“You should go lay down, you’ve had a long day. I’ve got this, Tammy.”
“Really? I mean...I don’t mind--”
“I insist, get some rest. I like doing the dishes.” That wasn't a lie; I’d been doing them at my mom’s hip since the time I was old enough to balance on a stepstool. That’s when we usually did our best talking--over a sink of soapy water.
“You’re amazing, Maddy. I missed you so much.” She hugged me quickly, before stifling a yawn and sneaking out of the back hallway to the stairs that led to her bedroom.
As my hands cleaned the soapy dishes one by one, my mind wandered off into the future, what life would look like at the manor for me and my mom. Was this really our new home? Could I stand to live in such close proximity to the grouchiest person I’d ever met? A shiver shuddered down my spine when I thought of future holidays with Kyler staring daggers into me.
“You could have just used the dishwasher, dear. It’s top of the line, it’ll have those dishes washed and sanitized quicker than any human alive.” Monica placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I don’t mind, it warms my hands up in winter,” I offered.
“It has been chilly lately, hasn’t it?” Monica’s eyes drifted out the window.
“I wish I knew what to do about Kyler. We have tried everything, and yet he is so intent on making everyone near him completely miserable. I’m sorry he’s made all this hard on you. I was at a loss when we got the call from his boarding school that he was no longer welcome--the reason he was there to begin with was for...extra attention.” She twisted a lock of hair with one finger, disappointment watering her eyes. “He’s my first born, I love him more than anything, but I can hardly stand to be around him most days.”
I frowned, heart aching as I felt her own pain for her brooding son.
“I wanted to fight them when they insisted he repeat most of his senior year--he’s too damn smart for them to begin with. I’m convinced he's just bored, making trouble for his own amusement, but the system just wasn’t built for boys like him.”
I barely contained a half-smile when she referred to Kyler as a boy. He was nineteen, towered over all of the other seniors and the way he dominated a room with just one look made him all man. At least from where I was standing.
“Well,” I rinsed the last serving platter under the warm stream of water and then dried it with a towel, “that’s it for the dishes. I think I’m going to turn in early tonight. I’ve just started this new book I can’t put down.”
By the time my eyes found Monica’s, they’d already drifted across the kitchen, her hands working at a bottle of amber cognac.
“I’ll be in my room if you need anything, Mom.” I kissed her cheek softly before moving silently out of the kitchen and towards the grand entrance. My eyes searched the shadows for Kyler’s lurking form, heart pummeling my chest at the thought of bumping into him again. Or not bumping into him.
It was true, I’d been trying to avoid him for months now, but that didn’t mean he’d escaped my mind. Even when I wasn’t in his presence, I could often feel his eyes on me in a crowd, tremors of awareness so earth shaking he might as well have been there.
I opened the entryway doors, the chilly blast of winter air meeting my skin as a sigh of relief hummed through me. I’d dodged Kyler. So far, so good. I hopped down the steps, a smile on my face and feet light beneath me, when around a heavy column a figure appeared.
The edge of my foot hit the step wrong, surprise throwing me off balance and straight into the arms of my worst nightmare.
“Whoa, falling for me so soon?” The graveled edge of his voice sent stubborn arousal coursing through me.
“Not over my dead body,” I hissed, pushing out of his arms and righting myself on a gnarly patch of ice. I slipped on my second step, hand thrusting out to grab the only steady object--Kyler’s shoulder. “Shit.”
“Easy, little mouse, why the rush?”
To escape the company.
“No rush,” I lied and continued to walk, determined to put distance between us.
“Well.” He caught up to me easily, snatching my hand in his and threading our fingers for a brief moment. A brief moment that halted me in my tracks. “I waited to talk to you.”
“So…” I looked up at the popcorn clouds filling the gray sky. “You should get an award?”
He huffed, shifting on his feet a moment before clearing his throat. “I just thought there were some things that needed saying between us.”
“Oh,” I finally leveled him with my eyes, “you did?”
Anger was simmering through me then, the need to tell him off or punch his teeth out for being so damn angry all the time sending me into my own rage.
I hated that he had such control over my emotions.
“Well, you’ve been avoiding me for months, I figure that must mean something is on your mind.”
“I’ve been avoiding you?” I squared on him, planting my feet under me so a rogue patch of ice didn’t take me out just when I was getting heated. “How about you were an epic jerk to me, so I finally wised up and found some new friends?”
“Friends? Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy don’t count.” His grin twisted as he rattled the names of the characters from Little Women.
I crammed down on my jaw, realizing he must have been watching me at some point--he was right--most of my new friends were in books the last few months, but only because I was crap at meeting new people outside of class and the library. “What’s it to you?”
“Because I want to be your friend,” he stated, matter-of-factly, as if I should have known
