5. Luc
5
LUC
GROWING UP
“ B oys are so annoying!” Kari stomps through the house, her footsteps echoing all the way out to the garage, followed by a deafening slam of the back door against the side of the house. The schwoop of the screen plays in the wind, only to stop again when she grabs it and slams it shut, locking her brother— the boys —where he can’t reach her.
Kari and Marc have a sick obsession with protecting each other. Sure . They want to make each other happy. But sometimes, when lids have been placed on bottles too tight and Kari really wants something to go her way, the siblings have been known to fight.
Especially as Kari moves into her teen years, and in panicked response, Marc becomes more and more controlling.
It’s not his fault, really. It’s a trauma response he’s never really gotten a handle on.
“Guess he told her she can’t come to the lake this weekend.” Sam—now more commonly known as Scotch after an unfortunate drinking incident that ended with stomach regurgitation and dead roses—strums his guitar and lounges back on a ratty bean bag. His hair is longer than mine these days, shaggy enough to dangle in his eyes and curl in the humidity. Like the rest of us, he topped six feet somewhere in ninth grade, and now he has all the girls looking his way with hearts in their eyes.
Though, of course, his love is all for Samantha Ricardo .
His lips angle up as the back door swings open again. But Marc’s footsteps are gentler than his sister’s. His temper, far calmer than hers.
For now.
“You need to simmer down, Kar.” He stops on the back stoop, cupping his mouth to shout across the yard. I don’t even have to get up from my perch by my opal drum kit and peek out the back of the garage to know. I’ve spent every damn day of my life hanging out at this house. “It’s not safe out there at night. You know it.”
“Are Jess and Laine going?” Mumbling so he’s not overheard, Scotch continues to strum his guitar, a quiet melody rolling through the garage. While Ang folds himself over my bike, listening in on two separate conversations and tinkering with the engine to keep his hands busy.
Because he can.
Because he knows how.
And because I thrash the damn thing and enjoy my monthly free service.
“Yeah, they’re going.” I peek over my shoulder toward the back of the garage and try to see, even through the brick wall, what the sibling duo are doing on the other side. “It’s just a party,” I shrug. “We’ll be there. So they won’t be in danger.”
“We’re playing,” Ang rumbles. “You know good and well we’ll be busy and won’t see half the shit they get up to.”
“And you know they’re gonna go, whether we like it or not. Better we get on their side, so they feel safe to tell us the truth, than piss them off and make them sneaky.” I turn back to my drum kit and slide the tips of my fingers over the skins. “They’re getting older. They know a party is on. They’re gonna be there irregardless. So we?—”
“Regardless.”
“Re…” I swallow my words and frown. “What?”
“Regardless,” Angelo repeats. “Irregardless isn’t a real word.”
“Whatever, man. Regardless , they’re gonna do whatever they’re gonna do. It’s smarter that we get on board now and become their allies.” I look to Scotch and raise a brow. “You, too. I know I’d rather party with my sisters, than find out they’re doing it anyway, unsafe, and hiding from us because they’re scared of getting in trouble.”
“Don’t look at me like I’m some kind of monster.” He drops his hand from the guitar’s strings and reaches across to scribble something in his notebook. “Britt and I are fine. Alex is the one riding her ass every damn step she takes.” He releases his pen and meets my eyes. “He went ballistic when she came home with her second set of ear piercings. ”
“Wait till she moves on to belly piercings,” I chuckle. “Nose.” Then I wrinkle my lips. “Worse.”
“I stay out of it. I’m not her parent, and I’m not X. He’s got all the real estate on the over-protective brother bullshit.”
“Kar! You need to stop being so fucking bratty right now and listen to my reasons.”
“And Marc seems to have the secret to a great sibling/parent relationship,” I tease. “Dude needs to calm the hell down before he gives himself a coronary.”
“Are you volunteering to tell him?” Ang glances up from my bike and eyes me. “You gonna tell him to cool it with the protective stuff?”
