Page 40 of Make Me Scream
“Oh, honey. I’m so sorry…”
His defenses are back up already. I watch them close over his face like a veil I know all too well. “Don’t be. It is what it is.”
“I know, but it’s still impossible. And after how quickly everything has changed for you?—”
“No offence, doc, but I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Ma curls her lips inward, like she’s fighting not to say what I know she wants to. Instead, she nods. “Yes, of course. You like turkey, right?”
“Turkey’s cool.”
I meet Mom’s gaze for a moment before she laughs loudly. “Right. So, we’ve got that, mashed potatoes, corn, stuffing, deviled eggs, and French silk pie. How does that sound?”
Abel balks. “Jesus Christ, are you feeding an army?” He kicks his feet up on the table, still clad in his stained canvas shoes, the fucking brat.
She leans down to whisper in his ear with a conspiratorial grin, “I think you underestimate just how much Peris can eat.”
“Hey, I heard that,” I shout, feigning indignance as I walk into the pantry to grab the potatoes.
“Would you rather I lie?” she teases.
“Yes.”
“Liar!”
“We’re all liars, aren’t we?” Abel says out of nowhere, eyes locked coldly on mine, stopping us all in our tracks. The tensiongrows, and I swallow thickly, fingers tightening around the bag in my hand.
“Abel… are you all right?”
“Yeah, fine,” he says with finality, dropping his feet to the floor with a loudclomp.“I’m gonna go change. I feel disgusting.” And with that, he stalks out of the kitchen, every muscle in his neck twitching.
“What was that?” Ma asks the second he disappears down the hall.
“Couldn’t tell you,” I mutter as I drop the bag of potatoes, drumming my fingers on the counter as I stare through the doorway.
“Should I go talk to him?” Mom ponders, worrying her bottom lip.
“Probably. But maybe not. He seems pissy.”
“True,” she concedes, blowing out a breath that makes strands of her brown hair flutter around her face. “But I don’t want him to think he’s alone. I’ll be right back.”
And nowI’mby myself, and it’s horribly alone inside my head. My thoughts echo and recoil, all bouncing back to the one and only person that’s been on my mind since he delved right into my life and decided to never leave.
My foster brother… who’s now almostnotmy foster brother.
I’m not sure how I feel about that.
I never thought I’d see the day I’d hate Abel Silver leaving my house, but it’s become his home. He’s become a part of our lives, and now, he’s being ripped away by some druggie bitch who thinks she has the right to justtakewhatever she wants away from us—I suck in a deep breath, and reach back to grip the counter, fingers curling around the lip of it so tightly, my fingers turn white from the loss of blood.
It isn’t until they start to throb that I release my hold and my breath simultaneously, only to repeat it all over again, needingsomethingbut having nothing.
And then it occurs to me…
I’m obsessing over him. Abel.
A boy.
The boywho tried to ruin my reputation and my life. Countless times.
