Page 18 of The Devastation You Reap
It only takes me a few minutes to get to our side of campus and to pull up outside the house beside Luca's car.
Peyton gives me a double-take when I join her, Colt and Evan in the kitchen.
"Whoa, you remembered where you live then," she sasses.
"Funny. Nice to see he's let you out of his bed."
Peyton pokes her tongue out at me while the guys look between the two of us.
"Beer?" Colt asks, throwing a bottle over before I even get a chance to say anything.
"Cheers."
"We're hanging out in the den if you’re down."
I nod at them before they both disappear each with a six-pack in hand.
"How's it going?" I ask, hopping up on the stool beside where Peyton is.
"It’s okay. It was nice to get away this weekend after everything."
A piece of jewelry on her wrist catches my eye.
"He gave it to you then?" I ask, remembering going shopping with Luca when we were kids to pick it out for her sixteenth birthday only for him to never have the chance to give it to her.
"Yeah. He set up a picnic at our place at the end of the beach, it was so sweet."
"What a pussy," I mutter jokingly.
"What happened to you?"
"Met up with some friends, got a little carried away. You know how it goes. I did see Mom before I left so don’t bother getting on my case."
Peyton holds her hands up in defense. "I'm not saying anything."
"How's Libby?" I ask, knowing that she’d have gone straight to see her sister in the hospital the second she got back into town yesterday.
"She's good. Tests and everything seems promising. She's got a little weakness in her left arm, but all things considered, she's been damn lucky."
"That's really good. They gonna be moving her to rehab soon?"
"Probably next week. They're still monitoring her closely."
"I'm happy for you, you know that, right? With Luc, and your sister being okay. I'm glad things are working out for you."
"Thanks, Lee," she says with a soft smile. "What about you though? I mean, you're home so at least you're giving the redheads a rest tonight."
I stare at her in disbelief. "You've been spending too much time with my brother."
"We're worried about you. All that crap with your—with Brett, and—"
"I'm fine, Peyton. You don't need to worry about me."
She scoffs. "Yeah okay. It might help if you talked to us, told us what happened."
"There's nothing to tell." She pins me with a look that makes me feel about two feet tall. She knows I'm lying. Luca knows I'm lying, but for some fucked up reason, they're not pushing me for information.
I'm fucking glad though, because if they knew the truth… if they knew what we'd done to Brett, where he is. Well, they'd probably have me fucking committed.