“I might.” I set my sticks on the drumhead and push up from my stool. Turning, and careful not to kick things over in our over-full garage, I wander to the door and glimpse outside. “He’s gonna make her hate him if he’s not careful. She’s already keeping secrets.”
“What secrets?” Scotch’s music stops. His curiosity piqued. “Luca? What secrets is she keeping?”
Maybel.
Death threats.
Stomach aches created because of the anxiety she carries around a school she struggles to fit in to.
She has some of the best best friends in this town. Super protective. Super sweet. But when they’re in a grade different than your own, things can get kinda lonely, even if they get to reunite in the school cafeteria.
“Just regular stuff,” I mumble in response. Vague and unhelpful. Then I drop my hands into my pockets and walk into the backyard where Kari stands on the crappy halfpipe we built ourselves, holding a skateboard and looking down at knees she’s already skinned.
While ten feet away Marcus shields his eyes from the sun and glowers.
“It’s a friggin’ lake, Kar! The depth is inconsistent. The dock is rotting. If you fall in, no one will know until you’ve already drowned and died. And I won’t be able to save you because I’ll be busy playing my set.”
“Okay.” She drops the board to the pipe, letting it roll just two feet before she steps on it to stop its escape. “It’s fine.”
Confused, Marc’s brows furrow as he studies his sister. Then as rocks crackle beneath my steps, he peers over his shoulder and watches my approach. Glancing back, he repeats, “It’s fine?”
“Yep.” Kari kneels and goes to work tying her laces. She wears little denim shorts today and black high top connies. Her hair is tied in a pony, the curls and waves and frizzy expanse exploding from the elastic, forming a halo around her entire head and tickling her cheeks when the wind blows strands forward. “I’m done arguing about it. I’m done asking about it. It’s fine.”
“And… and you’re not going?” he confirms. “You’re gonna stay home and hang out?”
“Mmhm.” She switches feet and fakes a small smile for her brother. She’s growing up fast, from the little girl she was when she first tiptoed into my life, to the teen she is now, whose eyes are prettier than all the stars put together, and whose brain ticks a thousand times faster than Marcus gives her credit for. “I have a report to write for Ms. Jackson, anyway. So I’ll get that done instead.” She finishes her second shoe and glances across to meet his eyes. “What time do you expect to get back?”
“Um…” He drops his hands in his pockets and kicks rocks while he thinks. “I dunno. Like midnight, I suppose. We’ll stop playing around eleven thirty, I think. Half an hour to pack up. I’ll come straight back, and we can catch a movie or something. I don’t mind staying up late and hanging out, Kar. I don’t have to work Sunday until the afternoon, so I can sleep in.”
“Okay.” She licks her dry lips and pushes up tall, smoothing her shorts and giving her beloved brother her back. “I’d rather do what makes you comfortable.” She places her foot on her board and sighs. “I never want to make you worry.”
“Thank you, Kar.” He finally breaks away from his spot on the dying grass and steps up onto the halfpipe instead. He walks straight to his sister and wraps her in a single arm hug so tight, part of my soul feels it, too. “You know I don’t do anything to hurt you, right? This isn’t about control or being a jerk.”
“I know.” She rests her cheek on his chest and snuggles in. “You just want to keep me safe.”
“That’s all it’s ever been about.” He presses a kiss to the crown of her head and hovers. “We already lost everything once. I’m gonna make sure it never happens again.”
“I know,” she repeats. Closing her eyes, she cinches her arms around his waist and simply breathes. She holds on to the one constant she’s decided she has in her life, despite everything else promised to her. “I’m sorry we fought about it.”
“It’s done now.” Pulling back to look down into her eyes, he smiles adoringly. He’s gonna be a damn good dad someday. But hell if he won’t be carrying a bucket load of obligation and anxiety every step he takes. “Me and the guys have to practice our set in a sec. Then I’ve gotta head to work.” He kisses her temple and squeezes her extra tight. “Wanna come in and watch while we’re doing our thing?”
