Page 72 of Chasing After You
A second later, my phone vibrates with a thumbs-up from Stacey.
What exactly did he post? It’s tempting to look, but I hear stomping on the stairs, transporting me back to reality.
I don’t know if I can go back in there. I don’t know if I have it in me to listen to Hunter and Bailey blame me for something I don’t even know I did because neither of them will tell me. It feels like I’m proving them right by wanting to avoid the situation.
No, I can do this.I love my brothers, and I’d do anything for them, even if that means putting myself in the line of fire again.
“We don’t have to go back in there,” Henry says quietly, reading my mind.
“They’re my brothers, Henry,” I say as if it should explain everything.
“And you’re their sister—not their punching bag.”
I look at him sadly, picking at my cuticles again, the flicker of physical pain easier to feel than the emotional. “I’m not sure there’s a difference.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Henry
“I’M PRETTY SURE she wants to be alone,” Wilson says, catching me staring at Mirabelle again as she sits on the edge of the pool.
“Really? I had no idea,” I say sarcastically, looking back at the book in my hands.
The other day was fucking brutal, and it’s as if she’s a ghost, simply going through the motions ever since. Mirabelle took everything the twins threw at her and still defended them whenever either her parents or I intervened.
She shut her eyes on the way back to Charlotte, but I’m not sure if she was actually sleeping or avoiding talking to me. I’m not sure I would have known what to say if she did want to talk.
Mirabelle’s been waking up before me to go to work at an ungodly hour, driving separately. She got home an hour ago, walking straight past Wilson and me to the pool without a word, and hasn’t moved since.
“Price, what happened with her family? She’s been like this for two days now.”
Stacey asked me the same thing earlier today, and I didn’t know what to say.
I shut the book, setting it on the couch next to me. “I don’t know,” I answer, unable to resist looking back at Mirabelle like a moth drawn to a flame. I know she wants to be alone, but I’m not sure how long I’m supposed to let this continue. I know if Kaitlyn ever said anything like what Hunter and Bailey did, I’d be eviscerated.
“Maybe it’s a good thing your birthday is next weekend. I think you both could use a night to relax,” he says, and I’m honestly more excited for Kaitlyn to be here tomorrow than for an excuse to go out next weekend.
“Are you still cool with my sister coming tomorrow?”
“Price, it’s your house,” he reminds me, looking back at the playbook resting in his lap. “You don’t need to ask me for permission, but if you plan on playing Yahtzee again, count me in.”
“You hate Yahtzee,” I point out, wondering if Mirabelle is starting to get cold out there. I don’t want her to catch a cold.
Wilson chuckles, shaking his head. “I do, but I think it’s hilarious watching your kid sister kick your ass at it. You win nearly every other game you two play, except for Yahtzee.”
“I’m throwing it away before she gets here. You’ll have to find your entertainment somewhere else.”
“I could invite Quinn over and wait to see your head explode with jealousy as he fawns over Mirabelle. That sounds pretty fun.”
White-hot rage spikes through me at the thought of watching my friend hit on Mirabelle. “I’m not jealous of Quinn.”
“Sure you’re not. You just announced to the whole team for fun that you were going to sit next to your girlfriend on the plane during the last away game. It totally wasn’t you telling Quinn to back off.” Wilson snorts, and I flip him off, only succeeding at making him actually laugh this time.
“Aren’t you supposed to be giving feedback on those plays tomorrow?”
“Isn’t Mirabelle supposed to be yourfakegirlfriend?” Wilson counters, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Sheismy fake girlfriend,” I say, but the words feelwrong.
