“Y-yeah, it was awesome,” I stammered, embarrassed for ogling.
He stood up, holding a hand out to me. “I’m Jake.” I grasped his calloused hand, but instead of shaking it, he held it to his mouth, planting a kiss on it all chivalrous like, making blood pour over my cheeks. “And you are?”
With a yank of my hand, I wrapped my arms around my middle. “Ava.”
“Cool name.” He winked. “So you ever been with a guy in a band?”
The other band guys snorted but kept going about their business. My unease melted away when I raised my eyebrows. “Does that line actually work on anyone?”
“Only fifty percent of the time,” he admitted, laughing. “But if it worked on you, it’d make it seventy-five percent.”
“Well, as flattering as that is.” I shook my head, but his eyes shifted behind me right when arms wrapped around my waist in a vice grip.
“She’s here with someone,” Cade’s voice was gravelly, rumbling against my back. He planted a kiss on my cheek. I gazed at him in a daze while he had a stare-down with the drummer dude. Pissing a circle around me would have been a little less blatant, but the possessiveness wasn’t necessary. I wanted to be there with him.
“Gotcha.” Jake smiled, giving me another wink, which caused Cade to growl. Actually growl. Like a lion or something.
“Jeez, Jake.” Grace appeared, giving him a shove. “Cade is helping us out. The least you could do is stay away from his girl.”
His girl? Was I his girl?
Did you not witness the stare-down, genius?
The sound of that made my heart race, causing me to lean back against his solid body for support. At least he didn’t shove me away or anything. The fact that I was apparently into possessive guys was shocking.
Jake shook with laughter, completely unfazed by how angry Cade appeared to be. “So what? I’m supposed to ask every girl I hit on if she’s taken?” Jake balked. Grace rolled her eyes before leaving to help the other guys. Jake gave Cade an innocent smile. “Sorry, man. It was nothing personal. She’s just hot.” He shrugged, and my mouth popped open.
“Yeah, I know,” Cade ground out, before tugging on me until I faced him. “Ready to go?”
His eyes shifted back and forth as if he was actually concerned I might say no. His vulnerability loosened some of the tightness in my chest. There was no way he could look at me that way and not have actual feelings for me. Right?
“Yeah,” I assured him, then made a bold move by grabbing his hand, threading our fingers together.
Even though he relaxed a little, he still pulled me from the shop as if the devil himself were chasing us. While we sat in the car in complete silence, his hands gripped the steering wheel, a muscle twitching in his jaw. Trying to figure out the logic behind his anger was exhausting.
“Is everything okay?” I asked in a calm, yet sleepy tone.
A storm raged in his eyes when he glanced at me, his hands dropping from the wheel to fist at his sides. “I left you alone for five minutes and some guy was hitting on you.”
That's what he was mad about? Boys were so odd—though I had been jealous of Grace before I knew who she was to Cade. With an eye roll, I pointed out, “Cade, I’m sure that guy hits on any girl who comes within hearing distance.”
“I’m sure he does, but he kissed your hand, and you let him,” he said through gritted teeth, and blood rushed up my neck. “I wanted to beat the shit out of him, but that probably would have lost me my job.”
“You’re being silly. It’s not like I was interested,” I said, flustered now.
It wasn’t as if I had jumped on the guy or even given him a hint of interest. Though I was unsettled, a part of me was flattered at the obvious jealousy in Cade’s tone. Hormones could make the most rational person insane.
“It’s not like I’m leaving with him. I’m leaving with you. Can’t you see you’re the only guy I would ever want to leave with?” My mouth snapped shut, having said too much. Now he would know what a lovesick pup I was. Looking out the window, I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from embarrassing myself any further.
“Ava.” He placed a hand on my arm. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, noticing his softened features, his anger subsiding. “I’m sorry for being a jerk.”
My arms remained crossed when I turned toward him. “Well, you should be.” I tried to glare, but it must not have worked, since his lips twitched. Jerk. He could at least act like I was a little intimidating. “Besides, it’s not like I get all angry when legions of girls hit on you on a daily basis.”