“I’m gonna stay out here.” Gently detangling herself, Kari extends her leg and toes the board back into place. “I’m gonna keep working on some stuff to get this energy out. Then I’m going in and getting a start on my report.”
“Alright.” He winks for his baby sister. She doesn’t carry a pink blanket around anymore. Nor is her school bag purple. But in his eyes, I reckon she’s still six years old and in need of a night light. Finally, he steps back and turns, grinning at me when he remembers I’m still here. Still listening. “Problem solved.” He claps my shoulder as he passes and holds the fabric of my shirt for a moment longer. “Coming in, Luca? We need our drummer.”
“Yeah.” I smooth my shirt down when he releases me, watching him over my shoulder as he keeps walking. “I’m coming. Give me two seconds.”
“Yeah.” He turns toward the garage, completely at ease knowing his sister is safe now, locked securely in the Turners’ backyard. And yeah, maybe she’s gonna skateboard. But a skinned knee is far less terrifying to him now compared to the idea of his sister partying in the dark.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m gonna see you at the lake Saturday night?”
She bends and grabs her board, walking it to the coping and standing on the platform, ready to fly down again. Once she has herself set up, she casts a side-eye my way and smirks. “No clue why you think that, considering I don’t intend to be seen.”
My heart sinks. The worry she took from Marc, now saddled on my shoulders. “Kari?—”
“The twins are going, too. Britt’s going. And my report has already been written. I’m gonna be there, Luca. I just won’t be where he notices me.”
“But now I’ll know.”
She only shrugs. Zero concern for my moral anguish. “And considering you’re cool with the twins going, I’m gonna assume you’re cool with me being there, too.”
“It’s not about me being cool about it! It’s about me knowing something my best friend would appreciate being told. You’re asking me to keep the secret.”
She places her foot on the tail of her board and smirks. “Sounds like a you problem. Tell him. Or don’t. You’re gonna make your own choices and decide where your loyalties lie. I’m gonna go to the lake either way.”
“You’re a pain in my fuckin’ ass.” I reach up and scrub a hand through my hair. “If he sees you there Saturday night, I’m staying out of it! I’m not coming to your defense, Bear.”
“I’ll wear all black,” she snickers. “I’ll be sneakier than a ninja.”
“Great! So when you fall into the lake, wearing black, we won’t have to watch you die.” I turn on my heels and gnash my teeth together. “I wasn’t built for this secret keeping stress.”
She laughs, just loud enough for the sound to carry on the wind and tickle the back of my neck. “You go about your business, Luca. And I’ll go about mine. You never told him about the Maybel stuff either. Seems you’re gonna be just fine.”
“Swear to god,” I turn back and point a threatening finger. “If you drown, I’m gonna be pissed.”
“Okay.” She drops into the halfpipe, amused when her board spins one way and her body the other. She slams to the wood and skids onto her knees, bringing my heart into my throat and anxiety swelling in my gut. But she giggles anyway. Because Marcus isn’t out here to save her, and it’s not my job to ride in and do as he would.
“I hope that hurt, Bear.” I turn away from the image of Kari Macchio plopping onto her ass. Blood on her knees and a wild smile curling her lips. “I hope you get scabs that ruin whatever outfit you’re planning to wear this weekend.”
I t’s hard work playing our set, not only of the songs we’re covering from other bands, but originals too, made up of the music Scotch pens, and the few songs I’ve put together over the years.
It shouldn’t be hard.
Fuck knows I’m in my element, smashing away at my drum kit and rocking out under the spotlights we’ve set up to illuminate the grassy area of the lake while our peers dance and grind.
All the things we don’t mind, typically .
But the girls are here tonight. Their smiles, too large. Their ability to find trouble, too fucking smooth. And oh look , there goes Kari fucking Macchio. Wearing black like she promised, and ducking between trees while Marc’s back is to her.
