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An alert chimes on Ryder’s watch as he looks to his wrist. “Son of a bitch.” He’s racing up the staircase before I realize his level of urgency. I dash upstairs behind him, stopping when he flings his bedroom door open and scans the empty space.
“What’s going on?” I ask, but he shoves past me and goes to his sister’s bedroom door.
“She’s fucking crazy. That’s what’s going on.” When he’s unable to open the locked door, he hammers his fist against it. “Open the goddamn door, Morgan.”
There’re a few seconds of him yelling before she opens up. Her wet hair is twisted into a bun on top of her head, her cheeks are red, and a fresh change of clothes indicates she’s been in here showering, so I’m still not sure what has sent Ryder into a tirade. Those are usually reserved for his now serene sister, who stands with her arms folded over her chest, watching as her brother barges into her room.
“Where the fuck is it?”
“Where’s what?” she asks nonchalantly.
Ryder rushes towards her, halting centimeters before ramming into her. “Why can’t you leave shit alone? For once, Morgan, just stop being such a rigid, uncooperative tyrant.”
She keeps her lips in a tight line, staring at him until he turns away from her and starts rummaging through her bedroom. These two could really use some lessons on communicating to non-Kings what the fuck is going on—because I’m lost. That is until he pulls the comforter back on her bed to reveal a laptop.
He snatches it off the bed and holds it in the air. “It’s not on here, so you’re wasting your freaking time.”
That gets her to finally react in her customary style as she screams, “Show it to me now.”
Fuck. She really isn’t letting this go. And it’s going to drive the two of them to madness if they don’t rip each other apart beforehand. The siblings have launched into a full-scale screaming match when I try to step between them. Morgan shoves me to the side, never skipping a beat while yelling at her brother.
“What’s all the commotion about?” Their mom runs into the bedroom, both of her kids ignoring Shelby’s panicked pleas to calm down.
Telling Morgan to calm down usually has the opposite effect, I’ve learned that from personal experience, and it does exactly that in this instance, too, because she just gets louder with every word. “Are you really not going to change your mind?”
Instead of matching her level of loud hostility, Ryder evenly states, “Never.”
Her tight expression stays pinned on him, both locked in a silent standoff as Shelby asks, “What’s this about?”
Ignoring her mother completely, Morgan tells her brother, “Fine. I quit. You win.”
Never had I thought I’d hear those words leave her lips. Ever.
She marches past her brother. I swiftly move behind her, gently grasping her elbow to turn her back to me. “Morgan, your brother is just trying to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.” She jerks her elbow out of my grip and leaves the room.
Her lies are still intact. But I don’t think anything else is.
“I’m going to check on her,” Shelby tells Ryder as she glances between us. “And since I doubt she’ll tell me what’s going on, I’ll be back to talk to the two of you afterwards.”
No chance either of us can tell her either, so we really need to come up with some explanation. When we’re alone, Ryder is the first to speak. “She never gives up so easily.”
“Right.” Even if that wasn’t exactly easy, it still was nowhere near as hard as Morgan usually takes it. “What are we going to tell your mom?”
“I’ll come up with something.” Ryder lets out a long exhale. “I’ll remind her that her daughter is fucking insane and tenacious, so she won’t think much of it.”
Truth. I follow Ryder downstairs where it’s surprisingly quiet. “Of course, she didn’t want to talk,” Shelby states when we enter the kitchen.
“Don’t take it personally. She’s just being dramatic.” Ryder says it coolly, but I can tell he’s struggling with the words.
“I’ll go talk to her.” I turn to head in the direction of her bedroom, but Shelby stops me.
“She’s not here. She left in the Jeep against my sound advice. But it’s not like that girl has ever given in to any of my requests easily once her mind is set.”
The wordeasilystrums through my mind. Morgan King doesn’t give up, easily or otherwise. She simply finds a different way to get what she wants. She wanted to see the video. She knows her brother won’t give in. So she’s going to find another way. And I fear that method will be worse than watching it through a screen… I fear she’s set out to re-experiencing the night in person.
Hurrying out the door, I find Ryder on my heels. “What is it?”
