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“Cut the fake smiles shit out. I’m not in the mood for it this morning.”
Okay. Clearly, something is bothering her. Londyn and Bailey suggested that perhaps something happened to her at the group home, but getting Payton to open up is going to be complicated.
I raise my hands in front of me. “I’ll back off for now. But if you ever want to talk, just know that I’m here.”
“Why? Because you’re our new mom,” she sneers.
My lips pull downward. “I’m not your new mom … I could never replace Mom … I’m just trying to help.”
She rolls her eyes then nudges me out of the way. “You should try helping yourself first.”
I internally sigh. Something bad must have happened at that group home. Well, either that or maybe someone told her what’s going on with me. After all, when Austin hauled me away from school to go meet his dad, he said he knew a few guys in the group home who would punish my sisters if I didn’t cooperate.
“Pay … did something happen while you were at the group home?” I ask, following after her.
“No,” she snaps. “Just leave me the hell alone.” She snatches a granola bar out of Bailey’s hand then storms out of the house, slamming the door.
I glance at Bailey and Londyn, whose shocked expressions mirror mine.
“She’s in a really bad mood,” Londyn says, glancing worriedly at me.
I nod. “I think we should all keep an eye on her and see if we can figure out why. But don’t be too pushy. I don’t want to upset her more.”
“I completely agree. The last time she got like this and we were too pushy, she ended up …” Bailey doesn’t finish, but I know what she’s going to say.
The last time that happened, I found myself in a somewhat similar situation as what Blaise was in the other day with Alex. Payton wasn’t doing hardcore drugs or anything like that, but she spent days partying hard and hanging out with sketchy people until I finally tracked her down and dragged her back home. She never admitted the reason behind her rebelliousness, even after I spent weeks trying to get the truth out of her. Our mom probably would’ve succeeded, which makes me feel like a failure.
“You’re not a failure,” Londyn tells me as she grabs a couple of Pop-Tarts from the cupboard.
Shit. Did I say that aloud?
“I know,” I say, and she frowns. Before she can press further, though, I motion for them to follow me as I head for the back door. “Come on; let’s get to school before we all end up being late.”
I open the door and step out of the house and into the sunshine. My gaze instantly wanders over to the Portersons’ house. No one is outside, and both the GTO and the SUV are missing from the driveway, which more than likely means they’ve left for school already.
After the whole crying-on-Blaise’s-shoulder thing that happened last night, and then the kiss—two kisses actually—I’m kind of relieved they already left. But it does remind me that I still owe Blaise quite a few favors for the deal we made over the drag race.
“I really need to get those favors paid off,” I mutter as I hike down the driveway.
“The favors you owe Blaise?” Londyn asks, walking beside me.
I shield my eyes from the sunlight with my hand. “Yeah. I just want to get it done with.”
“I can’t believe that, after everything, he’s still making you do that.”
“Actually, he gave me a free pass yesterday, even though I didn’t want it. And he doesn’t seem that interested in me following through, but … I hate favors. And not following through with our deal means I’ll owe him.” Not that I believe Blaise will make me feel like I owe him.
No, after what happened between us, I decided he’s not as big of a douchebag as I originally thought. Although, knowing he saw me break down is making me super uncomfortable. Plus, I kissed him then let him kiss me. Seriously, what the hell was I thinking? Did I lose my damn mind or something?
Not that the kisses were bad …
They were nice.
Really, really nice—
“What’s going on with you two?” Londyn asks, stopping beside the passenger side of my car.
I blink away from my lustful thoughts of Blaise. “Nothing. Why?”
