Sighing, he sat on the couch. “Busy,” he murmured, staring into his coffee cup. “Really busy.” Snapping out of whatever mood he was in, Ben smiled and relaxed back on the cushions. “Which is why I’m glad we’re here. No better place to rest than at the ranch with the Adamses.”
As Liv cuddled into my side, I concentrated on the tightness around Ben’s eyes. He was lying, but that was to be expected with Liv in the room. He probably wouldn’t tell me what was really going on anyway. He’d save that conversation for Dad. It wasn’t fair. I was sixteen—practically a man—it was time for me to be let in on the secret conversations. Maybe I could help?
Realizing that I hadn’t even been able to help myself get out of a storage closet today, I let go of the ridiculous idea that I could be a superhero like the guys in the comic books littering the floor of my room. Like my dad. Heroes didn’t have panic attacks in small spaces. Nope, no hero I had ever read about seized up as the walls closed in. That was when the real heroes got stronger.
“You okay there, Julian?”
Ben’s voice freed me from my pity party, and I forced myself to smile. “Yeah…I’m fine.” And really, I was. Now that the shock of my attack was over, I could linger on the one pleasant aspect of today. Before my heart had been torn in two, I’d had my first kiss…and it had been glorious.
Ben and I made small talk while we waited for the rest of my family to get home. Well, we tried to make small talk. It was hard to get a word in edgewise when Liv started in with her endless jabber. When I finally felt my parents leaving the heart of the city, heading for home, I was surprised to feel that Nika wasn’t with them. As soon as I felt their presence leaving hers behind, alarm shot through me. What the hell? They were leaving her to wander the city with a stranger who was probably only interested in getting in her pants? Why would they do that? Wow, this had to be their first major parental fail. Well, in recent years anyway.
I shot up off the couch, staring back at the city they were rapidly leaving behind. Liv was dislodged from my body at my unexpected movement, and Ben rose to his feet, instantly on alert. “What is it?” he asked, his voice all business.
Frowning, I turned to face him. I couldn’t explain what was troubling me for two reasons. One, Liv wouldn’t understand how I knew my parents had abandoned their daughter, and two…I didn’t want to blow the whistle on Nika. Even though I objected to what she was doing, there was a sibling code of conduct that we followed, and it included not ratting each other out.
Smoothing my features, I pointed to the backpack at my feet. “I just remembered that I have some homework to do…and I’ll get in trouble if it’s not done before my parents get home.”
Ben narrowed his eyes, clearly not buying my crap. Liv sighed forlornly and clutched my arm. “Don’t leave me, Julian.”
I tried to brush her off, but it was Ben who made her stop. “Let him go, Olivia.”
Not able to look Ben straight in the face, I quickly darted out of the room. Once hidden in my bedroom, I started pacing. “What are you doing, Nika?” I muttered, glad that, for once, no one could hear me.
I was still upstairs, pondering my sister’s absence, examining her boisterous mood for any sign of trouble, when my parents walked through the front door. I heard them greet Ben and Olivia and decided to confront them on the whereabouts of my twin.
Remembering at the last minute to walk at normal speed, for Liv’s sake, I strolled into the living room. Mom was giving Liv a hug while Dad was enclosing Ben in a one-armed greeting. The two friends were physically very different now, since Ben looked the age my dad actually was. But with their huge smiles and playful teasing as Dad commented on Ben’s frosted tips, you’d think they were both my age.
Dad turned from his friend when I stepped into the room. Keeping an even expression, I asked, “Where’s Nika?”
Dad grunted as Liv left Mom’s arms to tackle him. If Liv had a second crush, it was my father. Understandable, since the two of us were so similar. Scooping Liv into a hug, Dad smiled and shrugged, not at all worried about the possibility of his little girl being deflowered tonight. “Arianna showed up at the library and asked if Nika could go to a movie with her.”
I blinked. “You agreed to that?”
A small laugh escaped Dad as he told me, “You guys are sixteen now. You can go out with your friends from time to time.”
As Dad released Olivia, I asked him, “And how’s she getting there? How’s she getting home? Who else is going to be there?” I knew I shouldn’t have asked any of those questions, not if I wanted to keep Nika’s secret date a secret, but really, my parents were being duped…and these were questions they should have asked Nika before letting her prance all over the city.