“Legions?” he inquired, smirking.
I glared harder, hoping it was convincing. And maybe even pouted a little. How pathetic. “Yes, legions.”
“You know, your eyelids are drooping,” he pointed out before pulling away from the curb. “I think we should get you home now.”
“Nice changing the subject.”
Chapter Seven
When he parked in front of the house, he gave me a weird look I couldn’t read. “What?” I snapped, having had enough of the games for one day.
He loosed a breath, rubbing his hands over his face. “I want you to keep another day free next week, so we can hang out again.”
Pinching my bottom lip between my fingers was mostly to keep from smiling. Hell, yes, I wanted to spend another day with him. But I didn’t want him to know because he was getting all flustered about it.
“Hmm.” I sighed but couldn’t stop my smile as his eyebrows scrunched up. How could he not know how much he affected me? “I would love to hang out with you next week, Cade.”
“Really?” he asked in genuine surprise.
“Yes, really.” I gave him my best “duh” look. “I had a blast today. It was great not worrying about any school stuff, and I realize I am missing out when I don’t take any time for myself.” With a hand resting on his arm, I smirked, saying, “Thank you, Cade, for being a pushy dick and making me take a day off.”
He barked out a laugh before giving me a heated look that made my stomach flip over. “You’re always surprising me, Ava.”
There was plenty of warning this time as he leaned in. My heart pounded, my palms sweating more than I’d like to admit. One of his hands gripped my hair, the other clutching my hip. Right as our lips brushed, something tapped on my window.
I gasped, yanking back from him to spin around and peer out the window. Trying to get as far from my sister’s glassy eyes as possible, I about climbed onto his lap. “What the hell?” I breathed when she gave me a mischievous grin.
Cade cursed under his breath, then gripped my shoulder. He ignored her by jerking me around and kissing me roughly. This was a kind of desperate kiss I had never ever experienced before, stealing all oxygen from me. Our audience tapped on the window again and yelled my name.
Pulling back, he said through gritted teeth, “I guess you better go,” while I sucked in air.
When I had my breathing under control, I jerked a thumb toward my sister, who now had her ass leaning against my door, saying, “I don’t want to deal with that. I’m exhausted, and she’s obviously drunk. I don’t know how to handle that.” Taking care of a drunk person would be a lot less fun than making out with him. And quite frankly, the drunk person wasn’t my responsibility. Squeezing my eyes shut, I rubbed my temple.
“Do you want some help?” His gaze was sympathetic, tone gentle. Of course, Cade would offer to help with my inebriated sister. Even though I would have loved the help, I was far too embarrassed to accept.
“This is one of those things I actually have to handle myself,” I told him, reaching for the handle. “Thanks again. Really. Today was awesome.”
“Anytime, Ava. I’ll see you Monday.”
To get back at Mia for ruining my evening, I gave her a good shove with my door. When I shut it, she whirled around with much grace. Before she could say anything, I grabbed her arm and hauled her up the driveway, giving Cade a wave over my shoulder a
s he drove away. She stumbled along with me, tripping over her silver pumps several times. When we were in front of the garage, I spun her around to face me.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Mia?” I demanded.
“That was a steamy kiss,” she slurred with a smirk, ignoring my question. The alcohol on her breath wafted up my nose, making my stomach turn. “Did you get to second base?”
My eyes widened when she almost toppled over. “How drunk are you?”
“Only a little.” She squinted through her thumb and finger.
“I don’t get this.” With a deep breath, I rubbed my temple again. “I understand rebelling, being a teenager, whatever. But getting drunk like this—what are you accomplishing?”
Her eyes turned fierce, and she swung a fist in my direction but was too drunk and I was too quick for her to make contact. If I didn’t feel so bad for her, I would have shoved her on her ass and gone inside.
“You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about,” she screeched. “I know what I’m doing. I am completely in control of my life.”
