by L A Cotton
“Kyle!” we shrieked in unison, but his name rolled off his back as he made his way across the diner, shoulders heaving with laughter.
“See, you have nothing to worry about. She’s probably just lusting after something she can never have.” Lo eyed the girl sideways. She wasn’t looking anymore, focused on the menu in her hands. “She looks kind of... sad.”
“Don’t tell me you want to go befriend the girl,” I said, eyes wide with disbelief.
“What? No! I just... oh, forget it. She’s leaving anyway.”
“Good.” Me and Kyle were finally in a better place. Weren’t we? I didn’t want anything else to rock the boat.
Lo levelled me with a bemused look. “Your claws are as sharp as Macey’s right about now, you do know that, right?” There was a hint of amusement in her voice, but it was lost on me.
“Did you honestly just compare me to Macey Prince?” Lo arched her brow but didn’t reply. “Bitch,” I murmured, and she smirked.
“Yeah, but you love me.”
And I did. Like the sister I never had. Which only made all this harder. Because if anything went wrong with me and Kyle, I didn’t only stand to lose him.
I stood to lose everything.
Chapter 11
KYLE
I was learning a lot about myself lately. Like how I had this other side to me. Angry and bitter and hateful. A sleeping monster who lived in the deepest darkest part of my soul. Or at least, that’s how it’d felt for the last three hours, pretending she wasn’t there.
But no matter how much I smiled and laughed and cracked my emergency Kyle-isms, she was there. The girl with the shitkickers and black cloud hanging over her.
And Laurie had clocked her.
Fuck.
After Lo put me on the spot and asked me if I knew her, I played it cool. Payed Laurie extra attention, touching her, kissing her at every opportunity. But deep down I knew the girl wasn’t nobody.
She was somebody.
Somebody I didn’t want to deal with.
So, when we finally left The Shack, and I saw her lingering outside, I. Lost. My. Shit. Dragging a lungful of air into my chest, I kept my eyes ahead, hugging Laurie close to my side. I couldn’t lose it in front of them. I couldn’t unleash the sleeping beast. But I had to put an end to it. I wanted to enjoy the summer. Make the most of every second with my friends and family. I didn’t want to be looking over my shoulder at every turn.
I opened the door for Laurie and she climbed in while Rick and Lo got in the back. “Oh, shit,” I said padding down my pockets. “Matty must have my cell.”
“Matty?” Laurie’s brows quirked up as she belted herself in.
“Yeah. He took a photo of us, remember, and then I kicked your cute ass at pool? I mustn’t have gotten it back. I’ll be five minutes.”
“Okay.” She shrugged, none the wiser, and I jogged toward The Shack, searching for Mystery Girl. There was no sign of her out front, so I went inside, scanning the crowd.
“Dude,” Matty said as I approached them. “We thought you left.”
“I did but forgot my cell phone. Do you have it?” My eyes darted around them, looking for her.
“Me?” Matty said. “No, why would I have it?”
“You took a photo and... wait.” I slid my hand into the lower side pocket on my board shorts. “My bad. It’s here. I’ll catch you guys later.” Brushing past them, I moved to the back of the diner where the restrooms were. There was another door for people coming in straight off the beach and I slipped outside.
And there she was.
Watching.
Waiting.
But for what?
Anger vibrated under my skin, heating my blood, fueling my scowl as I stalked toward her. Despite her eyes growing to saucers, her mouth dropping open like a fish, she didn’t even attempt to run. Without a word, I snagged her wrist and pulled her further around the back of The Shack. The last thing we needed was an audience.
“Kyle, let me go!” She yanked free, and we both stumbled apart.
“You know my name.”
Dumbass. Of course she knew my name. She’d been watching for me for days. And I’d been too chickenshit to deal with it. Hoping, praying to the powers that be, that she’d get bored and disappear off the face of the earth.
She snorted, rubbing her wrist. “Of course I know your name, brother.”
The word rattled around my head as I choked out, “Excuse me?”
The girl blew out a long breath. She was nothing like the girls in Wicked Bay. Her black shorts were ripped—-and not in the way girls thought was sexy—and the black tank top she wore looked frayed in places. Not to mention, the shitkickers on her feet were scary-as-fuck. This chick was definitely not the kind of girl you wanted to meet in a dark alley. Even if she didn’t look a day over fifteen.
“I’m Kiera.”
“Don’t tell me that,” I ground out, dragging a hand through my hair, pulling the strands with frustration. I didn’t want to know her name. A name made her real. Someone I had to accept and deal with.
And this, was not something I wanted to deal with.
Ever.
Because she was my sister.
My sister.
I think a part of me had known it the first time I’d seen her. She looked familiar. And now as I stood staring at her, looking into her eyes, I realized why.
We shared DNA, and it was telling. The dark hair and goth chick vibe she had going disguised it somewhat, but if you looked close enough it was there.
Kyle and Kiera—long lost siblings.
Fuck.
“You okay?” she asked. “You look like you’re going to hurl.”
“I’m not going—” I swallowed down the acid building in my throat. “You need to go. And don’t come back here, like ever.” My eyes did a quick sweep of the area. There were a few kids around, but no one was paying us any attention. Besides, it was dark and even if they could see us, we’d be faceless bodies in the shadows.
