Broken and Screwed 2 (Broken and Screwed 2)

“You can relate to being dumped by your parents?”

She took the washcloth to my face again. “You’ve never asked Hannah about our parents?”

“I don’t ask anyone about anything.”

Her eyes found me.

“I don’t usually want to know the answers.”

She gave me the washcloth and sat back on the toilet. Then she shrugged again. “Our dad left us. He left my mom when we were teenagers. I always wondered if it was because of us, if maybe we were too much to handle or something. I didn’t know.” She leaned forward and pressed fingers to her temples. She began to massage them as she continued, “And it wasn’t even because he had an affair or another family. He just left. He didn’t want to deal with having a family. That’s what my mom said. I guess I took it as we were too much or something.”

I frowned at her through the mirror. She was hunched over, but I wet the washcloth again. My mind was still reeling. My pulse was racing, but not as much. Maybe the cold water was helping, or maybe it was hearing her sob story. I sighed, “We all have a story, don’t we?”

“Hannah loved our dad. She was his little girl. Not me, I was more into baking and make-up and doing girl things. He took off when she was in seventh grade. That’s when she started sleeping with guys.”

“Isn’t that when she started dating Dylan?”

She shook her head as she continued to massage her temples. Her fingers were working harder, faster. “They started at the end of the summer. She started sleeping around the beginning of the year. That’s why I knew it wasn’t going to be good when they broke up. The asshole. He did the same to her that our dad did. He just left her. His excuse wasn’t even a good one because now he’s with her roommate and he transferred here.”

“What about Beth?”

She looked up now, genuinely confused. “What about her?”

“I get why Hannah’s broken. Why’s Beth? What happened to her?”

She took a breath and stood up. Crossing to me, she wet the washcloth again and pressed it to the crook of my neck. “I don’t know. Beth and I aren’t close.”

I frowned, but then went with my hunch. It helped to think of their problems. My problems were bad, but in some way I didn’t feel like such a freak. “What’s your mom like?”

“Before Dad left? She was happy. After he left, she became a stoner. She was like a hippy.” Tiffany kept wetting the washcloth. She folded it over inside the sink and pressed down, then would wet it again. I shifted back as she continued that motion. “I think she was one when she was younger before she met our dad. Maybe that’s why Hannah’s like that, I don’t know. I took the mother role. My mom couldn’t handle it. She hasn’t handled much since, except some guy’s dick or pottery. She’s a genius at making pots. Go figure.”

My eyebrow arched at that one, but left it alone.

She jerked her head back up. “Why’d you ask about Beth?”

“Just curious.”

“Oh.” She frowned and looked back down. It was then that she realized what she was doing. She threw the washcloth to the side and backed away to the door.

I grinned at her. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about your momentary lapse in judgment.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You.” I gestured to her, then to me. “Being nice to me. I know we aren’t friends.”

Her hand fell from the handle. She leaned against it and crossed her arms over her chest. “You have a really horrible opinion of me.”

I shrugged. “You’ve been a bitch, so…yeah.”

A corner of her mouth lifted up before she dropped her arms. “I’m not a bitch because of my sister or whatever reasons you might think. And it’s not because I want Jesse—”

“But you do.”

She stopped.

“Want Jesse. You do want him.”

Her shoulders lifted as she took a breath. “Yeah, maybe, but I care about him.”

“So do I.”

“I know. Trust me, I know.” Her hand gestured towards the door. “I got it. I heard the history of you and him. And I’ve seen how he is with you. He’s not like the Jesse I met last year. You and him, and him and your brother had some bond that I’ll never compete against. I’m getting it. Trust me. Hearing all that was hard.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

“And you’re right.”

I looked back up.

“He does love you.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“No, but it’s obvious. He loves you so you don’t have to worry. And I can tell he didn’t know about your parents. That’s what you said, right? That your parents dumped you and you kept it a secret. People don’t keep secrets unless they’re scared of something, maybe about the other person reacting, but I’m telling you. You don’t have to worry about Jesse. It pissed him off, hearing what your parents did to you. I could tell that too.”

“Oh.”

She sighed. “I don’t want to be your friend, but I’m in a position where I have to be.”

“That’s a great endorsement.”

She rolled her eyes and brushed her platinum hair over her shoulder. “I don’t give a damn. I’m just saying it how it is. I care about Jesse and it’s not because of his money or his Hollywood connections. I really do just care about him, but I can see that he genuinely cares about you. You’re not going anywhere. I get it. Not happy about it, but I get it. So…I figure I should call a cease fire? I’m not proposing that we be friends, but maybe not enemies?”

“I thought that’s what we were when you were ignoring me.”

She grimaced. “I did that to piss you off. It didn’t work, did it?”

“I liked it.”

“Yeah,” she blew out a breath. “That’s what I figured. That pissed me off instead.”

I shrugged.

“All right. Well, I’m going to go. You’re better?”

I nodded. As she reached for the handle and opened the door, I reached for her. “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“Shut the door.” As she did, I took another deep breath. My heart began picking up again. This could blow our truce, but whatever. This was what not being an enemy and not being friends meant to me. Maybe. I had no idea. Oh well. Here it goes. “You should know that Jamie was the one who sought your sister out.”

A scowl formed over her face. “What are you talking about? Jamie said she’s the one that came on to him.”

“No. I heard them one time at school. He was pushing her and she was trying to say no. I know it’s not a ringing endorsement, as you said before, but it is what it is. She was really drunk that night and he got a bottle to make sure she stayed drunk. He was taking advantage of her.”

“My sister’s not exactly a saint.”