“This is the opposite of control, Mia.” Sadness overwhelmed me, which pissed me off because I had just been in such a good mood. “I have to tell Mom and Dad. I don’t know how to help you.”
“Don’t you dare,” she spat. “I don’t need any help, but if you tell them, I won’t talk to you ever again.”
I took in her skimpy halter top and skintight jeans. She was teetering, tears welling up in her eyes. There wasn’t much I could do with her, but I didn’t want her to think she couldn’t come to me when she was finally ready to. Her knack for drama was unbelievable, but she could hold a mean grudge, so I decided not to push it.
With a roll of my shoulders, I prepared for the worst night of my life. “Fine. Let’s get you inside before someone sees us.” I held an arm out, offering her support.
After a dramatic eye roll, she took it. I helped her up the steps to the front door, trying to make the least amount of noise possible getting inside, since I wasn’t sure if Mom and Dad were home. The house was silent, but that didn’t mean anything, so I went straight for the stairs, towing Mia along with me. Halfway up the stairs, she started groaning loudly.
“Ava, there’s something,” she slurred, and I stopped moving right in front of my door. Gripping my arm, she tried to stand straight but clung to me, teetering with another groan. I held my breath with hopes my parents wouldn’t hear her. “There’s something… I have to… I have to tell you. I’ve done something… something terrible. I need your—”
Before she could finish, my parents’ bedroom door cracked open at the other end of the hall. I shoved Mia into my room, watching her stumble, then fall flat on her face with a loud umph. I shut the door again, praying she wouldn’t lose it on my floor, praying she might still be semiconscious when I got back in there so she could tell me what was going on, what this terrible thing she had done was. My mom’s head poked out their door, her hair a frizzy mess and her eyes sleep swollen.
“How was the date?” she asked when she met me in front of my door.
“Technically, it wasn’t a date,” I pointed out but couldn’t help smiling. “But I had a lot of fun. I’m sorry I woke you, though. I didn’t mean to stay out so late.”
“It’s not that late,” she brushed it off. “And you deserve to have a little fun. Besides, I like Cade. He’s a cutie.”
“Yeah, he is,” I couldn’t help agreeing. Besides, this was Mom. It wasn’t as if she would announce my confession to my class or anything.
“Did he kiss you?” She wagged her eyebrows, making me blush for the millionth time. It was a wonder my blood hadn’t permanently remained there from how many times Cade had made me blush.
“Mom, I don’t want to talk about that,” I whined, causing her to laugh.
“Well, you better get to sleep.” She hugged me. “And if you hear Mia come in, come get me.”
“Um, she’s already in bed,” I lied, determined to keep my voice from cracking. “I checked when I came in. She’s sound asleep.”
“Oh.” She crossed her arms, her brow furrowing. “She said she was going out with Caitlin. I guess I didn’t hear her come in. I better check on her.” She went to move around me to get to Mia’s room.
“I’m sure she’s fine, Mom.” With a hand on her shoulder, I stopped her while my heart pounded in my ears. Lying to her was my least favorite thing in the world. “She was snoring louder than Dad does when I checked on her. You wouldn’t want to wake her.”
“I guess.” She gave Mia’s door a mournful look. “I just worry about her.”
“I know, but she’ll be okay.” I hoped. I pecked my mom on the cheek, pushing her toward her room. “Goodnight, Mom.”
“Goodnight, Ava.”
She went in her room before I opened my door to what was bound to be a long night. Mia was right where I left her, passed out, facedown on my floor. Luckily, she hadn’t thrown up as I thought she would, but I was going to worry about her for the rest of the night. There was no way I would get answers now, and she would likely not remember saying anything by the time the alcohol was out of her system. I tried to wake her, so I could get some help moving her to her room but only got moaning in response.
On my knees next to her, I rubbed my eyes, trying to figure out what I should do. I had to get her to her room in case Mom checked on her. It took all my strength to get her up and drag her to my door. She wasn’t overweight by any means, but it was not an easy feat to move a mostly unconscious person, no matter their size. The fact she smelled like an ashtray mixed with vodka made it a million times worse. There wasn’t much else I could do after getting her tucked in bed. After cleaning myself up and getting ready for bed, I sent a quick text to Rabia, letting her know I would call her in the morning to give her details about my date.