Dad tilted his head as he looked at me. Mom and Ben stopped their quiet conversation and looked at me too. I smiled in the most nonchalant way I could. Mom frowned. “Nika and Arianna are going with a group of friends. Arianna’s mother is going to drop them off and bring Nika home when the movie is over. You seem concerned, Julian…why?”
Glancing between my parents and Ben, all of them now way more curious than I wanted them to be, I nervously spat out the first thing that popped into my head. “Well, I want to go too. Maybe they can pick me up?”
Olivia immediately chimed in. “If he’s going, I want to go too!” She leaned around my dad to ask Ben, “Can I?”
Ben cocked an eyebrow at her. “Can you hang out with a group of teenagers on a Friday night, unsupervised? No.”
Olivia pouted, but didn’t ask again. I looked over at Mom. “So, can I go?”
Mom shrugged. “I guess, although…” She seemed unsure how to phrase what she wanted to say. After another moment of debate, she told me, “Sometimes a girl needs to be around other girls…without her big brother.”
I frowned, but couldn’t argue with her logic. Not without tattling on Nika. I was pretty certain Arianna was covering for Nika, so she could spend some more time with the neighbor boy, and tonight was about as far from a “girls’ night” as you could get. I wasn’t sure, though, so I didn’t object. Instead, I said what any boy my age would say. “Can I go to Trey’s then?”
Dad sighed. He wasn’t a big fan of Trey, but so long as I didn’t partake in Trey’s vices, Dad was okay with us hanging out. Mom and Dad locked gazes for a couple moments, having some silent conversation, then Dad finally said, “That’s fine, Julian. Don’t be late though. We’re heading to the ranch in the morning.”
I nodded at him, then dashed upstairs to get my stuff and call Trey. I could hear Olivia complaining as I grabbed my coat. Sorry, Liv, but a brother’s gotta do, what a brother’s gotta do.
I COULD NOT believe the situation I was in, and I wanted to kill Arianna for putting me in it. I wanted to give her a big ol’ kiss, too. Thanks to her showing up at the library and fast-talking my dad into a girls’ night, I was now on my way to my first official date…ever. And even though I’d spent the last couple of hours with Hunter, I was nervous.
Arianna smiled at me encouragingly as she flipped through the blouses in her closet. “You seem nervous…are you? Didn’t you just spend the afternoon alone with Hunter?” Stopping on a low-cut blouse that my mother would never let me leave the house wearing, Arianna turned to face me and exclaimed, “And, wow, Nika, Hunter is hot. I approve.” She winked at me, then tossed the blouse at my face.
I caught it easily, my fingers sliding along the silky fabric. Before I could respond to Arianna’s comment, she started in on another one. One she’d mentioned before…several times, actually. One that made me cringe internally. “And that Teren guy…no matter how many times I see him, I just can’t get over how attractive he is.” A dreamy expression lit up her face as she flopped onto her bed. “He’s so sexy, with that black hair and blue eyes…just how I picture Julian looking in a few years.”
As Arianna lost herself in a fantasy involving my father…ugh…I closed my eyes and suppressed a shudder. Quickly reopenin
g them, I smacked her thigh. “Stop that! He’s family, and I really don’t need to watch you mentally undressing him.” God, I definitely didn’t need to see that. “You drooling over Julian is bad enough.”
Arianna scowled as she sat up. “For the millionth time, I do not drool.” She lifted her chin, her calm smile returning. “And besides, Teren is only related to you through marriage, right? So, he’s not technically family. Genetically, I mean. It’s totally okay for you to…think about him.”
I bit my lip. Yes, in the lie, Dad was my grandfather’s wife’s brother…not a blood relation to me. “I’ve known him forever, though, and he feels like family…so it’s gross.”
Arianna flipped to her stomach and indicated the blouse she wanted me to put on. “I suppose that’s true. But your family and your extended family is super-hot, so you’ll just have to give me a pass when it comes to appreciating them. I’ll try to keep my comments to myself, though, if that helps.” She smiled as she tapped her feet together.