“Dude.” Angelo stands over a keyboard, his hair curling from sweat and his shirt sticking to his sculpted chest because of the heat from the bright lights. He scowls when I fuck up the beat. Scotch sings, covering my mistakes and shooting me a glare that says he’s gonna smack me upside the head later.
Meanwhile, no one has any damn clue that my brain is currently running between the trees as a guy—Garth Beaterman, junior varsity nobody—follows Kari into the shadows.
“What are you doing?” Angelo growls. He leans over his keyboard to get closer. “Luc?”
“I gotta piss.” I set my sticks down and draw ire from both of our guitar players. “Go acoustic for a few minutes,” I tell Scotch. Then I look at Marc, my best friend in the whole fucking world, and clear my throat. “Sorry, man. I ate some weird tacos this afternoon. Cover for me.”
I clap his back and pray he doesn’t follow me, then I step off the edge of our temporary stage and ignore Sassy St James when she places her hand on my chest.
“Where are you going?” She digs her nails into my shirt—into my flesh—and stumbles when I keep walking. “Luca?”
“I’ve got the runs.” I grab her hand and un-peel her fingers from the fabric covering me. But I pull her in when her eyes fire up with what I know will turn to a full fucking tantrum if I brush her off. I set my hand on her hip and bring my lips to her ear. “I’m running to the toilet, then I gotta get back on stage. Are you having fun?”
“Your set is really hot.” She pulls back just far enough to search my eyes. Her lips are already naturally full and thick, sensual , though I know high schoolers really shouldn’t be aiming for that look. But she draws attention to them even more when she runs her tongue over the glossy covering. Humming in the back of her throat so I feel the vibration from where I stand. “You should stay and dance with me for a bit.” She tilts her head toward the stage. “They’re playing fine without you.”
“Just long enough to find a bathroom.” I lean in and press a kiss to the very corner of her lips. It’s a trade. A placation so she doesn’t keep her claws in my skin and follow me to the shadows. Then I pull back and drop my hand. “I’ll come find you later. We can probably go for a ride or something after the show.”
“On your bike?” Her eyes glow under an almost full moon. “Really?”
“Yeah. Ang just serviced it, so it’s running real smooth right now.” Fuck knows, if I really had the runs, she should be walking the other way and spraying a little Lysol in her wake .
That’s what I’d do.
Not climbing onto the back of my bike and snuggling in.
“But I really have to go for now.” I catch movement fifty yards away, under the massive weeping willow that sweeps down to touch the grass. So I take a step back, brushing up against kids I go to school with. Some I don’t. Faces I recognize from around town, and others, I’ve literally never seen before in my life.
I have no clue how word travels to let everyone know we’re playing a show.
But that’s how these things go, I suppose.
I duck through the crowd and make a show of walking one way, so when I glance back and find Marcus’ heated gaze following my steps, his fingers strumming the strings of his bass guitar, I can be doing what he expects of me. Finding a toilet. Taking care of business.
But the second he looks down at his instrument and his fingers get busy working through a riff he takes extra pride in performing, I drop my head and cut left, bolting through the stragglers and sprinting toward the willow.
“Kari fucking Macchio!” I race past my sisters and Britt, whose eyes stick to the back of my neck. Their hands coming up. Their triple intakes of air, knowing their fourth is doing something she shouldn’t. But I don’t stop to chastise them. I don’t even comment on their dresses which are way too short for their ages.
I’m not Marc, and I’m not X. I don’t involve myself so long as everyone is having a good time.
But fuck, Sassy St James wears clothes like that, and look how she turned out: lusting after a guy who hardly even wants her and licking her lips in a way that we both know she’s not verbalizing.
But she’s offering .
She has in the past. And she will again in the future.
That’s not a life for Kari.
“Bear!” I snarl her name and catch a gasp of surprise in the trees. The rustle of a dude moving fast. Then the crunch of bark, dirt, and rocks beneath a girl’s high-top shoes.