Chapter Eight
Cade
The entire drive home was filled with thoughts of Ava, mostly worry, even considering how amazing our day had been. She had probably never drunk alcohol in her life, so it was terrible she had to take care of her drunk sister. It was incredible to me how identical twins could be so unbelievably different.
All plans to text her when I got home, to make sure everything turned out okay, left my mind the second I pulled into the empty driveway. I hoped my mom had picked up a shift at either the steakhouse or the gas station and not gone out with Darrel.
But it would be the latter. There was no way my mom could resist going out with him if he was in town making promises to play nice, stick around, be chivalrous—all things he was incapable of, but she always hoped.
When I got inside, I went straight to the kitchen to get a drink of water with the intent to cool down. My temper from seeing that dick kiss Ava's hand lingered, making me want to break something, but that was a stupid idea. If I were going to break anything, I would save my energy for Darrel’s face.
A crumpled pack of cigarettes sitting in the middle of the counter caught my eye. A small piece of paper lay next to it.
I promise I’m done.
The pack and note gripped in my fist confirmed my suspicions. She might actually be trying to quit, but she was also trying to soften me up. She was with Darrel, the one thing that absolutely needed to stay behind us but never would. By telling me she was done smoking, she thought it would be okay for her to test the water with him again. To see if things might work on the millionth try. But they never would.
I threw the pack and note in the trash before grabbing a glass of water. Waiting up for her wasn’t a good idea. If she ended up not coming home, I was bound to break something, or multiple somethings. Rubbing my hands over my face, I groaned inwardly. Not knowing what the right thing to do was, I pulled my phone out and sent her a quick text.
You at the steakhouse?
Her answer came when I was settled on my futon, losing my mind in video games.
No. I told you I was
going out with Darrel.
I chucked my phone at the wall, not giving a shit if it broke—an overreaction maybe, but I couldn’t stand the thought of my mom being with him again. Every time she tried to let him back in, he got bored and found his entertainment in the arms of someone much younger. If he actually put effort into it, tried to make my mom as happy as she deserved to be, I might feel differently about it. The fact we had left Seattle to get away from him so she wouldn’t hurt anymore was what pissed me off most.
The thought of taking off—maybe calling Mason to see if I could crash on his floor or something—seemed plausible. There was no way I could hang around if my mom decided to bring him home. Besides, I was eighteen, had been since November, so I could move out, be an adult. I even had some money put aside to put a deposit on a place of my own, but I was waiting until high school was through to do that. It would break my mom’s heart if I did something so permanent. Even with how angry I was, I didn’t want to be the one hurting her.
Getting off the bed, I snatched my phone from the floor and stared at the cracked screen. Not the first time I had broken a phone, but the timing couldn’t be worse. Not only could I not get ahold of Mase, but now I couldn’t make sure Ava was okay.
Someone knocked on my door, but I put a pillow over my head and had no problem falling back asleep. That was, until whoever it was came in and sat on my bed. Even through my pillow, the aroma of coffee invaded my coma.
“Are you going to get up some time today?” My mom nudged my leg.
“Nope,” I grunted, shifting around some.
“I got you coffee,” she pushed and the scent got stronger, as if she were holding it closer.
With a groan, I shoved the pillow off my head and rolled over. She sat on the edge of my bed, holding a to-go coffee cup out to me with a sheepish grin. There was a glow about her, an excitement in her eyes. After rubbing my eyes with my palms, I sat up, hanging my legs off the side of the bed. With coffee in hand, I took a long drink from it, letting it scald my tongue and throat. My mom gripped her hands together, watching me closely while I chugged the hot drink. When I lowered it from my mouth, I glanced around the room, not wanting to look at her, not wanting to see the euphoria in her eyes.
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