I sighed, but grudgingly agreed to let her have her fantasies about my dad and my brother. So long as I didn’t have to hear about them, I supposed it was fine.
Once I was changed into the clingy top Arianna was letting me borrow, I smiled and did a twirl in the mirror. I’d have to change back into my regular shirt before I went home, but, I had to admit, it looked good on me. Arianna grinned as she popped up beside me. “Eat your heart out, Hunter,” she murmured.
We were both giggling as we finished getting ready. Our cover story to Dad involved Arianna coming along, so she was actually going to come along. That was okay with me; I felt a little better about doing this with her there. It felt like less of a lie. I hated deceiving my parents, and I never would have if Arianna hadn’t started the ball rolling. But when I’d felt Mom and Dad approaching, I’d physically ached to stay with Hunter. Arianna had tossed out a possibility to prolong our evening, and I’d jumped all over it. And really, it wasn’t entirely a lie. We’d told Mom and Dad we were going to see a movie with friends…and we were. I hadn’t known Hunter long, but I considered him a friend.
Once Arianna and I were both ready to go, we headed to the living room to find her parents. That was when I felt something that made me frown. Arianna noticed my expression. Maybe thinking I was still nervous, she put her arm around my shoulder. “Hey, it will be fine, Nika. And I’ll be a few rows back, cheering you on.” I forced a smile as I thanked her for the support.
It wasn’t nerves killing my buzz, though. No, it was a presence moving toward me. A presence that should have been spending the night at home. Julian. Julian knew exactly what I was up to, and he had a very disapproving demeanor about him. I’d been ignoring his mood for a while now, since he had nothing to worry about, but that hadn’t hampered his concern, and now he was on his way to me. When we met up, he was either going to watch me like a hawk all night, or try and take me home. Either way, he was going to put a damper on my date.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
“Hmmm?”
I shook my head at Arianna, slapping on a giddy grin. I couldn’t tell her that she’d be seeing Julian sooner than she thought. Oh well, at least it would improve her night to have Julian trailing along. It would almost be like we were double-dating, like Arianna had always wanted.
When Arianna’s mom dropped us off in front of the theater, Julian was already there, just around the corner. Either I’d taken longer to get ready than I’d realized, or he’d taken some supernatural shortcuts. That last one better not be the case. Julian knew better than to risk exposure over something as stupid as wanting to crash my date.
Butterflies tickled my insides as I waved goodbye to Arianna’s mom. If Julian was here, Hunter was probably here too. He was meeting us inside. Even though it hadn’t been that long since we’d parted, I couldn’t wait to see him again.
Arianna and I locked elbows as we headed to the main doors. I felt Julian approaching but ignored it. I had to. Normal girls didn’t “feel” their brother lurking.
“Nika?” a familiar voice behind me said.
I wanted to roll my eyes at the surprise in Julian’s voice. If you didn’t know what I knew, you’d assume by the questioning way he’d said my name that he was shocked to run into me. Twisting around, I muttered, “Julian.” My tone was flat, not surprised in the least. I probably should have acted surprised, but I was more irritated than anything else.
While he looked appropriately startled, Julian’s pale eyes were defiant, and his mood was as prickly as my own. He hadn’t been happy when he’d realized that I wasn’t going home with Mom and Dad. He’d been…alarmed, which was ridiculous. I was perfectly safe. As he stared at me now, he was a blended mixture of relief, worry, disapproval, and maybe just a bit of embarrassment. He hadn’t wanted to come, but duty had left him no other choice. I sighed and relaxed my mood. I couldn’t blame him for his protectiveness; I was the exact same way with him, after all.
Julian’s emotions lightened as he felt mine evening out. A tiny smile cracked his lips and he nodded, just enough for me to see.
Of course, all that silent conversing happened in just a few microseconds. Arianna broke the moment by squealing, “Julian? What a small freaking world!”
I shook my head, my grin uncontainable. Yeah, right…serendipity, that was why Julian was here. Someone I was surprised to see stepped up to Julian from the street. Trey. Looking over at Julian, he muttered, “Dude…you’re fast.” Trey had a skateboard tucked under his arm, just like Julian, but Trey, for obvious reasons, hadn’t been able to keep pace with my brother.