Because the lake isn’t for heels, no matter how short one’s skirt is.
“Luca?”
“Kari!” I shove weeping branches aside and stomp into the little getaway beneath, where mosquitoes thrive and sneaking couples come to sneak . I zero in on Beaterman first. His wide eyes and panicked stare. He knows whose sister he’s fucking with. And he knows if Marc didn’t see him do the wrong thing, someone else did.
Furious, I glance at Kari and stop on the spaghetti strap of her top, fallen from her shoulder and draping over her arm, flushed with a blush that stretches up her chest and neck.
Her tank is tiny, the fabric, impossibly thin.
But did I say shit when I saw her earlier?
No.
Did I tell Marc? Or hell, did I tell her to go back inside and change?
No.
I mind my own business. It’s what I do! I refuse to be the overbearing older brother. But I’ll be fucked and stuffed before I stand by and let Beaterman undress Kari Macchio while her brother is too busy to do anything about it.
“What the hell are you doing, Luca?” Kari hurriedly fixes her top and stomps forward. Just one step. It’s all she allows herself because she knows if she comes any closer, I’ll grab on and take her back to Marcus. Instead, she lifts her chin and puffs her chest forward.
Defiance.
Anger.
“We had a deal!”
“Yeah, the deal was that you’d come out to the lake tonight and I wouldn’t snitch. The deal had nothing to do with you, Beaterman, and spaghetti strap tops showing off half your fucking chest. And it sure as shit had nothing to do with you sneaking into the dark with him! He’s way too old for you, Kari!”
“What are you even talking about?” Her eyes swing down to study her tank, her hands smoothing over the fabric. “My top is fine! And Garth is?—”
“I’m just gonna…” Beaterman steps right. Twice. Three times. Four. Lifting his hand and readying to brush the weeping branches aside. “I’m gonna go.”
“Nah, bitch.” I stalk forward and grab his shirt, buttons popping under my hold and his face turning an instant, dangerous puce as I twist the collar and tighten the fabric around his throat. “She’s too young for you, Dick.”
“Luca!”
I stare down into Garth’s terrified eyes and sneer. “That’s a statutory rape charge if I ever saw one.”
“Rape?” He spasms and practically levitates off the ground. His eyes taking up his whole damn face. “What!? I didn’t even touch her. ”
“You’re all huddled up out here in the dark.” He and I are the same height. Almost the same build. He’s got that football broadness I don’t have—I prefer to skate and spend my time behind a drum kit—but the fact that he’s technically bigger than me seems to count for naught when the dude quivers under my hand. “You’re not gonna show her any more attention.”
“Luca!”
I ignore Kari. Even when she stomps up behind me and slams a closed fist into my ribs and steals the breath from my lungs.
Instead, I use that frustration and pain to shake Garth fucking Beaterman. “I catch you anywhere near her, ever again, and I’ll tear your fucking esophagus out.”
“Luc!”
“Do you understand me?”
“I didn’t touch her!”
“And you won’t get a chance to in the future, either.” I give him another shake, his teeth snapping closed and rattling together until the sound carries in the air louder than the band’s music. “Turn your ass around,” I release his shirt so he stumbles back and half falls through the weeping branches. “And don’t come near her again.”
“Luc Lenaghan!” Kari growls. “Swear to god, I’m going to kill you!”
“Consider her the fuckin’ plague. Touch her, and you die a painful death in six to ten days.” I stomp forward and send the pussy football player spilling back until he’s through the tree’s curtain. He falls on his ass and lands with a muffled thump. But he twists, quick as a snake, and scrambles back to his feet. “Don’t let me see you again, Beaterman!”
“You’re an asshole!” Kari punches the meaty part of my arm, her bony knuckles digging in and changing the scowl I wore for Beaterman, to a frown as I reach across and rub the stinging pain away. “We were talking, Luca!”
