I pointed. “Crotch.”
“Huh?” He looked down, another curse leaving him. He quickly buttoned his jeans.
We hadn’t had sex, but we went a little further than last night. Grinding 101. I’d definitely felt him against me, and I’d definitely strained to get closer to him, which was a reality that was hitting me like a sledgehammer, I was glad that was all we’d done.
“What if the school called them already?”
He grabbed for his phone, scrolling through his messages. “Tell them the truth. You thought you could handle it, and then you couldn’t. You lost your sister, Mac. Your parents should be sympathetic to that.”
He was right. I felt a little better, the old Mackenzie’s guilt lessening over skipping half a day.
They would come inside. I could hear my parents talking to each other.
They would call my name.
When I didn’t answer, they would go in search of me.
I wouldn’t be in my room, so they’d call again.
They would come down because this was the obvious place I’d be. If I wasn’t in my room or in the living room, then check the theater room.
So, I waited, my heart pounding against my chest, listening . . .
The fridge opened. I heard glasses clinking. My dad walked to his office.
The microwave started in the kitchen.
Plates clanked as someone pulled them out of the cabinet.
And then . . . nothing.
They never called for me. They never went up to my room to see if I was in there. My mom went down the hallway to their bedroom. The microwave beeped and then the oven. My dad walked from his office back to the kitchen.
“Food’s done,” he called.
My mom’s soft tread came back to the kitchen.
Chairs were pulled out, moving against the floor.
I heard utensils hitting the plates, scraping.
I couldn’t move.
Ryan’s phone was flashing as texts came in, but he silenced it. Wait—I grabbed for my phone. I’d put it on silent too. There’d be a text from my parents, something to check in with me. They would’ve asked where I was, how school was, told me they were eating without me. They probably thought I was with friends. But when I looked?
The screen was blank. No calls. No texts. Nothing.
My parents weren’t going to look for me.
Ryan scooted over and showed me his phone. He typed out: Want to sneak over to my place? Rose made spaghetti.
Did I?
A numb cold settled in. I saw the pizza we’d ordered and had never eaten. It was still on the chair, but I had no appetite. I ran through the scenarios in my head: go upstairs and pretend my parents hadn’t forgotten me or go to Ryan’s place. Peach would be there, but so would other people.
I nodded, suddenly desperate to be anywhere else.
Chapter Sixteen
We didn’t have to sneak.
As we were going up the stairs, my parents finished eating. I heard them put their dishes in the sink, and as we came to the top of the stairs, they moved past us. My dad went into his office. My mom went to their bedroom. I saw each of their backs disappear into the different rooms, and then Ryan and I headed out the door.
I locked it behind me.
Holding my phone as we drove, I was sure it’d buzz any second. My parents would remember me. They’d want to know where I was.
It hadn’t moved by the time Ryan parked in his driveway, and with a sigh, I slipped it into my book bag.
Ryan eyed me as he rounded the front, waiting for me. “I’ll give the guys a call and find out if we already have homework for tomorrow.”
I nodded. There was a storm battling the icy cold numbness inside me, and I would’ve jumped at anything to quiet my mind. “That sounds like a good idea.”
But turns out, he didn’t have to do that.
When Ryan opened the door, yelling, techno music, and laughter assaulted us.
A blur streaked from the living room, past the entryway, and into the kitchen, then backtracked.
Peach gaped at us and hollered, “RYAN’S HOME!”
Footsteps stampeded toward us, coming from all angles. I stepped back instinctively. It was jarring going from my empty and almost haunted house to this. Ryan’s was full of life.
Erin and two other girls ran from the direction Peach had come. Tom and Nick came down the stairs. Cora and Kirk busted up from the basement. As they skidded to a stop, most were red in the face and more than a little sweaty.
“What the fuck?” Ryan dropped his bag with a thud to the floor.
Kirk grinned at us, lopsided. He rested a hand against the wall next to him, his chin lifting in a cocky posture. “Your parents are at some banquet event overnight in the city—”
“And Rose cooked a bunch of food for us and then left. It’s all in the fridge,” Peach cut in, her chest heaving.
Ryan looked from her to Kirk. “So you thought you’d have a party here?”
Kirk lifted a shoulder. “Seemed the best option, especially since your ass skipped out today.” There was an added heat to his words, and everyone’s eyes moved to me.
You’re going to take that? I could hear Willow hiss.
No, I answered in my head. No, I’m not.
I looked right at him. “You didn’t seem to have any problem when you ran into us leaving.”
“That was before I realized he’d be gone all day.” He switched to Ryan. “Seriously, man—”
I interrupted, “Why the change of heart?” I flicked a look at the girls, who were following the back and forth like a volleyball game. “Have you been listening to my fans?”
Erin’s eyebrows shot up. Her friends gasped, giving her nervous looks.
Peach got redder in the face.
Ryan looked from me to Kirk, his mouth curving down in a frown.
“According to them, you’ve been all over my man since you arrived on the scene. You’re like a leech, taking him away from his friends, and I think it’s bullshit.” He raked me over, sneering. “I thought Ryan was taking you for a literal ride over the lunch period. Then I hear it’s been like that all summer long.”
This asshole.
I growled, jerking forward a step. “Are you kidding me?”
A twinge of wariness stirred in his eyes. The sneer dropped, but his glare was still there.
“Let’s run down the timeline. My family moves to Portside in June. I see Ryan at our parents’ company picnic June twenty-ninth. I didn’t even talk to him. Eight hours later, my sister kills herself.”
The glare faded.
“Four hours later, I’m at the Jensens’ house. Fast forward another month, I go to the movies with Ryan and his friends. Fast forward almost another month, I saw him this past weekend and yeah, we skipped today. Want to know why?”
I didn’t know when I’d advanced on him, but I didn’t think anyone could hold me back. I was seeing red. “Because I couldn’t fucking deal with not having my twin motherfucking sister with me today.”
I felt Ryan behind me. His hand on my back acted like a coolant. I felt some calm seep in, but I could still feel everyone in that room—their attention, their derision, their judgment.
Willow would’ve creamed them in minutes.
Feeling a bit more in control, I said, “You lost a cousin. I lost my other half. Save your judgment for the bitches who got in your head today.”