Adam returned, his eyes wide at his sister’s admission. His gaze ping-ponged between us before he backed slowly out of the room again.
Talk of his sister’s dating life ranked even higher than conflict on the list of things Adam liked to avoid. That left me as Addie’s defender on more than one occasion, a position I simultaneously hated and eagerly filled.
Color filled her cheeks as she snatched her textbook off the table and hugged it to her chest. She lowered her voice. “Why do you even care? I’m sure you’ll be dick deep in whateversophomoreyou’ve lined up for the night, anyway!”
We had drilled the warnings into her head repeatedly. Hadn’t she realized high school boys were idiots by now? Hadn’t she seen that enough with me?
She sure insulted me like she had.
For Adam’s sake, she should just stay home.
“You barely even know this guy, Addie!”
She pointed a finger at my face. “Todd has been my lab partner for the last three years, Blake. You’ve just been too busy chasing skirts to notice anything outside your sex life.”
My hands tightened into fists at my sides. “Why should I? You’ve clearly been paying enough attention for the both of us.”
Addie lifted her chin, somehow being superior and infuriatingly naïve all in the same breath. “It helps to know which seats to avoid, lest I catch something you’ve left behind.”
“Lest? Who fucking says that?”
“I do!” she yelled, flinging her textbook back onto the table.
It hit the wood with a resounding thud, silencing us both. The dining room filled with the sound of our heated breaths, and I stared hard at Addie while her chest heaved with fury.
Despite my best intentions, the tension filling the room sent my blood rushing south.
WhydidI care?
If anything happened to her, Mr. and Mrs. Barrow would be devastated. Adam complained any time she got a damn paper cut. He’d be completely wrecked.
And me?
I didn’t know what the hell I’d be.
But I cared too much about all of them to let anything happen to her.
Even if she hated me for it.
“He’s not good enough for you, Addie.” I shook my head, desperate to clear it. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Yeah, well, it’s mine to make.” Her voice wavered, doubt creeping into her facade. “I’m not going to college a virgin or pining away for my one true love to swoop in and make it special. Todd isnice. He sees me for what I am. And despite what you may think, I’m not a naive little girl anymore, Blake.”
I should’ve let it go. It was her body. Her choice.
But the thought of her giving her first time toTodd-fucking-Weeblystirred something inside me I couldn’t go near. My hackles rose, and I lashed out before I could stop myself.
“It sure sounds like you are to me.”
I wanted to pull the words back in the second they left my mouth. Tears filled her blue-green eyes, effectively skewering me.
She lifted her chin higher, pushing through the slight wobble in it to stare me down. “Well. It’s a good thing I don’t care what you think of me.”
Then she left the room without another word.
Adam peeked around the corner into the dining room. “Yeah…I made that mistake a few days ago.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for mercy. “Thanks for the heads up, dickhead.”
