Fast Burn (Burned Duet 1)

She shrugged, acting as if the pizza eating hadn’t even taken place, when I’d eaten six slices more than she had. “I won the cupcake bet.” She smiled up at me as if she was the queen, and I was a peasant.

“It still makes you the last loser.”

“La, la, la, can’t hear you!” She laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile in response. Arguing with Belle was our way of communicating, and it always reminded me of a time when I was a kid and didn’t have to worry about anything but what clothes I was wearing the next day and what I’d be eating for dinner.

“You two never change,” a new voice said from beside me, and I turned to look at Cade. “I have a stain on my wall to prove it.” Cade’s gaze met mine, and I stared at him silently.

“You do?” I asked, wincing at knowing what was to come. Aria had been our referee to the pizza eating, and Belle may or may not have thrown the remainder of her pizza when I finished first, which may or may not have left a red tomato patch on the wall of Cade and Aria’s kitchen.

“Yep.” Cade turned to face me fully, looking so much like our dad, although where our dad was entirely gray, Cade was more salt and pepper. “Aria said you’re gonna come fix it, that right?”

I glanced at Aria as she stepped out of the kitchen and stood to my full height. “Yeah, I’ll, erm…I’ll come around this week with some paint.”

“Good.” Cade placed his hands on my shoulders. “Also heard you won, congrats.” He winked, and I knew then he wasn’t mad about the stain in his house. He’d been dealing with Belle and me our entire lives, so it was nothing new to him, and in view of the big picture, it didn’t compare to that time we accidentally set the garden on fire. The local fire department had to come and put it out, and both Belle and I had been grounded for the week. But it was worth it just to prove her wrong. She’d said I couldn’t start a fire with two sticks, and she’d been wrong. Well, kind of wrong. I may have cheated, but she didn’t need to know that.

“Thanks.” I grinned. “As if I’d ever lose.”

“Cupcakes,” Aria coughed out as she got closer. I narrowed my eyes on her and opened my mouth to tell her it was a fluke, and the only reason Belle won was that she had someone helping her. And by someone, I meant Elodie. But I didn’t get the chance because she continued, “Look at Leo grinning over there.”

Both Cade and I turned to look at Leo, who was sitting next to Ford at the table, his cell in his hand, and sure enough, a grin on his face. His thumbs flew over the screen, and a second later, he rolled his eyes and looked up, almost as if he could feel our gazes on him. His stare met mine and widened, then he glanced back down again.

“That was—”

“Weird,” I finished off for Aria. “I’m gonna go see what has him smiling. You know, be the cool uncle and all that.”

“Think you’ll find I’m the cool uncle,” Cade retorted as I stepped away from him.

“Nah.” I shook my head and glanced at him over my shoulder. “You’re the old uncle.”

“Old as in wise,” he answered.

“Old as in old,” I came back at him, then turned back to face Leo, now with a matching grin on my face, but he wasn’t looking at me. Instead, he was staring at his cell like it was his lifeline.

“'Sup, Leo?” I asked, pulling the chair out next to him. The smell of burgers cooking on the grill wafted over to us, and my stomach rumbled in response. I hadn’t been able to stomach any food before I’d left my house, and now I was starving.

“Hey,” he murmured, typing away on his cell again.

I looked over his shoulder, trying to see what he was doing, and as soon as I spotted Elodie’s name at the top of his messages, my stomach flipped. I was desperate to know how she was, but I didn’t want to seem too eager. I’d dropped her car off the next day for her like I’d promised, and I’d been so tempted to knock on her trailer door, but I hadn’t. I didn’t want to come across a certain type of way, so I kept my distance and waited until she would come to me, but I had a feeling she wasn’t that kind of person. She didn’t seek out help because she wanted to do it all herself. I understood it because I was the exact same, but sometimes it wasn’t what was best for you. I’d learned that the hard way, and I had a feeling she was going to have to as well.

“How is she?” I blurted out, instantly regretting it. I couldn’t keep the words inside, not when she was currently talking to Leo.

“She’s…” Leo slowly turned his head, and finally, his hazel-eyed gaze met mine. “She hasn’t been at school all week.” His eyes shined with concern, which made me more worried than I already was. It wasn’t my place to look out for her, though, no matter how much I wanted to.

“You’ve seen her?” I asked, trying to sound easy, but I was anything but.

Leo clicked on his cell, and a second later, he held it up to me, showing me a picture. Elodie’s face filled up the screen, and although it had been five days since I’d found her with her boyfriend punching her in the

face repeatedly, she was healing well. The swelling was down on her face, and her lip was nearly a normal size. But the bruising was dark, and it would need heavy makeup to cover it up.

“She looks…rough,” I managed to grit out before I glanced away from his cell. I couldn’t look at her while I was here surrounded by family and not knowing who was there for her. I cared, more than I probably should have, but there was something about her. Something I couldn’t turn my back on. Something which pulled me closer.

“I was supposed to meet up with her,” Leo continued, “but Mom said I had to come here.” He huffed out a breath. “If Mom knew what happened, then I bet she would—”

“Don’t tell her,” I ground out, keeping my voice low. “Elodie doesn’t want anyone to know, and your mom…” I looked over at Belle, who was in deep conversation with our mom. The scar on her neck caught my attention, and I knew if Belle was aware of what was going on, she’d push herself on Elodie, and maybe that was what she needed, but it wasn’t what Elodie wanted.

“Your mom will insert herself into it, you know she will.”

“I know,” Leo huffed and turned in his seat to face me fully. “Elodie said you’re friends with someone she looks to as a brother. Does he know what’s been going on?”