by K. Walker
"Now you're speaking my language!" Sebastian hooked his arm with mine, and then practically dragged me downstairs. You'd swear he'd been my best friend my entire life the way he acted.
Part of me wanted to be annoyed by that. I barely knew this guy and he barely knew me. And yet, his happiness was infectious. And I was so hungry I could have eaten him right then.
He led me back downstairs and down a long hallway toward a kitchen that was probably the size of my old house. There was a big table over by a row of windows and a set of glass doors that must've looked out into the back yard.
"We usually just eat in here," Sebastian told me, nodding toward the table. "Unless we're having a formal dinner or something. Then we use the big dining room, but Dad hates eating in there for regular meals."
Lucas was just pulling something out of the stove when we walked in. My stomach rumbled immediately as the scent of garlic and tomato hit my nose. "Hope you like spaghetti," Lucas said when he saw the two of us, smiling.
"Love it," I said, honestly. It was something I'd eaten often growing up since Mom could make a lot of it for relatively little money. Eventually, it became my job to make it.
He pointed toward one of the cabinets behind him. "Bowls and plates are in there. Cups are in that one. And there should be plenty of drinks in the fridge. Help yourself. Normally Stella will handle everything for dinner, but I don't make her stay late if everyone's not home to eat."
Christ, I couldn't imagine having someone who was in charge of cooking that wasn't me or Mom. But I decided not to focus on that right now and went to get myself a plate. When I grabbed one out of the cabinet, Sebastian was right next to me, grabbing a plate for himself.
When I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he just laughed. "What? I'm a growing boy! I'm always hungry!"
Lucas laughed from behind me. When I glanced at him, he nodded. "I'd be careful around the boys. They're almost always hungry and if you get between them and food, you might lose a finger. They're like zoo animals that way."
Sebastian just kept grinning as his dad teased him. Even though I still wasn't thrilled about basically being kidnapped and dragged here, I had to admit there were worse places to be. Their jovial, friendly attitude was refreshing. It'd been a long time since I'd had a father figure in my life who wasn't a complete asshat. There'd been one or two over the years, but if there was one thing Mom was good at, it was picking shitty men.
Which made me wonder about my father. What was he like? Was he just as shitty as Greg and the others? So far, Lucas hadn't told me much about him, but I'd also avoided prodding him for too many details, not sure I really wanted to know the answers.
Up until now, my father had always just been this abstract idea. He wasn't a bad man. He wasn't a good man. In my mind, he was barely even a man. Just a concept, someone that had existed at some point in time but no longer did.
Like Jesus.
I wasn't sure I wanted that illusion shattered.
When all three of us had plates piled high with spaghetti and garlic bread, we sat at the long rectangular table. Sebastian sat next to me, and I wasn't sure if it was because he normally sat there or if he just wanted to sit close to me. Either way, I found I didn't really mind.
If any other guy had been that eager to be close to me, I'd have sworn they were trying to get into my pants. With Sebastian, though, it was hard to see him as anything other than an excited puppy. While he'd no doubt turn into a handsome man like his father and older brother, right now, he was just cute and kinda dorky.
It made it easy to let my guard down around him.
"How was school today?" Lucas asked after swallowing a bite of spaghetti.
Sebastian shrugged. "Same as always. Nothing spectacular. No one's burned anything down this week yet."
"This week?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
"Yeah, a couple of weeks ago, a freshman set one of the chem labs on fire. We all got to go home early that day." The smirk he gave me made me wonder if he was hoping that'd happen again.
"Wes and Sebastian both go to Forrest Grove Academy," Lucas added. "Wes is on the wrestling team. So was Chuck, actually. I keep hoping Sebastian will follow in their footsteps, but so far, he's resisted. I've got a meeting set with the principal in the morning to finalize your paperwork so you can start on Monday."
I nodded; my heart rate spiking again. Judging by the name, it had to be a private school. I'd never gone to a private school before. I'd always been in what were probably the crappiest public schools in the country. And now he wanted me to go to a private school?
That was just what I wanted to do. Go to school with a bunch of rich snobs who'd probably just pretend I didn't even exist. And that was if I was lucky.
Chapter 10
You know how hard it was, going from lumpy mattresses and rock-hard couches to a bed that felt like a cloud? It was like the bed was too comfortable. It just didn't feel right. Halfway through the night, I ended up pulling the blankets and pillows onto the floor and sleeping there. With the plush carpeting, it didn't feel much different than the crappy beds I've had over the years.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, and I sat up, rubbing my eyes, trying to figure out where I was. I looked around at the massive room, seeing the large bed right next to me, and everything hit me all at once, like a punch to the stomach. The tears came back as I thought about Mom, knowing she wouldn’t be in the kitchen making breakfast and I would never see her smile or hear her voice again.
I brushed them away and straightened my shoulders. No, I wasn’t going to cry today. I’d done enough crying. I was tired of crying. And with only having gotten a couple of hours of sleep, I just didn’t have the energy to cry anymore. At least I had thought ahead and gotten a shower the night before. I was pleasantly surprised when the water didn't go cold after five minutes.
That was definitely something I could get used to.
