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But it should still be edible—and one has to learn somehow. Experimenting on family members is a tradition going back to the dawn of time. I bet it happened all the time inside the caves around the fires. Not everyone can get woolly mammoth stew perfect from the get go, right?
Maybe I’d have made a better job of it had I not been thinking of Ross non-stop. I just can’t quit wondering about him, about how he drew me into the garage, how he held me, how he touched me, and that look on his face when he told me to go—
“Luna!” Josh is sort of dancing around the kitchen, excited about a game on his phone. I’m not as much into games as he is. I swear, this kid’s brain is linked to a data cloud. “I got to level fifty. You’ll never catch up.”
“Oh no, what will become of me?” I mutter, layering the grated cheese on top of the lasagna and checking the temperature of the oven. “There goes my career as a Roman gladiator.”
“No, you’ve got the wrong game.”
“I see. Which one is this one then? Is it the Star Wars one?”
He makes a face like he’s tasted something sour. “Luna! It’s the car racing one.”
“Gotcha. Well done, buddy. Ow.” Only I can give myself second degree burns from checking if the oven is warm. I stick my finger into my mouth. I may save it after all. “It’s warm enough.”
Yeah, you guessed it. Even while bantering back and forth with Josh, my mind was back in that garage. Hearing again his angry words about being a cocktease, about wanting him. But before that, when I drew away and said I had to go, he hadn’t seemed really angry, just... hurt.
I blink.
Then make myself look at what I’m doing before I make a bigger mess out of it.
He’s like a wild animal, I think. Lashing out when he gets a thorn in his paw. And that thorn seems to be little old me.
Josh wanders closer to take a look at what I’m making, and snickers. “It’s so flat. Is it lasagna or an omelet?”
“Oh shush.” With a small prayer to any god who might be hearing, I put my dish into the oven and close the door. “There. Should be ready soon. Set the table?”
But Josh isn’t paying me any attention. He’s peeking out the kitchen window, and he gasps dramatically. “There’s someone outside!” And then opening the door, he sprints out.
“Who? Josh, wait!” But he’s gone, and I hurry after him, suddenly remembering the guys who ambushed me on the road here twice. He’s gone like a bullet, and by the time I reach the side of the house where the tree swing is, he’s nowhere to be seen. “I said, wait! Josh!”
Then I hear him. “Stay away from her. Stay away from us!” he’s yelling, and something crashes into the underbrush. “Leave my sister alone!”
He’s throwing rocks at someone. I see him bend to retrieve another one, swing his arm back to throw.
“Josh, stop. What are you doing?” I reach him right before the rock goes sailing into the air, force his hand down, not an easy feat. He’s strong for his age. “You don’t throw rocks at people, Jesus. Are you out of your mind? You could hurt someone.”
“What?” He jerks his arm free, his face red, eyes glittering. “I was supposed to invite him in? He’s a bully and he’s the reason you left!”
“Who are you talking about? Wait... Ross? Ross was here? Oh God, did you hit him? Is he okay?”
Josh gives me a disgusted look. “You go off on me for making a bullying joke, but you’re okay with him? The guy who chased you away from us?”
A glance around doesn’t show me any tall, muscular, annoying blond. “Did you hit him, Josh?”
A shrug of bony shoulders. “I might have.”
Crap. “Keep an eye on the lasagna. Tell Dad it has to come out of the oven in ten minutes, okay? Or it will burn.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be back soon.”
“You’re going after him, aren’t you? To see if he’s okay. So what now, you’re in love with him?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” I snap and stalk off into the woods. “Go tell Dad what I said about the lasagna!”
I don’t hear his reply as the trees close around me, my heart thumping hard as I trek toward Ross’s home, hoping he’s okay.
