Page 7 of Built to Fall
“Fucking hell,” Braxton groans as he begins gathering materials from his toolbox, glancing between them and the painting.
“No one says youhaveto hang it,” I tell him.
He shoots me a blank expression. “Yeah, I’d rather not let the three of themdietrying to do it themselves.”
On second thought, it’s probably for the best that we’re here.
We get to work, putting up the bracket mounts, making sure they’re centered and level. While Braxton uses a stud finder on the wall, he asks, “Are we going to ignore your reaction to Lina, or would you like me to say something about it?”
“What?” I look up from the drill bit I’m in the middle of changing. “Man, don’t be ridiculous.”
He raises a brow. “Are you saying you don’t think she’s hot?”
“Just because I can acknowledge that she’s attractive doesn’t mean I’m dreaming of babies and white-picket fences. I don’t even know her.”
Of course Lina’s hot; anyone with eyes would be able to recognize it. That doesn’t mean she would want anything to do with me.
He holds his hand out for the drill, and I pass it to him.
“Look, Lina is hot, but there’s a reason she went MIA for an entire year.”
That makes more sense. I’m not necessarily friends with the girls in the same way Braxton is, but I’d been over here a few times last school year.
Never once did I see the fourth roommate they spoke of.Lina.Now that I think about it, they may have told me she was taking a year off because her mom died, but that might’ve been someone else.
“In the same way Meredith did this past summer?” I ask, obviously striking a nerve.
Braxton’s shoulders stiffen, and he begins drilling in the wall. “Don’t go there, dude.”
“Well, then what are you getting at? I’ve said one singular word to the girl.”
He glances away from the wall and back at me. “I’m just saying, she’s not your type of girl.”
What he really means is, she’s not a girl who’s down for casual, which is all I really look for. I’m not sure how much he really knows about her, but I would think it’s enough if he’s already warning me off her.
“But your sister is?” He’s well aware of the situation I have with his sister, Savannah.
It’s why Braxton barely reacts. “My sister is also anti-relationship. I’m not saying she has the greatest choice in men, but regardless, that’s her choice. Not mine.”
Having that perspective toward his sister is likely the only thing that has kept him from having an aneurysm. Savannah is entirely her own person. Carefree, unfiltered, and does what she wants, when she wants. Braxton sitting around worrying about her would only be doing himself a disservice.
I tip my head back. “I don’t even know why I’m talking about this with you. We both know you’re going to tell Meredith all of it.”
“Tell me what?”
“Jesus.” I flinch, cursing under my breath when I turn to find all three girls standing in the doorway of the bedroom they were just in. “Don’t do that shit.”
She still looks suspicious, in her normal, flatly unimpressed way. “What are you guys talking about?”
Out of any girl I know, Meredith is definitely the scariest, and not because she outwardly poses threats or will scream in yourface. She’s so eerily disinterested, almost as if nothing fazes her. Though, in her head, she’s probably ten steps ahead of all of us.
“Nothing important.” I shrug, trying to play it off.
“Can you hand me another screw, Vandy?”
I pick one up off the coffee table, holding it out for Braxton to take. “Where’s Kara?” I ask.
“Out,” Meredith answers.