“She wants to see you, Kyle.”
“No!”
“She’s your mother, don’t you want to—”
“Don’t.” It sounded like a plea and I hated it. Hated that a woman I didn’t even know had any kind of power over me. “That woman is not my mother.”
Something flashed in her eyes, but I wasn’t done. “Actually, it’s a good thing you’re here, now you can deliver a message to the woman who suddenly wants to be my mother, Stay. The. Fuck. Away.”
Anger blazed in her eyes as she stepped up to me. She was shorter by a couple of inches and had to crane her neck to meet my hard gaze. But the girl had fight. It oozed from her and, for a second, she reminded me of Mace. Always on the defensive, ready to bite.
“When she told me about you, I was so excited. A brother. I had an older brother. But she wouldn’t tell me where you were. It wasn’t until my dad died and she started to lose control again, she finally told me. And now I know why. You’re a spoiled jerk who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
I opened my mouth ready to cut her down but this time, she wasn’t done. “I see you with your friends, wearing your designer clothes and driving your expensive cars and I want to puke. You make me sick, Kyle Stone, and I’d happily walk away and never look back.” She paused for a beat, the silence heavy between us. Suffocating. “But Mom needs this. She needs to lay her past to rest. Half an hour, that’s all she wants. Think about it.” Kiera slammed her palm against my chest and my hands shot out to protect myself, but I realized she had something in her hand. A note. I plucked it from her and she stepped back setting her cool gaze on my face one last time before she disappeared around the building.
And I stood there thinking what the fuck just happened.
“DID YOU FIND IT?” LAURIE asked the second I got in the Jeep.
“Hmm, yeah. I had it in my pocket all along.” I couldn’t lie. Not again. It would be just my luck Laurie would ask the guys and they’d drop me in it.
And then I’d have to answer questions I didn’t have the answers to.
“Weird,” she said as I fired up the engine. My legs were restless, the note burning a hole in my pocket. I hadn’t opened it yet. I couldn’t. I needed to get Laurie, Rick, and Lo, home and then burn it in some cleansing ritual. Estranged half-sisters and good for nothing mothers be gone. That kind of thing.
Yeah, that sounded like a great plan.
“You cool, Stone?” Rick’s hand landed on my shoulder and I flinched. “You seem tense.”
“I’m good.” I answered Rick, keeping my eyes ahead. “Just feeling the pressure for camp, you know.”
“You’ll be great, babe,” Laurie said.
“Yeah, you’ve got this. The Trojans want you, it’s as good as done.”
Lips mashed together, I offered Rick a slight tip of my chin through the rearview. I didn’t trust myself to speak, not with the way my stomach was churning like a laundromat.
I had a sister.
Another sister.
But she was different. She hadn’t grown up privileged like we had, that much was obvious. And from the venom in her words earlier one thing was for sure. She hated me.
Well the feeling was mutual.
When we pulled up outside Laurie’s house the mood in the Jeep went from craptastic to downright awkward in two seconds flat.
“Oh, I thought...” Her eyes searched mine, but unable to stand the wounded expression on her face, I looked away, flinching when I heard her sharp intake of breath. “Night, guys,” she said flatly. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“I’ll call you,” Lo said, and I felt her confused gaze burning holes in the back of my head.
I climbed out and waited for Laurie. She brushed past me and made her way up the path to her house. Every step was heavier than the first, like trudging through quicksand. “Babe, I—” The words died on my lips. I’d been so preoccupied with my confrontation with Kiera I’d driven here on autopilot.
“It’s fine.” Laurie mashed her lips together, her expression betraying her words. “I should probably be more careful having you over anyway. And I need to do some chores in the morning.”
Dragging a hand through my hair, I sighed deeply. “I’m beat, and you know if we stay together neither of us will get any sleep.” I forced my best cocky smile, but it fell short. I felt it. She saw it.
Fuck.
Everything was wrong again.
Kiera.
The note.
My sorry excuse for a mother.
I was a good person. I studied hard, played harder, loved with everything I had to give. So why? Why did the universe feel the need to fuck with my vibe? And why now? When everything was as about as perfect as it could get.
One lie.
I’d told one lie and karma had come back to bite me in the ass tenfold.
Jesus.
“Guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Laurie hovered which I took as a good sign. She could have stormed inside, slammed the door in my face and ignored my calls when I undoubtedly blew up her phone to apologize. Before she could do just that, I pulled her into my arms and pressed my lips to her head. “I love you,” I whispered, hoping she understood, praying she felt the truth in my words.
Because I did love her.
I loved her so fucking much, this was killing me inside.
And that was something, wasn’t it?
If the truth came out and shit hit the fan, Laurie would be hurt, yes, but she’d still know I loved her.
She had to.
WHEN WE GOT BACK TO the house, I went straight to my room and dug around in my drawer of random shit for a lighter. I didn’t smoke, had never touched that cancerous stuff, but you never knew when you might need to set something alight.
