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“It’s you,” I said, parroting Aurora’s words from the other day.
“I do live here too, you know.”
“Oh, I know, shortcake. But I think you’ve been avoiding me.”
“I’m not avoiding anyone.” She lifted her chin a little. “You’re barely even here.”
My blood heated at the glint of defiance in her eyes. Aurora Hart was a feisty little thing when she wanted to be, but the fire in her eyes didn’t completely diminish the shadows there.
I had to fight the urge to ask her what was wrong, to find out what—or who—had upset her. But I bit my tongue. We weren’t friends. And despite my best efforts to get to know her a little, Aurora continued to reject my olive branches at every turn.
“Wait until classes start next week,” I said. “Things really get crazy then.”
“I’m sure they do.” She pursed her lips, that flicker of judgment there again.
“Have I done something to upset you?” I blurted out like a fucking idiot.
Smooth, Holden. Real fucking smooth.
What was it about this girl that knocked me off my game? I barely knew her, and she turned me into a bumbling, stuttering idiot.
“Nope,” she deadpanned. “Anyway, this has been fun and all, but I’m sure you have better things to do than hanging out on the stairs with me. Night, Noah.” Aurora gave me a weak smile and slipped around me to go downstairs.
Huh.
It was like she couldn’t get away fast enough.
As I headed for my room, I ran a hand down my face. Girls were hard fucking work. If you tried to do the right thing, they avoided you. And if you did the wrong thing, they hated you.
A guy couldn’t win.
It wasn’t worth the headache.
The sooner Aurora moved out into her own place, the better because she was a serious distraction.
One I didn’t need.
Or want.
The next morning, I woke to the sound of raised voices. For a second, I was a little kid, back in Buffalo, listening to my mom and dad go at it. He’d call her an ungrateful whore, and she’d throw something at his head. It went on like that for years. Until she finally snapped and left.
Only, she didn’t take me with her. She left me there with him.
I hated her for it.
And he hated us both.
Climbing out of bed, I ran a hand through my hair, then scratched my junk before pulling on sweatpants to see what all the commotion was about.
“If you’re so interested in her life all of a sudden, why don’t you call her?” Aurora yelled.
“I’m just saying she called me three times. Out of the blue. That isn’t standard behavior.”
“Of course, it isn’t,” she snapped. “You left, Austin. You left, and I was stuck there with her. And now I’m gone too, and she’s alone and doesn’t know how to…” Her voice trailed off to an inaudible muffle.
“What’s going on?” Connor poked his head out of his room. “I heard shouting.”
“Austin and Rory are fighting.”
