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I wrap one of my arms under her to support her spent body and brace the other against the ledge. “Are you going to let us keep you forever?”
“You’re ours, Bianca,” Sean adds.
She wiggles out from under me and takes off her blindfold. Sean hands her a shirt to wipe the excess baby batter away.
“Guys, we don’t have to pretend this can work. Our parents will never understand.”
Carl’s head whips from where she’s cleaning to her face. “Who cares?”
My blood is boiling. She’s right. They’ll never understand. Our relationship will cause a rift in the family.
“Get your head out of the clouds, Carl.” Bianca’s dismissal is a gut punch we all need.
Sean offers, “We don’t have to tell anyone right away. Let’s take our time. If you are serious about not wanting to go to school, you don’t have to. If you want to help with the app, we can teach you things that need to be done, specific skills. Or just let us do it all.”
Bianca gnaws on her lower lip. “My dad thinks I don’t listen, but I’ve heard him say it a million times, never mix business with pleasure, and this was definitely pleasure.”
She deals such a massive blow, I’m winded.
Sean says, “Then let’s keep it as pleasure, but let us keep you.”
I find my voice. “We’ll lose our biggest investor, but we can deal with that. It’s not like we don’t have our own—”
Bianca interrupts me. “You did what I asked. You helped me get over my ex. Now, I need to clean up and get the gingerbread going.”
Carl steps in front of the stairwell door. “Wait. Did you just use us?”
“You knew what it was from the start. I needed help and you helped me.”
“That’s not what this was. I love you.”
I’ve never heard Carl speak those three words or sound so hurt. It sucks. It matches how I feel. Glad I’m not the one to put my heart on my sleeve. Except that’s a lie. I want to tell her, and I was going to do it with the house. But now?
Bianca’s voice is oddly flat. “It’s what I want it to be.”
How can she be so cold?
She slips past the three of us.
Sixteen
Bianca
Ilockthepenthousedoor. My brothers are still on the roof, no doubt, trying to sort out what just happened.
Pangs of guilt tear at me for pretending I don’t care.
I can’t stop my reaction to them, but I can stop this madness before it ruins their relationship with my father. It’s my first step to being an adult and thinking about someone other than myself.
My next step…move out. I can’t always rely on someone to care for me. Their mother has made that clear, and she has the track record to prove it.
While I set all of the ingredients for gingerbread on the counter, I call Aurora.
“I know we have a lot to catch up on, and I promise I’ll tell you everything, but I have a huge request.”
“What’s going on?”
“I need a place to call my own. I was wondering if I could move in with you. I know that’s not exactly my own, but I’ll pick up another part-time job. I can make enough money to cover half the bills, and rent and whatever else. I need to prove that I can take care of myself for five fucking minutes.”