Arianna had broken away from me in her excitement at seeing Julian here. If Trey hadn’t shown up, I was pretty sure she would have grabbed Julian’s arm and pulled him tight, but with Trey here, she stopped herself. Tucking some light brown hair behind her ears, the electric neon sign above us highlighting her natural blonde undertones, Arianna said, “Hey Trey. What are you guys doing here?”
Trey blinked and stared up at the marquee covered in movie titles. “We’re gonna catch the new zombie flick.”
I exhaled in relief. Good. They were seeing a different movie. No way was I going to see zombies getting their heads blown off on a first date. Second…maybe. Julian tilted his head, studying my expression and my feelings. He looked up at the reader board, then told Trey, “Actually, I wanted to see the new rom-com.”
I didn’t react to his movie choice, but my mood dropped. The new romantic comedy was what we were going to see. Julian smirked, amusement that he’d guessed right filling him. I loved my brother, but just then, I wanted to go Mom-zilla on him.
Arianna squealed again and finally latched onto Julian’s arm. “That’s what we’re seeing.” Batting her eyes at Julian, she murmured, “You can sit by me if you like.”
Julian was instantly uncomfortable, and I crooked a grin at him. Served him right. Trey shrugged, not really caring what they saw, and the four of us headed through the doors for my “group” date. I spotted Hunter instantly. He was leaning against the edge of the ticket counter, one foot causally crossed over the other. He hadn’t had time to go home and change, so he was still wearing the same black shirt hanging over faded blue jeans. His five o’clock shadow was visible to me, even from the door. Arianna was right…he was hot, and my heart skipped a beat.
Julian made a derisive snorting sound, and I twisted around to glare at him. Under my breath, I snipped, “Be nice to Hunter or I will shave off your eyebrows while you’re sleeping.”
Julian blinked at my threat, then furrowed his, for the moment, still intact brows. “Wait, his name is Hunter? Really?”
Julian asked that at normal volume, and everyone twisted to look at him. My brother blushed as he looked between Arianna and Trey. Neither of them had heard my comment to Julian. To them, it looked like Julian had glanced at Hunter and then magically come up with his name.
Arianna looked a little confused by Julian’s strange, but profound, outburst. Trey was imp
ressed. “Dude, did you just pull that out of your ass?” He glanced at me. “Is that his name?”
I nodded absently, hoping Arianna didn’t think too much about my brother’s pronouncement. Trey looked back at Julian and exclaimed, “Oh my God, you’re a freaking psychic!” Putting both hands on Julian’s shoulders, he seriously asked him, “Okay, when am I finally gonna get laid?”
Arianna and I made the exact same disgusted noise and left the two boys to discuss Trey’s virginity. Hunter noticed my approach and straightened. A glorious smile brightened his face, and I sighed again, my nerves evaporating. Arianna, beside me, asked, “How did Julian know that?”
Glancing at her curious face, I responded, “I told him on the way in…you just didn’t hear me.”
Arianna looked thoughtful, but didn’t say anything more about it. Hunter gave my entourage a once-over, then settled his gaze on me. My enhanced vision caught the slight widening of his dark eyes as he glossed over the seductive top I’d changed into. Respectfully raising his vision to my eyes, he asked, “Are you sure about this? I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.”
I’d reluctantly parted ways with Hunter inside the library when I’d felt my dad approaching to pick me up. After Arianna had secured permission from my “guardian” for me to go to the movies—Dad even going so far as to call my fake-mom to get the official okay—I’d gone back into the library to tell Hunter the good news. I’d been so nervous that he wouldn’t want to go on an official date with me. It was kind of forward, really, for me to plan a night out without even asking him. Well, okay, it was forward of Arianna, since the whole thing had been her idea, but I’d gone along with it. He hadn’t minded though. Smiling ear-to-ear, he’d said he’d love to spend the evening with me.
“It’s okay, I won’t get in trouble.”
Julian stepped up to my side at that point. He was so close to me that he was a little in front of me; I had to take a step back to not get stepped on. He was emanating protectiveness, both internally and externally. I almost expected him to ask Hunter, “What are your intentions with my sister?” Luckily for him, he didn’t.