Page 23 of Carson

“Can I borrow yours? I’ve got a bad tire,” I lie.

It’s worth the twenty-minute ass chewing I get from him about not taking care of it when I noticed there was a problem. It takes care of two things. I don’t have to answer twenty questions, and I don’t have to walk back to get my truck.

“What if you had an emergency?” he asks, holding the keys out to me.

“Then I would have taken Carson’s.”

He snatches the keys back. “Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t want to leave him without a vehicle.”

Dad tosses them to me, liking that answer.

“Why isn’t Carson going with you?” my mom asks before I get out the door.

I spin around. “Oh my god! I don’t need Carson with me everywhere I go.”

My father stands, and I know I have exactly three seconds to apologize to his wife before I’m in deep shit.

“I’m sorry,” I say, going over to her and kissing her on the cheek. “I haven’t had much sleep. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“That’s okay.”

“Carson’s not going because we wanted to make sure Luna has someone close by if she needs anything.”

“That makes sense.” She pats my cheek, and I pull away from her, giving my dad a quick glance to see if we’re okay.

He nods at me.

One thing about my father is he doesn’t let anyone disrespect his wife, including his children.

“I’m sorry you guys came home early. We should have called and let you know what was going on. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision. We didn’t mean to worry you.”

“You’ll bring her over for supper tomorrow?” my mom asks. It may as well be a statement because there is only one answer.

“Sure, I’ll see you guys then.” This time I get to the door without either of them stopping me.

That was just great. I sounded like a stuttering idiot in there. I wouldn’t blame them if they thought I was using drugs.

I tap my forehead as I jog over to my dad’s truck. Why the fuck is all of this bothering me so much? I should have just told them the truth. Carson is in love with Luna. That’s the real reason he brought her here.

It was going to happen sometime.

It’s not a big deal.

Someday it will happen for me too.

Chapter Ten

Carson

Luna sits down next to me. “Your brother is a little high-strung, isn’t he?”

I laugh. “He is, but this isn’t his usual behavior. I think he’s just overtired.”

“Been there,” I tell him. “In fact, I might be there now.”

We both chuckle. “I thought you were going to take a nap?”