Page 88 of Why Not Now?

“Ava—” he starts again.

“Downstairs.”

I don’t wait for him to respond before going down to the empty family room. I wish I’d put more clothes on. I feel naked in a pair of shorts, a tank, and a thin robe.

“How long have you known about this?” I ask, showing him the report card.

“Less than an hour,” he says. “She told me about it this morning when I asked her what was wrong. She said she was failing because she’s been overwhelmed by gymnastics and her boyfriend.”

I blink, stunned by this news. “Her—what boyfriend?”

He winces. “I didn’t realize she hadn’t told you about him. I guess she’s been thinking of breaking up with him for a few weeks. She asked me some questions a couple weeks ago and today she mentioned him again.”

“She asked you questions. What questions?”

He shoves his hands into his pockets and looks away. “How I knew I was ready to have sex. How old I was when I lost my virginity.”

“And youtoldher?” I try to lower my voice, but it comes out as a screech.

“She needed advice. What exactly did you want me to do? Tell her I wouldn’t answer?” He holds his hands out in question.

I start to pace. “She should have come to me.”

“I told her that. But is there any harm in her talking to us both?”

“Except she didn’t talk to us both! She only talked to you.”

“I’m just trying to help.” He rakes his hands through his hair, sending his curls into disarray.

I come to a sudden stop. “Did you pay for my car?” I ask.

He stills, and I know the answer before he says it. The idea has been at the back of my mind since the call with Carter when Bethany mentioned the way he’d saidthe carwas in my budget. Then last night, when Nessa mentioned the problem with the battery.

“I didn’t pay for the car. I paid for some repairs to it.”

“What?”

“Tires, windshield, new battery, a few other things.”

“How much?” I demand.

He looks away and doesn’t answer.

“How much, Derek?” I ask again.

Finally, he lets out a breath and says, “A little less than what you paid for it.”

I pace away from him, unable to stand still a moment longer.

“I should have told you,” he says. “I meant to, but I was waiting…” He shakes his head. “Carter said there wouldn’t be a better option than this one. I figured if you cared about it later, you could pay me back, but I didn’t want to bring it up with all the Christmas stuff going on.”

“I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you would go behind my back, pay for things I don’t need you to pay for, talk to my sister about thingsIshould talk to her about.” I spin toward him. “You need to stay out of it, Derek.”

He scrubs a hand over his face, dislodging the glasses before straightening them again. Then he laughs, but it’s a humourless sound. “I remember now.”

“Remember?”

“Our last fight.” He drops his hand to his side and tilts his head. He looks suddenly very tired. “Right before we broke up. I couldn’t remember what the fight was about, you know? I just remembered how it ended. But I remember now. It was a fight very much like this one. I wanted to take Lacey out for ice cream because she’d had a bad day at school. You got pissed because she told me about the bad day instead of you.”

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