“Uh huh.” Finally, I turn from the space Garth occupied a moment ago and glance down to study Kari’s furious eyes. Glittering green, even in the dark. “It always starts as talking, Bear. Then our spaghetti strap falls to the side, and next thing we know, a dude’s hand is on your shoulder. Then his lips.”
Her nostrils flare with rage. “You’d know. You spend tons of time with the female variety. All different kinds. Rarely the same one, two weekends in a row.”
“Uh huh. That’s exactly how I know!” I blow past the girl and head back to the portion of the weeping branches I stomped through. Slicing my hand through the thick greenery and pushing a few of them aside, I look out to the back of the band. Our music, still playing. Dancers, still dancing. “I know what Beaterman was gonna do with you, Bear, because I do the same shit, same moves, and have the same end goal.” I release the tree and turn back to face the girl way too classy to be undressed out at the lake. “Different chicks. Same intentions.”
“That makes you a pig.”
“Yep. But it also makes me knowledgeable on the matter.” I glance out into the dark and find Britt, Laine, and Jess huddled together thirty feet from the stage. Dudes watch them, too. The guys are the lions, and the girls, gazelles. It could be even worse, considering those three are a year younger than Kari. But the one superpower they cling on to is the fact they move as a group.
Sure, they’re still gazelles. Sure, they’re still targets.
But they stick together, and three beautiful, giggling girls is like kryptonite to any confident dude who wants to make a move. He could try… but the risk, if he fails, is huge.
Kari, on the other hand, is a fucking loner by nature.
That’s what makes her a target to the hyena pussy that is Beaterman.
“You and I had a deal, Kari.” Bringing my gaze back around, I look her up and down and shake my head. “You said you’d come out and hang with the girls. You swore you’d be careful and do the right thing.”
“I wasn’t doing?—”
“Sneaking under a weeping willow with a football player is dangerous!” I want to grab her. To shake her. I want to knock a little sense into her too-young mind. Because fuck, this is why Marcus worries all the damn time. “This wasn’t smart.”
“We were just talking!”
“Yeah. And I assure you,” I step closer, her gulp audibly hits my ears as I stare down into her eyes, “Sassy St James and I started out talking, too.”
Kari’s lips instantly wrinkle in disgust.
“It always starts out the same. Guys have a fuckin’ playbook.”
“The fact that you admit it repulses me.”
“Good. Let it repulse you. Let all guys repulse you. Because you’re getting to an age now where they’re looking for one thing. And you’re still young enough, they know they’re gonna be first.”
She balls her fists, anger rocking through her too-small frame.
“High school girls have something to give, Bear. And high school boys are in a race to be the one to plant their flag. ”
“You’re despicable.”
“I’m telling you the truth. I get you’re young, and fuck knows, Marc isn’t gonna tell you this shit. He wants to wrap you up in that cute, little pink blanket you still keep near your bed for the nights you have bad dreams, and if it were up to him, he would never give you the talk .”
“The talk?”
“You’re older than the other girls. A whole grade ahead of them. Which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. You’ll be exposed to stuff before the rest of them, and you won’t have that mob mentality the others cling to. Because you prefer solitude.”
“Oh god.” She whirls away and shakes her head. “ The talk .”
“You’re getting to the age, Bear! And then we have the added complication of Marcus.”
At that, she spins back. “What about Marcus?”
“You’re a protected species. Like,” I laugh, though the sound holds no humor, “wildly protected. He doesn’t let you walk home alone in the middle of the afternoon. He doesn’t let you go anywhere unless he’s around. He’s checking in on you every three seconds of the day.”
“Luc—”
“He demanded you stay home tonight and study while your best friends went out to party.” I stalk forward another step. “You’re protected. Which makes you a sweeter prize.”
“You mean, like, compared to Sassy St Slut? She’s offering it up every day, which makes her prize not all that coveted.”
