I’m pulling a shirt over my head when there’s a knock on the door. “Come in,” I call out.
The door opens, and Celeste peeks her head in. “May I speak to you?” she asks.
“Do I have a choice?” I reply.
She sighs heavily. “I wanna explain myself,” she says, entering. “I haven’t really had the chance …”
“You’ve been avoiding me,” I argue.
She nods once. “I have, and I’m sorry.” She swallows. “I wanna explain about Kellan too …”
“I don’t care about Kellan,” I growl, interrupting her.
“He’s just worried!”
“Worried?” I snort. “About what?”
“About you and Cole.”
I don’t respond to that because she has no idea what is going on between us. And she doesn’t need to know.
Running a hand through her hair, she takes a step farther into my room. “I’m sorry that Cole hurt you.”
“He didn’t do it.”
“Austin, I know you think he loves you, but he doesn’t.” She shakes her head as she looks me up and down as if I’m not good enough for him.
“This has nothing to do with love,” I grind out.
Her brown eyes soften, and her look turns to pity. “You were lucky this time. But next time …”
“Kellan did this to me,” I say, pointing at my face, unable to listen to this anymore.
She shakes her head. “No. He wouldn’t do that.”
Unbelievable. “Cole found my phone in Kellan’s car.”
Her hands fist. “If Cole found your phone in his car, then it was because Cole planted it there.”
“Jesus.” I hiss. “He has you brainwashed.”
“Kellan is trying to help you. Cole wants to hurt you,” she shouts, finding her anger. “That’s why Kellan wants you out of the group. He’s mad at you, but he’s trying to protect you in the long run.”
I shake my head at her words. She says Kellan wants me out of the group. But when Cole tried to get me thrown out, Kellan was the only one who wanted me to stay. So, either Kellan hasn’t filled her in on what’s going on or he’s lying to her. “You have no clue what you are talking about,” I say, not wanting to argue with her.
“You don’t know what Cole is capable of.”
Oh, I do! “Apparently, I don’t know what any of you are capable of because I would have never thought you’d call out my boyfriend’s name while you fucked his friend,” I snap.
Her eyes darken, and her lips thin. She takes a step toward me. “Don’t push me, Austin.”
“What are you gonna do, Celeste? Ship me back to my mom’s? I’m eighteen now. You can kick me out, but then you’d have to explain to my father why I no longer live in his house.” I smile. “And I don’t think you want him to know about Kellan, do you?”
“You little bitch!” she snaps.
“Why did you bring me here?” I ask, ignoring her anger. “You guys are all full of secrets and lies. So why bring in someone who has the power to expose you all?”
She gives a dark laugh. “You don’t hold that kind of power.”
I take a step toward her. “I’ve got more than you.”
She lets out a growl and spins around. Storming out, she slams my door behind her, not giving me an answer.
_______________
“Lilly?” I call out, entering Cole’s father’s house an hour later. After he left and I had my not so productive talk with Celeste, I relaxed in a long shower and took my time getting ready.
“She’s in her room,” a woman with jet black hair and just as dark eyes says. Blanche is always smiling.
“How is Sophia doing?” I ask about her daughter.
Blanche and I have become close the past couple of weeks. I found out that she has been with the family since before Lilly was born. She used to help take care of Cole as well.
“She’s doing well. She made the choir at church,” she answers with pride.
“That’s awesome. Tell her congratulations.”
She nods, and I make my way upstairs. I open her door and step into her pink room. “Lilly?” I call out.
“In here.” I hear her across the hall.
I walk into Cole’s room. “Where at?” I ask with a chuckle, wondering if we are playing hide and seek.
“Here,” her little voice calls out.
I find her in his large walk-in closet, sitting on the floor. “What are you doing in here?” I ask, sitting down next to her.
“I can’t find Hippo.”
Her favorite stuffed bunny. “Where did you have him last?” Doubt it was in Cole’s closet.
“I gave it to Cole to wash.” She pouts. “I spilled milk on him.”
“Maybe he’s down in the laundry room,” I offer.
“Maybe,” she says as tears spring to her brown eyes.
I get up on my hands and knees. “Here, I’ll help you look in here first. Okay? Then we will go downstairs and look.” I pat her knee as a tear runs down her face. “We’ll find him.”
I look around the closet, not really knowing where it could be. It’s pretty clean. Not like a lot of things are lying on the floor that it could be hiding under.
My eyes catch sight of a brown box sitting back in the corner. It doesn’t have anything written on it, but it looks out of place. I reach out for it and then pull my hand back, biting my lip. Shouldn’t snoop. As far as I know, there’s some little black book in there with all the girls he’s ever slept with. That’s one thing I don’t want to find.
“I tried calling him,” she says, her voice still soft.
“How about I try?” Leaving the box alone, I pull out my new phone and press call on Shark.
It begins to ring, and after the fifth time, it goes to voicemail. “You’ve reached Cole …” I hang up and look at her. “He’ll call us back.”
She hangs her head and stands up. “I’m gonna check my room again.”
I stand too and go to follow her, but the box gets my attention again. Looking back over my shoulder, I make sure Lilly is gone and bend down, removing the lid.
It’s full of pictures. I pull a stack out and look through them. They’re of Cole when he was younger. He looks around Lilly’s age. He’s swimming in an indoor pool. There are some of him sitting at a kitchen table with boys his age all around him. I linger on the other kids to see if I recognize them as the guys in the group. I’m not sure how long they have all been friends. In the next one, he is leaning over, blowing out a number seven candle. I shuffle through a few more but stop when I come to one with him and an older blonde. She’s pretty. Dark blue eyes and a kind smile. She stands next to him with a proud smile on her face, and he holds a gold medal around his neck. A swimming pool in the background. This must be his mother. And for some reason, she looks familiar. I go through a couple of more and come to a stop at a picture of Cole, along with three other boys and one girl. The boys are smiling, one mid laugh, but the girl is not happy. She has her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Her right hip is pushed out, and her green eyes are narrowed as she glares at the camera.