Page 144 of Tell No Lies

Great, now Matt was teasing me. I gave him a mature eye roll. “Is there anything on, or should we turn on the video games?”

His face brightened at the words. “I’ll race you!” Mario Kart had been our favorite game to play back when he was little, and I would visit.

“You’d better watch it. I went easy on you because you were young. I’m not doing that anymore.”

I shot him what I hoped was an intimidating stare, but he rolled his eyes back at me.

“You underestimate me, Aubrey. My intelligence isolates me from my peers. Mario, Luigi, and Peach are my friends.”

I paused and waited to see if he would say he was joking. The thought of him sitting alone at school and coming home to play by himself broke my heart. He continued to set up the game as if everything was fine. Apparently, his girl situation hadn’t worked out.

After he handed me the second remote, we chose our characters: mine was Princess Peach, and he was Donkey Kong. I let him choose the course and sat back waiting for it to start. I needed more of this. Living with my mom had been stressful, so I had used dance as an escape, but here I felt at home. Every spare moment didn’t need to be spent away from my house. I smiled at Matt as the timer counted down. He shot me a menacing grin and took off, leaving me motionless at the starting line.

It only took a few rounds for me to regret my comments earlier. I had nothing on this kid! Diane announced it was time for dinner just before I was going to admit defeat. We climbed off the floor and took seats around the dining room table, which had never been used as long as I’d lived here.

Mckayla and Mike walked in from the balcony, laughing. As suspicious as they looked, I decided to let it go. Secrets were becoming the standard in my life. Once they slid into their seats, Mike winked at me, and Steve began serving up plates of roasted chicken.

“You were wonderful yesterday, Aubrey.” Diane was smiling at me while serving salad.

“You were there?” I hadn’t seen them before or after the competition.

“Of course! Steve had a meeting with a client in the morning, but we got there just in time to see Cassie’s first performance.”

“Why didn’t you say anything after? I wish I’d known you were there.”

“It’s no problem. You had a crowd around you, and I knew we’d have you to ourselves soon.”

I was touched that they’d made the effort to come. My mom had always attended, but it was more of an excuse to gather with her friends than to support me.

“Your solo was amazing. You’re very talented.” Steve was looking at me like a proud parent. So, this was what it felt like to have parents who cared.

“Thank you, McSteamy.”

He and Diane laughed at the nickname, but Mckayla kicked me under the table. “Don’t encourage him. He already thinks he’s the cool parent.”

“He is!”

The table broke into laughter, and it warmed my heart. This was all I’d ever wanted. A loving family who cared about each other, people you could tease and hassle, but in the next moment turn to for comfort.

After dinner, we slowly began standing and walking our plates to the sink. An arm slid around my waist and tugged me away. I leaned into Mike as he bent down to whisper, “Let’s go outside.”

Silently, I followed him to the balcony and sat next to him on my favorite swinging chair.

“You seemed happier tonight.”

“Am I normally depressed?”

“Nah, you just seemed more like yourself. I can’t see the weight you usually carry around.”

I gave him a sad smile. “I need more of this.” Looking out of the corner of my eye, I saw him staring down, waiting. “Family time. No stress or things to do. Sitting around and playing video games with Matt and talking with Diane and Steve was just what I needed. It makes everything else seem less devastating, knowing I have them supporting me.”

“Of course, we’re all here for you, Aubrey.”

“I know that. I’m just not used to it.”

“Well, you’d better start, because we’re not going anywhere.”

I snuggled into his side and laid my head on his shoulder. “Promise?”