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I say nothing, but I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment. Over the summer, in what was not my best moment, I called June ma’am because when I saw her, my brain short-circuited completely.
Of course, I did this in front of Daniel and Eli, and have been hearing about it ever since.
“You’re safe,” Caleb says.
“Traitor,” I tell him.
“They all suspected,” he says, sounding mildly apologetic at best.
“We think it’s still a secret from Silas,” Seth offers, and Eli just whistles under his breath.
“Shit,” he says.
“Right?” Seth agrees.
“Didn’t he force some guy to join the Army because he cheated on June?” Eli asks. “That was Silas, right?”
“I’m not going to cheat on June,” I say, a little louder than I meant to. Even saying that makes the skin on my back crawl unpleasantly.
“I didn’t mean that you would,” Eli says. “Just that I understand why you haven’t told him. Did I ever tell you he helped me break into Bramblebush that time? He brought his own night-vision goggles and stole a golf cart.”
Sounds like something Silas would do.
I don’t answer Eli, because we’re all still chopping wood and the night is getting dark. In a few more minutes we’ll have to go find better lighting, because I think we might all be here for a while yet.
Besides, I don’t particularly feel like giving my brothers my justification for not telling June’s brother about us. I know they’ll understand, but that doesn’t mean I want to say the sentence June is going to break my heart and I know it aloud.
I’m just about to go see what I can do about lighting when someone new walks up to the woodpile.
“Shit,” Violet says. “I didn’t bring any singles.”
Eli stands up straight, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
“If you’ve got a twenty, I can make it worth your while,” he says, grinning.
“No,” says Caleb.
“You sure?” Violet asks, laughing. “I’m pretty demanding.”
“Stop it,” says Caleb.
“Gross,” agrees Seth.
“Really? From you?” says Eli. “As if you’ve never—”
“Have I ever made you listen to my weird foreplay? No,” says Seth. “Hi, Violet, how are you doing?”
“Levi’s sleeping with June and we all just found out,” Eli tells her.
“Silas doesn’t know,” Seth adds.
“It’s a secret,” says Caleb.
Violet gasps, both hands flying to her mouth.
I say nothing.
“Yes!” she yelps. “Fuck yes!”
“Yeah, probably sounds something like that,” Eli deadpans, flicking a glance in my direction.
“Dude,” says Caleb.
“Are they for real?” Violet asks me, ignoring Caleb. “Please say yes. Please?”
I give each of my brothers a look in turn.
“That means yes,” Seth offers.
“Ooh, unless he’s sleeping with someone even more forbidden and would rather we think it’s June than the real person,” Eli says, thoughtfully. “Who would that be?”
The four of them just look at each other in silence, thinking.
“Is his boss female?” Seth finally asks.
“Levi,” Caleb finally says. “Please? Look how happy they’d be.”
I heft the axe in one hand, letting the rough wooden handle spin against my palm. I stare at it in the near-dark and accept my fate.
“I’m dating June,” I finally say. “For a little over a month, and no, her brother doesn’t know yet. Are there any further questions?”
“Yes,” Violet says, promptly. “Tell us everything.”
“Not a question,” Eli points out, and Violet just flips him off without even looking while Seth and Caleb laugh and Eli grins.
“Well,” I start. “June and I are dating.”
All four of them look at me, waiting.
“We’ll have to drag this out of him, won’t we?” Violet asks.
“We could use some more light out here,” I point out.
“Of course we are. Have you met Levi?” Caleb asks, rhetorically.Chapter Twenty-FiveJuneI have to tell him. I have to. I’m already a monster for not saying anything, and the longer I don’t tell Levi that I’ve got this job interview next week, the worse it’s going to get.
I should have just done it Monday, when I found out. When he asked how the call went, I should have just said, they want me to interview in-person next week. Nine words. Eleven syllables. Two seconds, max, of speaking.
But I didn’t, and then I didn’t some more, and now it’s been five days and I still haven’t, and I’ve made an enormous mountain out of a tiny molehill.
I’m afraid of his reaction. What if he’s heartbroken?
What if he’s not?
“You okay, Bug?” Silas asks.
I whip my head around and stick a big smile on my face. It’s probably too big and too fast, but oh well.
“Fine,” I say, perkily. “Why?”
“No angsting about job interviews at Fall Fest,” he tells me. “It’s Fall Fest, not Fall… Mess.”
I just let Fall Mess sit there for a moment and watch Silas silently as he drives past cow fields. Behind them, the forest is a red-gold that practically glows, the fall colors combined with the sunset.
“Fall Mess?” I finally ask. “That’s what you came up with?”
