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When I caught another glance of Nathan, he was turned around, downing one of the waters and avoiding me.
???
It was well after eleven before we left the club. I didn’t see Mr. Morris’s car in the lot; maybe he gave up.
My legs were sore and my ears were ringing. I was hanging off of Luke because I was so tired.
When we were out in the parking lot again, he caught my thighs and picked me up. I was going to tell him I could make it to the car, but my legs didn’t want me to.
At the SUV, to my surprise, Nathan got behind the wheel without a word. I hadn’t been able to talk to him the rest of the night, and when I caught his eye, he was quick to look away. He stuck the keys into the ignition, turning the engine over before anyone else had gotten in.
Luke pushed me into the back seat and then climbed in after me.
Gabriel slid into the front passenger seat. “Whew,” he said, slumping and rocking his head back and forth against the headrest. “Pretty crowded tonight. That DJ was good.”
“Kota’s going to be after us,” Luke said. He sat back after he put his seatbelt on and then encircled my shoulders with his arm. “We’re supposed to be taking it easy. What do you say, Sang? Have a good time?”
“Yes,” I said, though my voice was croaky. I swallowed to try to clear it. “My legs hurt now though.”
“Yeah,” Luke said, grinning. “We’ll be in trouble.”
“My Trouble needed a night off,” Gabriel said. “Dance all the stress out Saturday, sleep it off on Sunday. By Monday, she’ll be ready to go.”
“So we’re sleeping tomorrow?” I asked.
“We’ll be lazy shits,” Gabriel said. “Kota can’t yell at us if we do.”
Gabriel and Luke started talking about other people at the club, what they were wearing and the crazy light show. I was mildly paying attention and gazing out the window. It was dark inside the SUV, and the times I glanced at Nathan, he was focused on driving.
But he never joined in the conversation. Maybe he was tired. I tried to tell myself that this was why he was so quiet, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was probably the kiss. I’d tricked him into breaking a rule and now he was mad at me.
But he had kissed back in the first place! But did it even count? It was on the edge of my mouth. Closed mouths. It was a moment. He wasn’t even aiming. I’d turned my head.
I wished I could take it back. Luke had said it before that he didn’t want to steal a kiss from me. And now I realized what he meant. That had been a stolen moment. It wasn’t the right way.
Maybe if I didn’t talk about it, he’d forget it ever happened.
As he drove, I tried to laugh and smile with Luke and Gabriel about whatever they were saying, but most of it was forced. When Luke asked me what was wrong, I claimed to be tired. He snuggled up to me and I relaxed against him, but my mind was wound tight. I doubted I could sleep if I wanted to.
We pulled off of the highway and found the main road that led to Sunnyvale Court.
“Hey,” Gabriel said, pointing out the window toward Nathan’s house. “Is your dad gone?”
The house appeared to be dark, locked up. The garage door was open, and there wasn’t a car in the driveway.
Nathan squinted at the house. “Looks like it.”
“Let’s go in and get some of that food we left there,” Gabriel said.
“I don’t know,” Nathan said. “We need to stay away until we can confirm. If he went back to work, I need to find out before we go back.”
“Let’s just get all the stuff we got for Sang,” he said. “And maybe even grab the Xbox. Real quick. He won’t know we’ve been there. If he went to the bar again, he’ll probably be there for hours.”
Nathan sighed and then turned the car to pull into the driveway. “Let’s make it quick. I don’t like going in when I don’t know where he’s gone or how long he’s going to be.”
When Nathan stopped the car, Gabriel jumped out, fishing his keys from his pocket and unlocking the front door.
Luke and I started to follow. Nathan put a hand over and snagged my elbow.
“Nuh-uh,” he said. “You should stay out here.”
For a moment, I blinked at him, surprised that he’d said something to me when he had spent most of the night avoiding me. “Can’t we go in and help?” I asked.
Nathan started to shake his head but Luke eased Nathan’s grip from my arm. “Let’s all go in,” he said. “It’ll make it faster. Open the back. Sang, you go snag any clothes you want. I’ll grab the Xbox. Nathan, you help Gabriel grab what he wants and we’ll meet back here. We’ll dump everything in and head to Sang’s.”
Nathan’s mouth tightened, but he nodded.
I made sure to hurry. I didn’t want to be there any longer than necessary.
Walking was difficult with sore legs, but I found some energy in knowing this was the last stop before I could curl up in bed.
Nathan’s bedroom was dark so I flicked the light switch. His bed had been made up with the maroon blanket. His stereo on his dresser was silent and the CDs that had once been stacked next to it had disappeared. A weight set in the corner was in line from largest to smallest barbells. The scent of cleaners filled my nose. It caught my attention because Nathan was never this neat when he was relaxed. He wasn’t dirty, but I couldn’t imagine having to be this neat and tidy. My stepmother had been a stickler for clean, but not this nitpicky.
I stared at my clothes tucked away in the back of Nathan’s closet. I scooted a few hangers over, dawdling,
tired having no idea what I needed.
I found a particular set of clothes sitting on top of the shelf inside. These had been folded and set into a neat stack; jeans, tops, skirts, and hoodies. There were even a few pairs of pajamas sitting there. Did Gabriel do this at some point, leaving them so I’d know which ones to grab quickly? It seemed likely. The top shirt still had a tag on it. Perhaps he was trying to hint that I needed to wear some variety.
“Sang?” Luke called from the kitchen.
I grabbed the clothes and followed Luke’s voice to the kitchen.
Luke stood with a box under one arm. He held the box out, encouraging me to place the clothes into it. “Did you grab enough?” he asked.
“I think so,” I said. “Gabriel set them out.”
Luke nodded, not seeming too surprised by this. “Do me a favor? There’s a couple of kits below the sink in the bathroom. Go grab the ones that have mine and Gabriel’s name on them.”
I nodded and went for the bathroom. I locked the door to quickly use the restroom and wash up. After, I opened the cabinets, along the back there was a line of blue zipped pouches. I hadn’t noticed them before, but then I didn’t really go poking around in Nathan’s bathroom.
I pulled one out, spotting Silas’s name written in black marker across the top. I put that one back and shifted through the others looking for Luke’s and Gabriel’s.
A door slammed deeper in the house. I stilled, listening.
Footsteps. A muffled voice. Other voices started up. I could hear Gabriel, but then he quieted. Were they just being noisy?
I ducked my head under the sink, reaching for Gabriel’s pack when a loud boom erupted against the bathroom door, causing it to vibrate against the frame.
“Who the fuck’s in there, then?” Mr. Griffin bellowed.
Startled, I cracked my head on the wood of the cabinet. I gripped the packs to my chest, staying absolutely still, afraid to make any noise.
The doorknob rattled hard.
“Stop that,” Nathan said. “No one’s in there.”
“The door’s locked. Someone’s in there.”
“I must have locked it by accident.”
“Don’t fucking lie to me!” Mr. Griffin bellowed. “I’m not an idiot. Get those two dingbats out of my house.”
