Page 47 of Habits

“No, the way you are right now, you’re not good enough.” He shakes his head in resignation. “Nobody will ever be good enough, but especially not you.”

My jaw tenses, teeth grit as I get on my feet. My hands clench by my sides so hard my knuckles turn white. It would bring me immense pleasure to shove my hand into his face, but I hold back.

“Duly noted,” I grumble and turn around.

“Andrew …” I hear Derek calling after me, but I don’t stop to acknowledge him.

I have to get out of here before I do something I’ll regret. Because no matter how hard I want to blame this on Jeanette or Max, deep down I know it’s my own fault.

And I can’t blame Max for protecting what’s his. If I had a sister, I wouldn’t let her within a ten-mile radius of the likes of me.

She’s been through enough. Suffered enough …

What the hell happened to you, Jeanette Sanders?

* * *

Jeanette

“What are you doing here?” I look over her wet, shaky frame standing on my front porch.

She’s like a mouse. Her brown hair is flat and sticks to her head, a shade darker than usual. Her clothes are soaked, and I can see her trembling.

It’s nighttime in the middle of November, so it’s freezing outside, but the only thing protecting her from the weather is a worn leather jacket that is also wet from the rain.

Brook shifts uncomfortably, but her chin tilts up in defiance and I admire her for that. Not a lot of people would dare to say openly what they think of me, but Brook doesn’t give a damn about what I think or say about her. She doesn’t talk about it much, but I have a feeling she has seen too much of the world’s ugliness to be bothered by my bitchy attitude.

“This was a mistake.” She shakes her head and turns to leave, but I stop her just as thunder strikes. It’s deafening and the light illuminates the dark, angry sky for a second before we return to darkness.

“Get inside, Brook.” I open the door wider, inviting her in.

Her green eyes widen for a second. Whether in surprise or relief I don’t know, and I don’t bother to figure it out.

Closing the door behind her, I lock it and turn on the security alarm. My parents are out of town, and I haven’t seen Max since our argument this morning. When I got out of the shower, the house was empty, Max nowhere around. Still angry with him, I skipped breakfast and went straight to the gym, where I spent a better part of the morning. Now it’s evening and still no word from him.

“I don’t want to intrude.”

I roll my eyes before I turn toward her. She looks even more pitiful in the bright light of the foyer than she did on the front porch.

“Do you see anybody else in here beside me?” I give her a second to answer, but she doesn’t. “Take off your shoes and jacket. Do you have anything to change into? You’ll get pneumonia if you don’t get out of these wet clothes.”

“I don’t need …”

“You’ll leave a wet trail all over the house and you’ll destroy Mother’s precious, designer furniture. And although I’d like to see her face if you did, she’s not here and it won’t be half as fun without you around so …” I deadpan, not giving her an option to contradict me. Brook pales, her mouth hanging open. “Come on up, I’ll give you something of mine to change into.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

This time I don’t hide my eye roll from her. “I’m not doing it for you.”

“Then why are you doing it?”

A heartbeat passes in silence before I snicker. “Didn’t you hear what Max said? Beneath all this cool exterior maybe lies a heart.”

Brook gives me an exaggerated eye roll of her own, but she peels her shoes off and follows me upstairs. We walk in silence, her wet feet squishing against the floor and the storm raging outside the only sounds in the house.

Once we get to my room, I grab a pair of leggings, a sweatshirt and a pair of socks that should fit her before showing Brook to my bathroom.

In the harsh light of my room, I can now see what I couldn’t in the dim light of the foyer. Her lip is swollen, and there is a faint red mark on her cheek. I swallow, suddenly uncomfortable. Brook notices my gaze lingering on her face.

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