When Austin doesn’t answer, I wonder if he went with Mom and Dad to work. I push open the door and peek around the corner. With his back to me, Austin stares out the window while doing bicep curls with a set of fifty-pound dumbbells.
I call his name again, but he must have the music blasting in his ears. Carefully I step around him, not wanting to get hit with the weights. Once he spots me from the corner of his eye, I wave my hand. He jerks his head in acknowledgement and finishes up his reps. With a roll of my eyes, I throw myself on the bed to wait.
God forbid he turn off the music and talk to me. When he wraps up his workout, he sets the adjustable dumbbells on the floor and yanks out the AirPods.
“Hey.” His breathing is heavy as he grabs a jug of water from his desk and guzzles half of it. Then he sets it down and wipes the sweat from his brow. “How did school go?” Concern colors his expression.
Under no circumstance will I be telling Austin about the deal I made with Kingsley. If he ever found out, he would lose it.
“It was fine.” I give him my most innocent smile and hope he doesn’t ask further questions. My lying skills are subpar, especially when it comes to him.
“Really?” His eyes narrow suspiciously. “No vandalism to the G-wagon?”
“Nope.” I pop the P and shake my head. “Maybe everything will finally settle down.”
My brother snorts out his disbelief. “Bullshit.”
“Language!” I snap, doing my best Mom impersonation.
He cracks a smile before taking another drink of water. “You’re not lying to me, are you? You didn’t have any problems today?”
Ugh.
Let’s drop this conversation before I slip up and reveal information he doesn’t need to know about. I’m all right telling a slight fib if it helps the greater good, but if he keeps drilling me…I’ll end up folding like a cheap house of cards and then all hell will break loose. I can’t take the chance of that happening.
I hop off the bed, fully prepared to retreat. “Everything was fine.” Technically, if you remove Kingsley from the equation, that statement is one hundred percent accurate. Avoiding eye contact, my gaze flies around the room. The heat of his stare burns a hole through me, prompting me to add, “Who knows? Maybe Pembroke had a chat with all the guys involved.”
His skeptical grunt is answer enough.
I give him a bit of side eye before moving restlessly around the room. “Did you hear anything about football?” Dread fills me as I spin toward him. “You haven’t been kicked off the team, have you?”
“Actually, Mom got a call from Pembroke a couple hours ago. Since this was my first offense, all I need to do is serve a three-day out-of-school suspension and sit out for the first game of the season.” He shakes his head as if he can’t believe his good fortune. “That’s my punishment.”
“Seriously?” The breath escapes from my lungs as a wide grin breaks out across my face. “That’s awesome news!”
Once again, I’m floored by the extent of Kingsley’s reach. Without him intervening, I have no doubt that Pembroke would have pushed for expulsion. He wasn’t interested in hearing our side of the story. Relief floods through me that Austin will not only stay in Hawthorne but continue to play football.
“We’ll see.” He shrugs, some of his happiness leaking away. “Who knows how much play time I’ll get.”
“Why don’t we wait and see what happens before you get all pessimistic on me,” I say, heading toward the door. “I have a feeling our situation is about to improve.”
“Oh, yeah?” Curiosity fills his voice. “And why’s that?”
“No reason,” a smile simmers around the edges of my lips, “it’s just a feeling.”
As he opens his mouth to fire off another question, I slip from the room and close the door before leaning heavily against it.
Thank God.
Even though Kingsley did his best to humiliate me today, it was well worth it. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my brother.
Chapter Twenty-Three
It’s the slight creaking of the floorboards that has me jerking awake. My eyelashes flutter as I try to figure out what woke me. It feels like I barely closed my eyes. I had the worst time falling asleep, tossing one way before turning the other with an aggravated huff. Even though I tried not to dwell on the way Kingsley tweaked my nipples outside the cafeteria or caressed my thigh during lunch, the images continued to circle through my mind.
The only bit of good news is that I resisted the urge to touch myself. Instead, I suffered and squeezed my thighs together to stifle the ache until my eyes drooped and my brain finally clicked off.