Page 240 of We Shouldn't Be Together
“I don’t,” Drew replies. “But what if Tabby does something that Kai doesn’t like? Do you want it on your head if something bad happens?”
“Don’t you dare!” Kai shouts. “I’d never hurt her.”
My heart hammers in my chest, watching the conviction cause sharp angles on Kai’s face.
Freddy’s eyes bounce around the surrounding tables, where other customers have turned our way. “Was that necessary?”
Kai’s fist clenches. “If you two are gonna insinuate I’d do anything bad to Tabitha, then yes, it’s necessary.”
“And what if we told you, you couldn’t be with her?” Drew asks.
I’m about to lose it, when Kai replies with, “I’d tell you it’s not your decision.” He points at me and my heart melts. “It’s hers.”
Drew sits back, smirking. “Okay, I like that. You’re not gonna take Dad’s crap.”
Freddy winces. “I dunno. I don’t think we should praise him for disrespecting our dad.”
I whack Freddy’s arm. “I can’t stand you. You’re only on my side until Dad says otherwise.”
Freddy scoffs. “How did I become the bad guy again?”
Unnerved by the fact confiding in my brothers can blow up in my face, I retaliate with what I saw on the way to the bathroom. “Fred, did you know Simon is here? He’s on a date with Carrie DiAngelo.”
Drew splutters a laugh, running a hand over his top knot. “Whoa, Fred. Your boy stole your girl.”
Freddy rolls his eyes. “Carrie is not my girl.”
“No,“ Drew says in a mocking tone. “It’s totally normal to shack up with a chick in a closet.”
I giggle and lean forward to tell Kai, “Did you hear about Antonia’s party at the lake house? Freddy and Carrie were practically glued to each other the whole time.”
Kai’s about to respond when Drew laughs and adds, “What’s that game called again? Seven minutes in heaven?”
Kai sits back, listening to our sibling chatter, and lifts his glass of coke.
“The only reason half the school thinks something happened between me and Carrie,” Freddy says to me, “is because you spread a false rumor.”
Kai spit-takes his drink. “Wait.” He coughs roughly, squaring his eyes at me. “You spread a rumor about your brother?”
The guilt spirals within me. Made worse by the memory of Kai’s paranoia about me spreading a story about his brother Milo.
I shrink in my seat, giving a mild shrug. “It was the truth.”
“You weren’t even at the party.” Freddy nudges me. “Carrie and I weren’t in a closet, and we weren’t making out.”
I lean forward and point at our brother. “Drew’s the one who told me you were with her.”
Freddy’s eyebrows shoot up as he turns to Drew. “It was you?”
Drew reclines in his seat, unfazed. “You had your arms around her the entire night. Looked intimate to me.”
Freddy groans, rolling his eyes. “It was a loud party, and I was listening to her. Sue me for having an arm around her while she talked.”
Drew’s jaw flexes as his gaze slightly narrows. “Youjusttalked?”
Freddy deadpans him. “Her dog died, and she was upset. So, yeah, we just talked.”
“You can’t blame me for thinking you were together.” Drew sits up, grabbing an egg roll. “It’s not like you haven’t made your way through the school.”
