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Chris didn’t look entirely happy about her presence. “What are you doing here?”
She dug her free hand into her pocket and pulled out the sixty dollars. “Here.”
His face went stony. He made no move to take the money. “You came all the way over here for this?”
Becca wanted to throw the cash at him. She jerked her hand out of his brother’s. “No. I came all the way over here to tell you Tyler and Seth showed up at the pet store where I work.”
Gabriel got in front of her and crossed his arms. The smile was gone. “What are you talking about?”
She stared up and over his right shoulder and gritted her teeth. “Could you please put a shirt on?”
“Did they hurt you?” said Chris.
“No. Yes. It’s fine. Tyler just—” Her throat suddenly got tight.
Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
They were both staring at her. Of course.
Chris shoved his brother in the shoulder. “Go. Put on a shirt.” Then he took a step back. “Come in. Sit down a minute.”
She deliberated in the doorway for a moment, then followed him in. She glanced dubiously at the bed. No way was she sitting next to him on it. So she edged around him and sat in the desk chair. She dropped the crumpled twenties next to his Physics textbook.
He settled on the corner of the bed and rested his forearms on his knees. “You want to tell me what happened?”
She fought for any emotion to replace the tears. Anger usually did the trick, and this time was no exception.
“Why’d you give me sixty dollars?” she demanded.
“You said I owed you.” A dark smile, though there wasn’t much humor to it. “Personally, I thought sixty bucks was pretty cheap.”
“Whatever. You know I was kidding. Didn’t you think what it would look like? You don’t have to treat me like a—”
“Wait a minute.” He came halfway off the bed. “I didn’t treat you like anything. I asked you out, you said no.”
“Asked me out. You asked me to a soccer game.”
“So what?” He looked incredulous. “God, you are the most baffling girl—”
“Oh, okay. Your brothers didn’t put you up to this? Maybe your friend Drew?”
He was standing now, his fists clenched, a little flare of color on his cheeks. “What do my brothers have to do with anything?”
“Hey, little brother.” Gabriel came back through the door and flopped on the bed, drawing his legs up to sit against the wall. “Girls are more likely to stay if you don’t fight with them.”
Chris was still staring at her, his breathing a little quick.
She looked away from him. Gabriel had put a shirt on—a dark green one with a screen print of a truck. It said, My other ride is your mom.
Her eyebrows went up. “Hilarious.”
He grinned. “I aim to please.” He reached up over his head and knocked on the wall. “Nicky!”
She straightened. “Wait—look, I just came to—”
“Trust me. He won’t want to miss this.”
A door in the hallway opened; then his twin appeared in the doorway, wearing jeans and a Henley and an irritated expression. “If you want me to fix your homework, you need to leave me alone.” Then he spotted her. “You’re back.”
