Chapter 7 #2
“Why doesn’t he get on your case? You don’t seem to care about keeping up the Sinclair reputation. I mean, you’re not trying to come off as normal,” I pointed out.
Callahan stared at me, and then, to my surprise, chuckled. “Wow, you’re as rude as Brody says you are.”
“How was that rude?”
A grin just played around his lips, and he shook his head ruefully. I had the impression he didn’t smile often.
“I’d rather not educate you on that point… it’ll be more fun not to. I look forward to seeing you and my brother collide, Selena. It’s been a while since my father and brother met a force to be reckoned with. Thanks in advance for the entertainment.”
He turned and started away.
“Well, that’s not ominous at all,” I called after him. “Nice to meet you, Callahan.”
He turned and walked backward. People seemed to part around him.
Of course, they did. He was huge, tall and broad, with the same good looks as Brody, the type that made all the girls stare.
They weren’t identical, but each was male-model material.
Whatever entity had created these two was clearly biased, not only making them hot and great at hockey, but also rich.
“It’s Cal,” my new stepbrother called to me. “Call me Cal.”
Then the crowd swallowed him.
I took another long drink. Did that mean if he was here, Brody was, too?
Mr. Buzzkill could pop up at any second and try to send me home.
Start talking about his rules, take my drink away from me.
I half downed it at the thought. The vodka burned a path through my nerves, numbing me from the inside, and I inhaled the first easy breath I’d taken all day.
There it was. The feeling of relaxation I’d been hunting for.
I finished that drink right there, and then mixed another. I’d tell Winter it was my first. Then I glanced around the house, searching for my friend.
I found her in the den. Marcus, always the social leader of the group, was organizing a game and forcing everyone to participate. His gaze fell on me when I entered, and he grinned.
“We needed another girl, so this is perfect. Come on,” he ushered me in.
“I don’t want to play anything, Bailey,” I told him immediately, but the words bounced off.
“It’ll be fun, and besides, I’ll put you in the power position, what do you think?”
I looked at Winter, and she just shrugged.
“Your call,” she said.
“Come on, I need help,” Marcus said, seeming to sense my hesitation. “Coach says the Hellions have to do more team-building exercises, but everyone is being a fucking stick-in-the-mud. And I can’t get the guys to play without some girls involved,” he complained.
He was always the life and soul of a party.
Honestly, most events would be boring without Marcus there.
He was a great distraction, and now that he had a lovely professor girlfriend who he was obsessed with, I felt completely at ease around him.
He’d never hit on me. He was taken in a way that was hard to explain but felt soothing to be near.
I wasn’t a woman to him, just one of the guys.
I liked that energy. It went for all the Ice Gods.
Four guys who were protective over their friends and obsessed with their partners. That dynamic made me feel safe.
“Okay, but it better not be silly—”
Marcus cut me off with a laugh. “Oh, you know it is, so don’t complain. Watch this space. I’ll get everything organized.”
Another of the Ice Gods’ girlfriends entered the room.
Lily. She was the coach’s daughter, and I’d been horrible to her throughout high school.
Something about how pretty and smart she was had just gotten under my skin.
I didn’t have to be a genius to know it had been jealousy. I’d always been a basic bitch.
Lily was extra annoying these days, because not only was she still sweet, kind, and killing it in her classes, but she was also able to be nice to me, despite our past. She also knew what had happened to me. Not many people did. Was it pity in her kind green eyes when she glanced at me?
She greeted me, then went to introduce the friend she’d brought with her.
“Oh! It’s you!” Aisha said with surprise.
I nodded. The girl from the drama department looked just as eye-catching tonight in a bright-yellow cami with a modest V-neck and jeans. The color made her skin glow.
“Hi again.”
Lily and Winter fell into a deep conversation about something I couldn’t hear.
Aisha sat beside me. “So, did you decide to audition? It’s this week.”
“I know, and the answer is, no, I’m not going to audition.”
“Why not? I’m going to. Not for a principal role or anything like that, but maybe a maid or something small. I just want to be on the stage and in those lights, and face that fear, you know? Tick it off the bucket list.”
“Like I said, you’re braver than me. That guy give you any trouble again?”
“No. I shouldn’t have let myself be in a situation where I was alone with him—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted her then took a long, soothing glug of my shitty cocktail.
Aisha stared at me curiously.
“Don’t do that. Don’t rationalize his behavior and find a way to make yourself responsible for it.
You’re not responsible. You shouldn’t have to plan your movement through life with military precision to make sure you’re never in a situation an asshole can take advantage of. That’s not your responsibility.”
If a year of therapy had given me anything, it was the ability to help people less fucked up than me. It was something.
Aisha sighed and shrugged. “You’re right, but we both know that it doesn’t change reality.”
She was right, of course. High ideals were pointless against reality.
“I think you should audition. Why don’t we go together?” Aisha suggested.
I glanced at her.
“I’m really nervous. If we go together, it’ll be better. Please… you don’t even have to actually do it, if you change your mind at the last second.”
I hesitated again, having already decided that acting was something I’d left behind in California.
“Please. I don’t want to go alone,” Aisha added.
It was impossible to say no to her big, brown eyes.
“Okay, fine. But you go first, and then I’ll decide whether I do it or not. Deal?”
“Deal.” Aisha smiled, just as Marcus came into the room and clapped his hands.
“VIP ladies, the game is ready… Come with me.”