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“Do you want some breakfast, honey?” Mom asked.
“I’m not hungry.” Turning, I held out my phone to her. “Do you want this?”
“Keep your phone,” Dad told me. “It’s our only link to you when you’re not with us.”
“Okay.” I put it in my purse without glancing at the screen. The ringer was still off, and I didn’t want to know if Luca had even tried to call.
Mason carried his empty bowl to the sink. “It’s so tense in here, I feel like I’m walking through a minefield.”
“Hush, Mase,” Dad barked at him. “Get your shit. We’re leaving in five minutes.”
“Okay, geesh. Don’t bite my head off. I didn’t do anything,” he grumbled to himself as he went to get his backpack.
Dad was still pissed when he dropped off Mason first and then pulled up in front of my school. I reached for the door, but he stopped me. “I’ll be here when school releases. I expect you to come straight out.”
“Yes, sir.”
He blew out a long sigh and then reached out, cupping the side of my face. “I’m sorry for being an ass. You just scared the hell out of me, little girl. If anything ever happened to you…” His eyes landed on my mouth, and his jaw clenched. “But something did happen, didn’t it, Violet? A boy I think of as a son hurt you, and I wasn’t there to protect you.”
“You can’t be there twenty-four seven, Dad,” I told him.
“All these years, I was so worried about Luca keeping his hands to himself, but it was Cannon who—”
“Dad, I love you. More than anything. But can we not talk about this right now?” I leaned over and kissed his cheek, only to feel my cut reopen yet again. “I’m sorry I made you worry. It won’t ever happen again.”
“Honey, I know what happened Friday night shook you up, but is there something else wrong?” His blue-gray eyes tried to look beyond what little I was letting through, but I’d already erected so many walls, there was no way he could tear them down. “You’re not acting like yourself.”
“Just tired, Daddy.” I opened the door and stepped out. “Love you. See you at three.”
As I started into school, I heard Shaw call my name and paused to wait on her. Her dad had driven her to school too because they had taken her car for a few weeks since she’d been drinking at Friday’s party. She didn’t seem to care about the loss of it, though. Not when
she was so pissed at her brother.
When she got close enough, she hugged me. “How are you doing?” she asked softly as she pulled back.
I shrugged. “I’m okay.”
Her blue eyes assessed me for a moment before her brows lifted. “How did it go with Luca yesterday?”
I lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. “It went.” I opened the door to the school and started toward our shared locker.
“That’s all you’re going to tell me?” Shaw asked as she fell into step beside me.
“There’s nothing else to tell.”
“I call bullshit.” She jumped in front of me and walked backward so she could keep her eyes on my face. “Talk to me, Vi. What happened yesterday? Did he threaten to kill my brother? Because I’m all too happy to help him if he wants to murder that shithead.”
Feeling a headache begin to throb behind my eyes, I tried to walk around my best friend. “I would really rather not talk about it.”
She cut me off and wrapped an arm around my waist to stop me. “Violet?” There was real distress in her voice, and my numbness faded for all of five seconds before it flooded over me again. “Tell me.”
I swallowed the lump that had entered my throat and shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell. Luca and I broke up.”
“What?” Her voice echoed off the other lockers, catching everyone’s attention. But her eyes were glued to my face. “Why? Surely not because he still thinks you wanted to kiss Cannon.”
“No,” I agreed. “It was more to do with him having sex with Megan Hawthorn Saturday night.”
She blinked her long, thick lashes at me. “I’m sorry, what?”
