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We pull away and the four of us walk into the kitchen while Mom works on making dinner. It smells delicious. The tension still lingers in the air, but Cam sticks by my side like the protector he’s always been for me.
“So, what’s been new, Lai?” Mom asks. “Anything interesting?”
I’m basking in the nostalgic feeling of being in here. “Not really. I’ve been working a lot.”
“Another ice rink? Mr. Zimmerman was devastated to lose you,” Cam adds.
Add him to the list.“No. Actually, I work at a studio. I’m a songwriter.”
A smile spreads across my dad’s face. “Is that so? Have you written anything I’d know?”
“Probably not. A lot of what I’ve written is just starting to come out now,” I explain. “Making an album is a long process.”
“That’s amazing, sweetheart,” Mom tells me. “I know that’s always been a dream of yours.”
Cam nudges me with his elbow. “Pretty impressive, sis.”
It feels good, finally being able to share my accomplishments with my family. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was younger, and the only people I’ve been able to tell about it have been Mali and Nolan. Not that it makes it mean any less, but I’m proud of it, and I’ve always wanted to share that part of my life.
“All right,” Mom announces. “Dinner is almost done so grab your drinks and sit at the table.”
We do as she says, though it does still irritate me a little that I can’t grab a beer. My twenty-first birthday is coming up, but to them, I’m still only twenty. They may have ignored that we would drink when they’re not around, but they still refuse to outright allow it.
Going into the dining room, my brows furrow as I realize it’s set for five. My dad had added a place for me when I got here, which means it was already set for four. But that wouldn’t make any sense, unless…
The familiar rumble of a truck comes to a stop right outside and then goes quiet. I feel like I might be sick. My head whips over to Cam and he acts like he doesn’t notice me shooting daggers into him.
“What the hell did you do?” I whisper-shout.
He looks over at me, smirking. “Moi? I didn’t do anything. I just invited you to dinner.”
My mind is reeling as I’m trying to figure out my options. Should I hide? Should I leave? After what he said to me last night and the way he looked at me, seeing him again will take a level of preparation I don’t have time for at the moment. There’s no way he won’t see my car in the driveway. Maybe he’ll leave, since he made it clear that he doesn’t want to see me.
But when I hear the door open, I realize I’m not that lucky—and I no longer have the option to run.
If my heartcould jump out of my chest and run out the door, believe me, it would. There isn’t a single part of me that is ready to see him again. Not when I know he doesn’t want to see me. But thanks to Cam, I don’t have a choice.
The sound of Hayes’s voice fills the house as his footsteps move through the living room. “It smells so good in here.”
“Hayes,” my mom greets him, sounding relieved. “Thank heavens, you’re all right. I was worried sick about you, but Cam said I shouldn’t come to the hospital.”
He chuckles. “Please. I’m perfectly fine. It was like hitting a pillow.”
“Punch him in the ribs and see how fine he really is!” Cam calls out.
I can hear him coming closer, and I brace myself for the impact of seeing him again.
“Fine, but that means I get to…”
His words die out as he steps into the doorway and his gaze meets mine. He lets his eyes rake over me for a moment. It shoots me right back to when I was a hopeless teenager crushing on her older brother’s best friend. A time when I would have killed for him to be looking at me like that. But I know better than to think he’s checking me out right now.
“Scoot,” Mom tells him as she tries to get through.
He pulls his attention off me and steps out of her way. “Sorry, Ma.”
Ma?
I hold my breath as he comes closer to the table and takes the seat straight across from me.Fuck. Cam snickers under his breath, and I swing my leg to the left to kick him.
