“I told you to stay away from her.”
“Jay, stop it!” Lyla tugs on his shoulder but he doesn’t move.
He’s a lot bigger than I remember and I’m not looking forward to his fist smashing into my face.
“I warned you that night. What did I say? Walk away or we would have problems.”
“Jay, what are you talking about?” Lyla continues pulling on his arm, trying in vain to get him to step back. Her eyes are wild and they’re bouncing between us, trying to put those missing puzzle pieces together.
Soon she’ll figure out that the only reason I left town is because her brother forced my hand. That’s something I never wanted. Losing a best friend is one thing. Losing the girl is another. But coming between siblings who are practically best friends? I could never live with that. It’s the reason I bailed. He told me to go and I did.
“Do we have a problem?” A stocky man with an ugly yellow tie and dingy white button-down asks. He’s got his cell in one hand and I’m positive if we don’t break it up, he’s going to call the cops.
“There’s no problem.” Lyla squeezes between us, putting a hand on Jay’s chest. “Right, Jay?”
His jaw ticks once before he focuses on her. “No. No problem at all. We were just leaving.”
Before she can protest, he latches on to her wrist and is dragging her toward the exit. She casts a final glance over her shoulder as she’s hauled out the door and my heart slams into my ribcage.
She’s always had an ability to speak with her eyes and that look, well, I’ve never felt disappointment so strongly in my life.
“Jay, what the hell?” I rip my wrist free from his grasp as we approach his car. “What was that?”
He directs a glare my way as he rounds the front of his car and yanks open the driver side door. “What was that? That was my finding my little sister in a dark corner with a slimeball’s hands all over her. That’s what that was.”
“Slimeball?” I cross my arms over my chest, refusing to get into his car so he can yell at me some more like I’m a child. “This is Shane we’re talking about. The guy who you spent every waking hour with for most of your life.”
“Lyla, get in the car. I’m not doing this with you here.” He points over my shoulder and I turn to see we’ve got an audience.
“I’m going back inside to finish lunch.” I make it a few steps before his hand is on me again and I’m being dragged toward the open passenger door.
“Get in,” he yells in my face.
“No.”
“Lyla, I swear—”
“What? You’ll throw me in and then what? You gonna lock me in my room? Take away my phone? Newsflash, you’re not my dad.”
“No. But I am your big brother and I’m telling you right now I forbid you from going out with him.”
I laugh in his face. Is he kidding right now? “Forbid me? Did you forget the past eighteen years? Because I don’t like being told what to do. And also, may I remind you I’m an adult? I can hang out with and do whoever I want.”
Okay, so I shouldn’t have added the last bit, but he stormed in there accusing me of screwing Shane when as far as he knows we haven’t seen each other in years.
He growls and runs an agitated hand through his hair. “I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that. Now. Get. In. The. Car.”
“Go home, Jay. Cool off. We’ll talk about this later.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. All that dick wants is in your pants.”
“Yeah, well, if that were true, he had plenty of opportunities at camp.”
Jay’s anger falters and his mouth clamps shut.
Finally!
“Go home. I’m going to go finish lunch and after you’ve run around the block or taken a cold shower, we’ll talk.”
He smirks, and it sets my blood ablaze because I’m certain he’s about to lay into me again. Instead, his gaze slides over my corner. “Looks like you weren’t worth the trouble.”
I twist around and watch as Shane climbs into his truck, never once glancing our way.
My heart plummets to my knees.
Did he really just ditch me? We were supposed to handle Jay together—tell him we’re together—and yet here I am taking the full force of his wrath alone.
“Still want to defend him?”
There’s got to be a reason he just left. Maybe his mom called, or something happened. Shane isn’t the type to tuck tail and run.
“Get in, Ly.” A lightness takes over Jay’s tone now, almost as if he can sense how much it hurt to watch Shane pull out of the parking lot and leave me here.
The combination of Shane’s betrayal and the concern in my brother’s voice is the reason I nod and slip into the passenger seat.
A few seconds later the engine roars to life and Jay is pulling out onto the same street Shane’s taillights disappeared down.
When I don’t say anything for several minutes, I can sense Jay’s gaze land on me. The radio is down too low for me to focus on the lyrics, and my phone is a lead weight in my purse. Almost ominous. If I pick it up and there’s a message from Shane saying he can’t do this anymore I might break down in my brother’s car which is the last thing I want.
With nothing else to occupy my time besides conversing with this maniac who replaced my brother, I watch as the scenery blurs.
I’ve never seen my brother so angry. No, wait, the last time was the night he told me they were no longer friends. Months before graduation they just stopped talking. Shane even stopped talking to me. No explanation. Nothing. He walked down the halls acting as if I didn’t exist.
When we’re a few miles from home, Jay’s words click in my head.
He said if Shane even spoke to me, they would have problems. Is Jay the reason Shane cut me out of his life? I mean, I guess he was doing the right thing and making it easy on me so I wouldn’t have to choose between the two. They fought over me. But was there more to the story?
“You guys quit being friends because of me,” I say when Jay pulls into the driveway and shuts the car off. I want to hear the truth from him. “He told you he liked me and it pissed you off.”
Jay’s silent, but from the corner of my eye I can see him grip the steering wheel. “There’s more to it.”
“Explain it to me.” I tuck my foot under my butt and angle my body toward him. “Him liking me isn’t enough reason to end twelve years of friendship.”
Jay shakes his head and sighs. “You’re my little sister. I would do anything to protect you.”
“And you think I need to be protected from Shane? This is Shane we’re talking about. The guy who would do anything to make us laugh. Who turned our living room into a campground complete with a fake waterfall because our summer trip got canceled? The same guy who stood by your side and threatened any guy who asked me out.”
“Yeah, and he only did all of those things to weasel his way into our good graces. The second he got what he wanted from you, he would drop you just like every other girl. You aren’t special.”
“Wow.” I rear back, his words are almost as painful as a slap across the face. “Tell me how you really feel.”