Page 119 of Wicked Games

All at once, it stopped. She shook her head and inhaled a deep breath, then stuck out her hand. “Fine. Truce.”

I shook her hand, if only to maintain a bit of peace. No use starting a war on their first day.

Hanna shoved into my room. Her attention latched on to our hands. “Claire didn’t cheat you out of this room, did she?”

I snorted, and Claire groaned.

“Has she done it before?” I asked Hanna.

The younger girl laughed. “She’s good at getting her way.”

“Not here,” I said. “I’m not a pushover—and neither are our new foster parents.”

Claire just smiled. “Yeah? Well, you passed. Buttheyhaven’t met me yet.”

Famous last words.

Present

I wake up to Robert sitting on the coffee table, facing me.

He glances over at me when I stir. “You okay? You were muttering in your sleep.”

I sit up and take the water bottle he extends in my direction. “Yeah, I think I was dreaming about the first time I met Claire. She tried to trick me out of my room.”

“This was at your last foster home?”

I nod and take a sip. “She was always on the wild side. Some kids get to be like that. You know.”

“Our last foster was like that,” he says. “She liked to push our buttons.”

“With the curfew,” I mumble.

“And other things.” He smiles at me. “Don’t let that dissuade you from going through a wild phase. Although I think dating Caleb might give Len enough of a heart attack to last until we’re old and gray.”

I crack a smile. “Yeah, he’s…”

Robert mirrors my expression. “I get it. I’ve had him in a few different classes and never had a problem with him. It’s just the perception of him that Len has an issue with, and possibly his last name. That, and he purposefully tried to turn us against you—which isn’t going to happen.”

“Lapse in judgement,” I hedge.

What else are we going to call it?

“Your social worker called,” he says. “She’s going to swing by this evening and chat with us. I invited her to stay for dinner.”

I tense. “Why do we need to talk to her?”

“It’s nothing bad,” he assures me. “We just want to see what the next steps are to make you a member of this family. Len asked about it a few days ago, but we wanted to have the chance to talk to you.”

“It still seems…”Out of reach.

“Impossible?”

“Yeah, maybe.”

He looks down at his hands, then back up at me. “Len might have a harder time saying this, but I don’t. We love you, Margo.”

We love you. The words echo inside me, banging around my chest. It hurts, but it isn’t bad pain. It’s a sore muscle stretching for the first time. A heartbeat I thought had died long ago.

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