Page 57 of Genesis

He narrows his eyes. “She’s allowed to talk to people, Danny.”

“Did I say she wasn’t?” I raise my brow at him.

“Whatever,” he says. “Remember what I said, Bexley.” He looks down at her.

My eye twitches. “What did you say?”

He ignores me and runs back onto the court. Fucker.

“What did he say?” I ask the girl who’s obviously mad at me. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s mad? She’s flirting with a boy she knows likes her and it’s my goddamn brother.

She shoves her books into her bag before standing up.

“Yo, are you gonna answer me?” I ask. She gives me a look that says no before she puts her bag over her shoulder and walks toward the exit, looking out at Samuel, who’s watching when he should be worried about the fucking ball and not my girl.

When she opens the door, the cold air replaces the warmth of the gym instantly.

“Bexley,” I say. She keeps walking, so I reach out and grab her arm, turning her to face me. “What the fuck is this?” I ask. “You staying after school to watch my brother practice basketball?”

“So what?” she says.

“She speaks,” I say sarcastically as my eyes widen. “He’s my fucking brother, that’s what. And you know he likes you. You were flirting with him.”

“What?” she says like that’s the most ridiculous thing she’s ever said. “I was talking to him, Danny. I talk to the opposite sex all day. You think I’m flirting with them, too?”

I run a hand over my chin. “What’s gotten into you? Huh?” A few people walk by, so I lower my voice and dip my hands into my hoodie’s pockets. “Did I fuck up somehow? Are you regretting yesterday?” I hate the way I sound right now. I’m fucking Danny O’Brien, and I’m acting like a hurt bitch because Bexley’s mad at me, when I should be the one mad at her.

Her face softens. “No,” she says with a shake of her head.

Air leaves my lungs in a relieved exhale, but I don’t make it noticeable to her.

“Then what’s wrong?”

“You lied. That’s what’s wrong.” She puts hair behind her ear, her cheeks turning a rosy shade of pink from the cold.

“Lied?” I ask.

“Your car. It’s not in the shop, is it?”

The ground rocks beneath my feet. I narrow my eyes. “Who told you any differently?”

“The news, Danny. I heard it on the news this morning before school. Witnesses saw it get shot up from a drive-by, and you know who else saw it? My uncle.”

Some teachers walk by, and I drag my hand from my nose to my mouth. “Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

“I don’t know,” she says.

“You don’t know?”

She looks distraught and second-guessing herself.

“Danny, I…” she pauses, and my chest sinks as she swallows the words she didn’t say.

She’s changing her mind. This is too much for her, and fuck, why wouldn’t it be? I look past her, my sight catching the gray clouds hovering in the distance, and a cold, cold wind rushes around us as the world I thought I was building crashes in on me. Disappointment is a bitter, sick taste in my throat, and heartache is new.

I reach over and take her hand. “Come on,” I say.

Nearly tripping over her feet to keep up with me, she follows almost at my side, but more behind to my newish car, and when I open the door for her to get in, she glares back at me.

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