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“What the hell just happened, Eva?” Emerson asks quietly.
“I'm sorry,” I mumble through my fingers. “I didn't know he was your brother.”
His tone is barely contained annoyance. “Can you explain already?”
I sit up, but I don't look at him. “I've slept with him,” I whisper, never feeling more ashamed over something. “It was during my freshman year. Catherine and I were drunk at a party and we decided to pretend to be the other, so I told people my name was Catherine.” I pause, wondering how much I need to share. “It only happened a few times. God, what are the odds of this crap happening?”
“Knowing my brother, the odds are probably high,” Emerson replies dryly.
“Are we okay?” I ask, finally peeking a glance at him. He's unreadable though.
His voice is devoid of emotions as he speaks. “I can't be too upset over something that happened before we met. I can't hold it against you. So, yeah, we're okay, I guess.”
I guess? I try to ignore that part. “Can we go? I don't think I can face your family after what happened.”
Emerson nods. He hands me his keys. “You can go on to the truck if you want. I need to say bye.”
I nod, taking his keys. We go our separate ways, me to Sweet Irene, Emerson to the house, and I can't get rid of the bad feeling in my gut.
WHEN I ENTER the dining room, the quiet chatter comes to a halt. Luke is still wearing that damn grin he was giving Eva. I walk over to my mom and kiss her cheek.
“We're heading back, Mom,” I tell her. “Sorry we couldn't stay for dinner.”
“Does Catherine, I mean, Eva think it will be too hard to be in the same room as me and
not sleep with me again?” Luke perks up. “Your girl seems to have some issues.”
Never in my entire life have I wanted to hit my brother as much as I do right now. “Shut up,” I snap. “You shouldn't have brought it up in front of everyone.”
He shrugs. “Don't do the deed, multiple times,” he throws in to fuel the fire, “if you can't face the consequences. Are you two serious? Maybe I should talk to her if there's a chance she'll be around for a long time. I'd hate to cause problems.”
“You're so full of shit. You—”
“Stop it,” my dad interrupts. “We're at the dinner table. Y'all can discuss this later.”
Luke's grinning like he won the argument. I shake my head. “Fine.” Then I walk out.
I slam the door of my truck when I get in, making Eva jump. As I throw it in reverse, the words tumble out. “Out of all the people on campus, one of the four people you've slept with had to be Luke?”
“Sorry,” she begins, but I cut her off.
“He's sitting in there like a fucking king and I'm the one having to leave early! There's no telling what he's saying about what happened or what my family thinks of you now.” I shake my head at the thought of her sleeping with him. “Luke? Seriously? What the hell were you thinking?”
“Stop yelling at me!” she raises her voice back at me. “You can't be mad at me for this. I didn't know you then and the only thing I knew about him was his first name. How can you be pissed at me when Luke is the jackass who told everyone?”
“Because you slept with my brother!”
“Two years ago, Emerson!” she yells. “You were in high school and still dating Kelly. Should I be pissed that you were sleeping with someone else before we met? You're being ridiculous. It sucks and it's a hard pill to swallow, but damn it, I didn't do anything wrong!”
There's nothing for me to say. My grip tightens on the steering wheel because all I can see in my head is my brother grinning. We get along for the most part. As long as we aren't around each other for long periods of time, that is. He thinks I'm Mom's goody-two shoes kid, which he can't stand since she calls him her wild child. No one ever takes Luke seriously because he's that kind of guy. He refuses to grow up. I'm not surprised in the least he threw it in my face that he's slept with my girlfriend before. If the opportunity comes for him to make me look bad, he takes it.
We're silent the entire drive to my apartment. Once inside, Eva wordlessly disappears into my room while I plop down onto the couch. I hear her footsteps approach moments later, but she heads to the door.
I turn my head to watch her open the door. She glances at me and says, “Good to know the jackass trait runs in the family.”
I feel like shit before she even slams the door closed. I stand and run to follow her. “Eva, wait!” I call out when I'm standing in the hallway.
She swivels around and I immediately recognize her posture as the same angry one she gave me after the whole moving in fiasco. “What do you want?”
