, throw that in my face. Just because I’m a poor student and can’t afford my own car. Nice. Real nice. Fine. Take my car away from me tonight. I’ll just have Emory pick me up.”

“No.”

Her face grew hot. “Jeremy’s having his graduation party tonight!”

“You should have thought about that before you got tipsy.”

“But all my friends are going to be there. And we’re only going to be together three more months. I have to go.”

“So go,” Urban said. “But if you do, there will be consequences.”

God only knew what those consequences would be. Urban was nothing if not creative when it came to discipline. Whatever it was, it’d be something guaranteed to make her miserable. Her brothers lived to torment her.

Urban was the worst, though, because he gave her freedom and the power to choose. He let her make her own mistakes. And then held her accountable for her actions.

Jerk.

She tried to glare holes through his stupid, stubborn skull into his stupid, sneaky head. “What happened to coming to an understanding like you said upstairs?”

“That was about your curfew, on which we understand each other just fine. This is about you drinking.”

“There are too many rules here! How’s a girl supposed to know which ones to follow?”

“Here’s a crazy thought,” Miles said. “Follow them all.”

“That is crazy.” Verity turned to Katarina. “Can I live with you?”

“Absolutely,” Kat said without hesitation. Kat was an only child—lucky, lucky woman—but just because she didn’t have five older brothers didn’t mean she couldn’t imagine the horror of it. “We’ll move your things after we eat.”

“We have rules at our house, too,” Ian said from the counter.

Verity accepted the platter of bacon Toby handed her and crossed to the table. “Like what?”

Tongue sticking out the side of his mouth, two hands on the spatula, Ian awkwardly flipped a pancake, had half of it flipping, the other half… not so much. “I have to keep my room clean and help with the dishes and take out the garbage. And I can only play video games for an hour a day, even in the summer, even when it rains all day, and I have to take a bath every night and I can’t start fires or run with scissors. Junk like that.”

Verity’s heart filled. Her nephew was the best. Earnest and sweet and serious. It was a nice change of pace from the rest of the Jennings males in her life.

“Sounds like your mom is strict with the rules,” Verity said.

“Heads roll,” Kat agreed. “Whips crack.”

“Well, if I can’t run with scissors, the deal’s off. A girl has to live dangerously once in a while, just to know she’s alive.”

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