Page 28 of Risking it All

“Everyone has lost their minds.” With my shoulder against the wall, I peeked out the front window of the dining room. My brother Seth sat on the dining room table looking out the window with me.

“They’re a bit…” He paused as he searched for the right word.

“Annoying?” I filled in. “Ridiculous? Outrageous? Excessive?”

He tossed an aging nerf football from one hand to the other. “I was going to say enthusiastic,” he said.

That would be one way to say it.

My brother had short red hair, a neatly trimmed evening shadow of a beard, green eyes like our mom, and he was tall and muscular like our dad. A Prince Harry look-alike, most of my friends had asked me to set them up with him. Seth was a year younger than me, a junior-to-be, phenomenal at sports, and an awesome brother.

Outside, my parents laughed and talked with their best friends, the people we considered family. Not only were blooduncles Alexander, Jacob, and Tyler there, but my gaggle of nonblood aunts and uncles—Isaiah, Rachel, Beth, Ryan, West, Haley, Abby, and Logan. Thank God none of them brought their brood of children. While I loved my cousins, I abhorred the crowd we had now.

Isaiah had brought over the car he and Ariel rebuilt for me, and I had to admit, it was beautiful. A cute little custom, deep blue Volkswagen Bug. Just my size. Just my style. Perfect for me. Isaiah was truly the best, and the guilt of lying about driving—being able to—was killing me.

“Everyone’s excited to see the car,” Seth said. “Plus, Mom invited them over for chili.” Ah, yes, the scent had filled the house since I woke this morning.

But it was a million degrees outside, and nobody wanted chili. “Everyone’s here to see me drive.”

“I was lying to make you feel better. They’re totally here to see you drive. It’s as if you’re a toddler and they want to see you take your first steps.”

“Do you ever wonder what it’s like to belong to a normal family?”

“Nope. I love having fifteen adults in my business all the time.”

My lips edged up with his sarcasm, and when I glanced over at him, he gave me his wide grin, but then his smile fell. “You okay?”

No, not at all, but I didn’t want to drag Seth into my mess. “Yep.”

“That did not sound even slightly convincing,” Seth commented. “You might want to rehearse that more before you go outside.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime.” Seth jumped off the table and lightly yanked a strand of my hair. “Have fun with the sideshow.”

“You could try to distract them as I drive away.”

“I could set myself on fire and no one’s going to take their eyes off you. Have fun on your first day of work.” Seth left the dining room.

“Have fun answering the eight million questions from everyone regarding whether you think I’m okay after I leave,” I called out after him, and the nerf football came flying toward my head. I had to duck to dodge it.

“You missed,” I needled him.

“I missed on purpose,” he yelled back as he went up the stairs.

“Liar.” But I believed him. Seth was so awesome at sports, everyone called him Hawkeye because he hit whatever target he wanted at any time.

My cell vibrated and, expecting it to be Relic, I immediately checked it then didn’t know how I felt seeing Gianna’s name. We had texted back and forth a few times, but it felt super strained.Hey, do you have a few minutes to chat?

Ugh. No, but at the same time, if I didn’t talk to her, I’d spend the rest of the day wondering what she had to say. Me:Sure.

My cell rang a second later. I sighed heavily before I answered it with a happy, “Hey.”

“Hey, girl! How are you?” Gianna sounded all sorts of cheerful.

Awful. “Good, but I’m leaving for work in a few minutes.” Actually, group therapy, but I hadn’t told anyone but Ariel about group therapy yet. “What’s up?”

“I had no idea Relic was the one who drove us to your house!” she gushed. “In fact, I had no idea that you had gone out back at the party to hang out with him, and I heard you hung out with him alone. Girl, you are holding out on me.”

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