I hadn't seen Wes again before going to sleep, but by the time I'd dressed and made myself presentable, he was downstairs, sitting at the table. He had a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of him. Well, the remnants, anyway. It looked like he was almost finished inhaling it.
He looked up at me, and I froze in place as he glared. Wes’s deep frown made my heart pound as my self-protective instincts kicked in. I clenched my hands into fists, forcing myself to take deep breaths and fighting that urge to turn and run.
"You must be Bella! Mister Cabot told me all about you! Welcome. How do you like your eggs?" The chipper voice jarred me back to reality. I turned and saw an older woman standing in front of the stove, wearing a bright white apron and holding a spatula.
I blinked at her in surprise. This must've been the famed Stella who handled all the cooking for the family. It felt weird telling her what I wanted like this was some kind of restaurant, but I figured it wouldn’t be right to complain and try to do it myself. "Scrambled, thank you," I said at last.
She nodded and smiled, then motioned toward the fridge. "There's fresh orange juice and apple juice in the fridge. I just finished brewing another pot of coffee, too, if that's your preference."
It was certainly tempting. Caffeine would've gone a long way toward helping me get my head on straight, but I opted for apple juice instead. I'd not had it in a while, and I figured I might as well take advantage of it while I could.
I had just barely sat down when Stella was sliding a plate loaded with eggs, bacon, and perfectly buttered toast. My mouth watered at the sight of it. And yet, at the same time, I wondered how in the world I was supposed to eat this much food!
I glanced over at Wes, who was focused on his plate again. He'd probably had just as much food as I did, and yet his plate had been reduced to not much more than crumbs now. I looked away quickly, not wanting to risk locking eyes with him again.
When I took my first bite of eggs, I thought I'd died on gone to heaven. I'd had scrambled eggs before, but they were
n't anything like this. They'd always been runny and bland. These though… They were fluffy and soft and practically exploded with flavor.
I might've moaned as I savored my first bite. That got Wes's attention, though, and he looked up and glared at me, his eyes feeling like they could see right through me. Heat rushed to my cheeks as I silently cursed myself. Even with him looking at me like I was garbage, I couldn't deny just how freaking hot the guy was. It should've been a crime to be that attractive!
Thankfully, Sebastian chose that moment to come burst into the kitchen with just as much energy and enthusiasm as last night. He was dressed in just a pair of pajama bottoms, showing off his tanned torso. His hair was messy like he'd just rolled out of bed. Clearly, he wasn't in a rush to get ready in the mornings.
"Morning," he said with a grin as he headed over toward the cabinets. Stella didn't ask him what he wanted for breakfast, I noticed, but I was too distracted by Wes standing, shoving his chair backward, making the chair squeak as its wooden legs slid across the tile. The man practically stomped over to the sink and deposited his dishes into it before turning and walking out of the room without a word.
"Not a morning person?" I asked Sebastian when he sat down next to me again.
He had a bowl filled with colorful, sugary cereal and was pouring milk into it as he shrugged. "He's been a pain in the ass since Dad told us you were coming to stay here. Fuck if I know why."
"Language!" Stella chided from across the room. I glanced over to see her pointing a spatula in his direction. "It's bad enough you eat that crap food in my presence. You can at least use proper language."
"Sorry," Sebastian muttered through a mouthful of cereal. I thought he'd get chided for that next, but Stella just turned back to her cooking. Sebastian's eyes twinkled as he looked at me, and it was more than obvious he wasn't the least bit sorry.
Lucas came downstairs next, fixing himself a cup of coffee. He made small talk with us, and a few moments later, he was sitting at the table with his own heaping plate of food.
"You riding in with Wes this morning, or you want me to drop you off before I meet with Santino?" Lucas asked, eying his youngest son's breakfast attire.
"I'll ride with you. Then I don't have to sit around doing nothing before school starts."
When I looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. "Sebastian here isn't old enough to drive yet, so he rides to school with Wes most mornings. But Wes usually has wrestling practice beforehand, so Seb gets to go in early most days."
"Lucky me," Sebastian grumbled. It was the first time I'd seen him display even a bit of annoyance over something.
Not that I blamed him. I wouldn't have wanted to get to school any earlier than I had to either.
Lucas smirked at his son's sarcastic comment. "You still have to get dressed soon. I don't know how it can possibly take so long for you to throw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in the mornings."
Sebastian grinned at his father, showing off his perfectly white teeth. "It takes time to look this good!" he proclaimed, puffing out his scrawny chest. Then, he looked over at me and winked.
"Uh-huh." Clearly, Lucas wasn't buying that explanation. But then he smirked. "If that's the reason you're going with for taking forty-minute showers, then we'll just agree to disagree. Just hurry and finish your cereal so you can go get it over with."
I nearly choked on my fork-full of eggs. Sebastian burst out laughing, not the least bit embarrassed by what his father was suggesting. Christ, nothing really did get to this guy, did it? I'd have been mortified if my mother had made implications about me masturbating with other people around!
Hell, I'd have been mortified if she'd mentioned it at all!