“Got you.” My fingers curled around the lighter and I checked my door before plucking the note out of my pocket. It was still folded, Kyle scrawled across the front in unfamiliar handwriting. Her handwriting.
I went into my small bathroom and held the paper over the sink, finger poised on the lighter. I didn’t need to know what it said—nothing she could say would make up for the last sixteen years.
So why couldn’t I do it?
Why couldn’t I just burn the fucking thing and be done with it?
I staggered back and dropped down onto the toilet seat, rubbing a hand over my face. Maybe it was the thing living inside me—maybe it thrived on pain, maybe that’s why my fingers started to unfold the note. Maybe that’s why my eyes ran over the scruffy writing, drinking in every word. Because I was sick. A glutton for punishment. It wasn’t good enough that the woman who abandoned me was now ruining everything, I needed more.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
Sixteen years and nothing.
No notes, phone calls, or birthday cards.
I’d made my peace with it a long time ago. It’s why I’d told the lie in the first place. Why when Laurie asked me about my mom, I looked her in the eyes and told her she was dead. Because to me, she was.
But like a ghost haunting me, she was back.
And she wasn’t going away until I exorcised my demons.
Chapter 12
LAURIE
When I woke the next morning, I wanted to believe the night before had all been a dream. That Kyle hadn’t really driven me home and walked me to my door and fed me some bullshit excuse about being tired. Too tired to sleep with his girlfriend, the same girl who the night before he couldn’t get enough of.
Did he really think I was that stupid?
I kept replaying yesterday over in my head. There was nothing that stood out, except... no. He’d denied knowing her. Looked Lo in the eye as he said he didn’t recognize her. So why did my gut disagree?
It was the third time I’d seen her around The Shack. Always alone. Always watching.
Always watching Kyle.
She wasn’t local, that much was obvious. So how did she know him? And why had he lied?
You didn’t lie unless the truth would hurt someone.
Tears pricked my eyes, but I swallowed them down. I still didn’t know who she was or what she wanted. But it was too much of a coincidence: first the text message, now a strange girl hanging around.
They knew each other, it was the only explanation.
But how?
I needed to confront him. To demand the truth once and for all. This—doubt, the secrets—were slowly ruining us. And I could only blame myself if I sat by and watched us go up in flames because I was too weak to ask the difficult questions, all because I knew I probably wouldn’t like the answers.
I HAD FOUR TEXTS FROM Kyle. All apologizing. All declaring his love for me. But I didn’t reply, not straightaway. I needed space to think, to find the courage to confront him. How could I follow him to college if I couldn’t even ask him a simple question? The answer was, I couldn’t. We couldn’t move forward until we dealt with whatever it was he was keeping from me.
My cell vibrated again, and I grabbed it, scanning the incoming text.
Lo: Kyle asked me to check in. He said you haven’t texted him back?
Laurie: I haven’t... yet. But I’m fine. Everything is fine.
Lo: You know people say, ‘everything is fine’ to cover up the fact everything is not fine, right?
Laurie: Seriously? You’re psychoanalyzing me now?
Lo: But is everything okay?
Laurie: Lo!
My cell started ringing, and I hit answer on a long groan. “Yeah?”
“Is that any way to greet your best friend?”
“Lo, I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“What?”
“What?”
She sighed. “What are you in the middle of?”
“Baking. I’m making cookies.”
“Cookies? That almost sounds on a par with eating a tub of ice-cream. Do I need to come over?”
“Baking cookies is not on a par with eating a tub of ice-cream.”
&n
bsp; “What are you going to do with them once they’re ready?” Her tone was accusatory.
“Well, I... hmm, eat them.” I sighed. “I’m going to eat them, okay?”
“A whole batch of cookies?”
“Well, no, I hadn’t planned...” Oh, who was I kidding? That’s exactly what I planned on doing.
“Laurie?” Lo said when I didn’t finish.
“Yeah, I’m here.” I rubbed my temples. “I won't eat the whole batch. Maybe like three. Four at the most.”
“Talk to me. What happened now? Is this about last night? Kyle was really tired; he went straight to bed when we got back to the house. He didn’t even try to follow us to the pool house.”
“No, it’s not about last night.” I paused for a beat. “Well, not really.”
“The girl?” She sounded shocked as if it had just come to her in a moment of clarity. “It’s about that weird girl.”
“It’s not the first time I’ve seen her around, Lo. I know Kyle said he didn’t recognize her, but what if he’s lying... what if—”
“No, don’t say it. Don’t you dare say it. Kyle would never—”
“What, Lo? What would Kyle never do? Lie? Cheat? Keep secrets? Because I know him, and something is wrong.”
Silence filled the line and then I heard the gentle sigh. “If you’re sure, I believe you. I don’t believe he’d do anything to hurt you, but come to think about it, he has been a little weird lately. What are you going to do?”
“What I should have done when I found that first text message... confront him.”
“Geez, Laurie. Why does this feel like it could all go very, very bad?”
“I have to know, Lo. I have to know the truth.”
“When?”
“Tonight, at the party.”
The line went silent again and then Lo whispered, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
I didn’t.
I really didn’t.
But what other choice did I have?
Kyle had secrets, but his time was up.
Even if it meant our time was up too.