Infamous Like Us (Like Us 10)

“If I had secrets to spill,” Eliot says, then eyes me.

Oh fuck.

Beckett slips Charlie a look. “Not helping.”

“He won’t,” Charlie notes like he’s ten moves ahead on the chessboard. Like he knows his brothers too fucking well.

Still, Eliot asks me, “What dirt do you have on your ex-boyfriend?”

On Will? “Nothing. He was nice to me and never said a bad thing about anyone…at least not to me.”

“What about his siblings?” Eliot interrogates. “Did he ever talk about them?”

I frown, realizing that he almost never did. Just like I rarely brought up my family. “Not really.”

“Dude, she’s in Ben’s grade, isn’t she?” Tom says to Eliot, and it’s clear he’s speaking about Winnifred. “They went to Dalton together. Ben has to know something.”

Wesley laughs louder while eyeing us.

Beckett is glaring. “He’s such a prick.” I think only Charlie and I can hear Beckett’s quiet words.

Eliot lifts his phone to his lips. “Text Ben: what do you know about Winnifred Rochester? Send.”

The Cobalt brothers’ phones ping, and I’m guessing Eliot used a group chat that doesn’t include me or Luna.

“You really think he’ll respond?” Tom flicks the Zippo lighter, then tosses it back to Eliot. “He chose to stay in Philly over New York with us.”

“So did Luna,” I point out. “And you three are still fucking close.”

At this, Eliot, Luna, and Tom use their thumbs and pointer fingers to create a W, and they each raise the finger-letter to their own foreheads.

The Rochesters suddenly go quiet. Solidifying. Like the resident troublemakers in my family have mocked them and their names.

I’m pretty sure they’re just calling themselves weirdos.

Wesley takes a tight sip of whiskey. None of them shout inciting words. Mostly, they just glare.

Eliot checks his phone. “Still no reply.”

“Ben wouldn’t last a day with us in Hell’s Kitchen,” Charlie says plainly. “He’s smart to stay away.”

None of the Cobalt brothers disagree. Ben probably fits in better with my family, the Meadows, than with the Cobalts anyway, and he’s my sister’s best friend. He just graduated high school, and I’m glad he’ll still be in Philly, attending University of Pennsylvania while Nona is a junior at Dalton Academy.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

Ping.

A text reaches all four of their phones. Eliot uses audio to hear the message against his ear.

I peek over at Beckett’s cell. He shows me the reply.

Winnifred doesn’t speak very often. She might be selectively mute. I think she only talks to her older brother Will. – Ben

My frown deepens. I’m not shocked I didn’t know this. But if Will is nice to his sister, is this a notch in the Will’s Not a Bad Guy category? Then why would he participate in The Royal Leaks?

Why would he actively try to hurt me?

No one speaks.

Eliot is studying Winnifred Rochester like she’s a theatre partner he hasn’t quite figured out yet. Like he might need to rehearse ten more scenes, ten more times, to truly understand, and the longer he stares, the more his gaze reddens. Is he conflicted?

Upset?

I wish I fucking knew, but I’m so much closer to Beckett than to Eliot.

Winnifred has kept her back to us this entire time, and with her head down, she writes or draws in a notebook.

Charlie scrutinizes Eliot. “And what do you say, little brother? Are you ready to expose their sister?”

With a head-tilt back to Charlie, Eliot says, “You know I can’t.”

Beckett smiles.

“Why not?” Charlie presses on. “They hurt Luna—why not hurt their sister?”

“I’m not a monster,” Eliot says tightly, tearing his gaze off Winnifred.

“And that will always be the difference between them and all of you,” Charlie says pointedly. “You have a heart.”

“And you don’t?” Eliot challenges. “I see through you, Charlie, and your heart beats just like the rest of ours, dear brother.”

“If only that were true.”

Beckett’s phone suddenly rings. He answers, and as I distinguish the breezy voice on the other end, I freeze. Jane is calling him.

“Yeah, we’re still in the hotel bar,” Beckett says. “Yeah…”

Maybe she’s just asking so Banks knows I’m still here.

She’s not headed here.

She’s not.

I shift up on the couch.

Tom types on his phone. “Finally.”

“What is it?” Luna asks.

“Drummer auditions. The label finally scheduled them, so I can finally have a permanent drummer before Summer Fest.”

“That’s what you said for the last ten auditions,” Charlie says in a bored tone.

Tom pockets his phone. “This time has to be different. The band can’t play at Summer Fest without a drummer.”

“Okay…yeah. We’ll be here,” Beckett says over the phone.

I tense more, then he hangs up.

I’m caging breath. “That was Jane?”

“Yeah.” His gaze softens on me. “She’s coming down here to hang out with us.” Beckett knows I want to flee. He nods to me like, it’s okay. You can go.

I hug his side.

He hugs me tighter and whispers, “If I don’t see you before the event, swim hard tomorrow. You deserve this win.”