But Sebastian just finished up his cereal, and then headed upstairs. Stella had disappeared too, leaving me alone with Lucas for the first time since the car ride last night.
"I'll come home after I finish meeting with Principal Santino and then we can take you out shopping," Lucas declared. The way he said it didn't leave much room for argument either. "Feel free to explore the house and the grounds while I'm gone. This is your house now, too."
It was supposed to be comforting and welcoming, but it felt anything but. No matter how many times he told me I lived here now, I still felt out of place. This wasn't my home. My home was a little shack back in Compton with my mother. But unless Lucas had a secret way to rewind time, I wasn't going back there ever again.
Lucas and I were just finishing up when Sebastian came running back into the room. He was dressed now, wearing a white button-up and a black-tie along with matching black slacks. I imagined someone like Wes; it would look sexy as hell. On Sebastian, though? It just made him look even more like a geek.
"Look, I made it quick," Sebastian teased, grinning at his father. It hadn't quite taken him forty minutes like his father implied. And considering he was my new step-brother or foster brother or whatever, and two years younger than me, I didn't want to think about what that meant.
Before I knew it, the two of them were gone, leaving me alone in the largest house I'd ever seen in my life. Well, that wasn't technically true, since Stella and their housekeeper were somewhere. But I still felt like an ant, thrown into a world of giants, just waiting for everything to collapse and crush me.
Chapter 11
Part of me wanted to go hide in my room until Lucas got back. Everything was so alien to me it didn't quite feel right to just wander around this house, no matter how many times he'd told me it was my home, too. But, at the same time, I figured I was never going to get more comfortable around here if I didn't at least pretend it was my home.
The place was seriously like a hotel. Now that it was daylight, I could see out into the large backyard. There was an inground pool directly ahead of me, with concrete surrounding it and lounge chairs arranged around it. Beyond it was an open grassy area that looked big enough for a full-size football field.
It was obvious Wes and Lucas were athletes. And from what Lucas had said, Chuck was too. So I could very easily picture them out there, tossing a football back and forth. Immediately my mind went to Wes out there, shirtless, sweat dripping down his muscles.
Then, I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. The guy hadn't said two words to me since I'd gotten here, and there I was, fantasizing about him. And he was just as much my whatever-brother as Sebastian was. I didn't need to be thinking about him that way if I really was going to live here.
I briefly considered going for a dip in the pool, then immediately dismissed that idea. I didn't have a bathing suit, and unless I wanted Lucas to come home and find me swimming in my underwear, I figured that wasn't a great idea.
So, I wandered up the steps to the second floor. Sebastian had said all the bedrooms were on the third floor, so I wondered what comprised the second floor. Lucas hadn't said anything, in particular, was off-limits, and he had told me to explore the house.
The first room I found nearly made my eyes fall out of my head. It was a freaking movie theater! Okay, so it wasn't as big as an actual movie theater, but it was still set up exactly like one, with a couple of rows of seats and a projector hanging from the ceiling. No doubt once the lights were out and a movie was on, it'd feel just like an actual theater!
But that wasn't my favorite part. No, that was the room that took up the other half of the second floor. They had their own personal library. My mouth hung open as I walked around, taking in the walls of shelves lined with more books than I could count. There were even plush chairs spread around the room that looked perfect for reading.
Walking around that room brought back memories of all the times Mom had taken me to the little public library. We'd been too poor to afford to buy many books, but Mom always made sure to take me to the library once a week to check out as many books as I could.
Most of her boyfriends had rolled their eyes whenever they'd see me coming into the house with my arms laden with books, but Mom had always encouraged me to read.
&
nbsp; "I want you to do better than me," she'd told me one day when I was ten or eleven. "And the only way you're gonna get out of this town is to go to college and get a good job. And you've gotta read a lot of books so you can show everyone at those fancy schools that not everyone from the ghetto is stupid."
I'd never once thought of my mother as stupid. She didn't have a lot of book learning in her, but she knew how the world worked. She'd been able to manage our meager funds to make sure I always had a roof over my head and food in my stomach. She'd gone out of her way to teach me everything she could and the things she couldn't; she found other people to teach me.
Hell, I'm pretty sure she'd only stayed with one of her boyfriends just because he was able to teach me to work on cars. He hadn't been eager to teach me at first. I'd just been a scrawny little twelve-year-old. I didn't know anything about cars other than you needed a key to turn them on.
But once he'd seen I wasn't afraid to get dirty, he'd taught me everything from changing tires and oil to replacing the transmission of his '76 Firebird. By the time he and Mom split up, there wasn't much I didn't know about fixing cars.
Which was one of the reasons Mom's beat-up Honda had run for as long as it had.
Briefly, I wondered what had happened to her car. And all the other things I'd left behind at Greg's. As I scanned the titles of all the books at eye level, I wondered if I should ask Lucas about it or if it really was better not to rock the boat.
Eventually, I managed to drag myself out of the library. I considered heading downstairs again, but then I found myself wandering up to the third floor. My room was down the hall to the right. The room directly across from mine was open, and I peeked inside. It was practically the mirror image of mine. Except this one had a burgundy blanket over the bed and posters covering the one wall, posters of partially clothed women.