“Bear—”
“Then we consider Britt and the twins,” she continues, despite the way my eyes narrow. “Their brother isn’t a complete, over-protective, suffocating blanket psycho. Which makes them a little more accessible. But they’re still classy and selective with whom they spend their time. So although they appear a little more…” she considers, then settles on, “available, they’re not, actually.”
“And then there’s you,” I grit out, taking another step closer. “Like the Mona Lisa.”
“So you’re saying guys are gonna try to be near me, purely because they’re not supposed to be?”
“Yes.” The music changes outside the tree’s branches. Marcus’ bass disappearing from the air. The difference, like a red-hot fire poker branded against my chest. “They’re gonna try to take something from you, Bear. They’re not gonna be around because they like your personality. ”
“Oh, well…” She throws a hand up in frustration. “Great. That surely rebuilds my confidence.”
“This isn’t about you! This has nothing to do with who you are or the fun qualities you might bring to a relationship. This isn’t about the fact you’re getting really fucking pretty. Or smart. Or that you have a nasty right hook.”
In response, she looks down at her hand and flexes her fingers.
“This is about conquering something no one else has.”
“That is absolutely disgusting.”
“Yep,” I quip. “It is. Boys are disgusting. But seeing how Marcus is never gonna tell you this shit, I figure, as his best friend, it’s on me. If it’s not Beaterman, it’s gonna be someone else. The whole fucking team probably talks about you. And I bet my left nut they’re gonna be tripping over themselves to invite you to prom when the time comes. Guys are gonna say and do whatever you need to hear, Bear, just to get you to trust them. And by the time they have you in the dark, hiding under a weeping willow, and your fucking spaghetti strap coming down, it’s all over.”
“So you’re saying my free will is a non-consideration in all this? What I want doesn’t matter?”
“Not to the wrong guy, it won’t! Some dudes are out here, and they’re gonna take what they want, whether you’re offering or not. It’s best you stop assuming every guy is protective of you the way Marcus is. You’re lunch, Macchio, and they’re hungry.”
“You’re a pig.” She stalks forward and slams her hand to my chest as she passes. Bursting through the tree’s overhanging branches, she emerges outside. Right where Marcus will see if she’s not careful. “Seems only a guy with bad intentions would know what other guys with bad intentions are thinking.”
“I don’t need to take , Bear!” I follow her through the tree’s curtain. “Not when Sassy is offering it up every damn time I blink. Stay the hell away from Beaterman!” I call at her back. “Grow a brain and scrounge up a little common sense. He wasn’t coming out here to color rainbows with you.” I look at the twins and jerk a finger to the right. “Pack your shit up and go home. All of you. The party’s over.”
“Aww man.” Jess drops her gaze and kicks rocks as Kari wanders closer. “We were behaving.”
“And now it’s done.” I stomp closer to the group, brushing past so only a hairs breadth separates me and Kari fucking Macchio. “Stick together. Call X if you have to. But you go straight home and don’t stay in the street.” I meet Laine’s stare. “Understood?”
“Straight home.” She rolls her eyes. “Fine.”
“Promise?”
She drops her chin in agreement. “Yeah. Come on.” She takes Jess’ hand, who takes Britt’s, who swings around and grabs on to Kari’s. They create a chain of little, angry girls who will bitch and moan about me the whole way home.
They’ll marvel at the fact that I’m supposed to be the cool older brother. But tonight, I became their warden.
That’s not my role, dammit. But when X isn’t here, and I’m keeping Marcus deliberately in the dark, my options become severely limited.
And considering I’ve been gone from the stage for an easy five minutes already—maybe even ten—I know I’m on the clock. I watch the girls disappear into the dark, the lion’s den. But I can’t follow them home. I can’t leave the lake and not expect shit to go bad when I get back.
So I trust them to stick together. I trust my sisters to steer the ship and keep everyone safe. And when they’re out of my sight, I spin on my heels and dash toward the stage before Marcus comes looking for me.