Page 116 of Redemption
He’s a stranger in my brother’s body.
“We’re going to the waterfall. Get up,” Langston says again, resigning himself to pull me out of bed by my ankle.
I screech, kicking at him, but he persists.
“A little help,” I squeal, looking at Hayes, but he throws his hands up in a shrug.
“I’m staying out of this.”
“Chicken,” I say right before I hit the floor.
Langston smiles down at me, not with the fake one I’ve grown accustomed to, but a real one.
“You’re wasting daylight, MJ. Hayes and I leave tomorrow. Come spend the day with us.”
My stomach churns. He doesn’t have to remind me. I’ve been counting every hour, dreading when they have to leave.
It’s their senior year of college, and summer practice starts next week. They have to get back and settle in. I’ll follow at the end of the summer, but in the meantime, that leaves Hayes to watch over Langston on his own. I trust him, but I hate that he has to.
But I don’t want to ruin the fleeting moment I get my brother back, so I paste on a fake smile and pinch his leg. “Fine. Get out of my room so I can get changed.”
I meet Hayes’s eyes again before he backs out of the room, and his smile has turned sad, like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.
Langston follows him out, and when the door is closed, I quickly change, brushing my hair and teeth in my attached bathroom.
It takes me ten minutes to get ready, and then I rush down the stairs, praying that I can avoid my mom before we leave.
Luck is on my side because the house is quiet when I make it downstairs except for the chatter of the two boys I love the most.
“Well,” I say, flicking Langston on the ear, “I’m out of bed. Let’s go.”
He whoops, paying no mind to me flipping him, and rushes out the door, jumping off the porch step and not looking back.
Hayes follows behind me at a slower pace, and when he’s sure that Langston isn’t looking, he bends down and brushes a kiss against my cheek.
I close my eyes, wishing this relationship could be different and we didn’t have to hide.
“I’m going to miss you,” he says, his voice a low rumble in my ear.
“I’m going to miss you, too.” I stop, staring at my brother, who is throwing things into his Jeep. “You’ll watch after him, won’t you?”
Hayes doesn’t answer for a minute. I know what he wants to say. We’ve had this conversation a million times. He thinks we are hurting Langston by always covering for him, but he’s my brother—and he would do the same for me. “Yeah, baby. I’ll watch after him.”
“Good.” I smile, wishing I could hug him. “He’ll get better. You’ll see.”
______________________
“Mallorie Jade, are you going to get in the water or lay on the bank all day?” Langston calls from the center of the pool below the waterfall.
He and Hayes have been in the water for an hour, exploring the cave hidden behind the falls while I’ve been on the bank, soaking in the sun.
If I could describe a perfect day, this would be it. But I can’t get rid of the bad feeling in my stomach. I keep waiting for something to go wrong.
“I’m fine where I am,” I say, slipping my sunglasses down over my eyes and lying back.
But a shadow appears over my face, and when I peek my eyes open, Hayes is standing over me with an evil grin.
“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t even think about doing it.”
