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“Good, it might stop you from doing something so fucked-up again.”
“What were you even thinking?” Cole asks, shooting up off the beanbag. It’s the first words he’s said to me in weeks.
“I wasn’t, clearly.” Even now, I’m not ready to tell them what I know about James. There are still too many unknowns. He might know that I’m aware he tried to kill our father, but I still don’t know why. And, most importantly, I still don’t understand why he wants us here.
“She has every right never to forgive you for this, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try,” Conner mutters.
“Why are you so for this all of a sudden? It was only five minutes ago you were warning her off me.”
He shrugs. “Because despite all this bullshit, she was the best thing that’s ever happened to you. When you were together, you were… different.”
“Different?”
“Yeah, she softened your harsh edges. At times you even looked… happy, I guess.”
“I’m always fucking happy.”
“Oh really?” He balks. “This is you happy?”
“Fuck off. This isn’t important. We need to think about tomorrow and how to make this better for Remi.”
“This is your fuck-up. Why should we have to get involved?”
“Because whether you want to admit it or not, you care about her.” I look between the two of them. “And because I’m your big brother and you do as you're told.”
They both roll their eyes. “What makes you think we haven’t been running interference while you’ve been gone?”
My chin drops, but I can’t find any words. Is all of this pointless? Was my afternoon attempting to plan how to make her life easier a waste of time? Have these two motherfuckers already been doing it?
“Well? Have you?” I ask when I eventually find my voice.
“Of course we fucking have. No one will say anything to Remi tomorrow, or they’re going to have us to deal with.”
Conner and Cole both sit forward. They don’t scare me, they’re still my annoying little brothers, but I can see why the assholes in that stuck-up school would be.
A smile curls at my lips as my eyes bounce between the two of them. I nod, sitting back on the couch, knowing that no matter what, these two idiots have my back.
I can see in their eyes that they’re not happy about what went down between Remi and me, but at the end of the day, we’re a team.
And we always stick together.
I stand in my Sterling Prep uniform the next morning. It feels like months since I put this on, not almost three weeks.
James tried to convince me to go back after he found me in the motel, but I refused. I wasn’t stepping foot in that place until Remi did. And now that it’s happening, it’s because of my need to keep an eye out for her. It’s got fuck all to do with my own education.
Remi has a real shot at a future, at college. I refuse to let my fucked-up decisions put an end to that for her.
Meeting Cole and Conner at the front of the house, I watch as they pile into their car and wait for them to pull out of the driveway. Then I start up my bike and follow them down the long driveway, but they head off in a different direction than me.
They’ve got a passenger to collect.
The second I pull into the parking lot, all eyes turn my way. I couldn’t give a fuck, they can stare at me all they like. What I don’t want is for them to do the same when Remi turns up with Conner and Cole in a few minutes.
I was desperate to ride with them, to see her before getting to this place and seeing the motherfuckers who roam the hallways, just waiting to make her life a misery. But I knew I couldn’t.
I need to bide my time.
For now.
