Page 24 of My Little Secret

“Uh…” Brain slammed against skull. “Out.”

His eyes narrowed. “Where?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Doesn’t, I guess.” He shrugged. “Just curious.”

My heart slammed against my ribs, searching for an excuse. “Well, if it doesn’t matter then I don’t have to tell you.” I tried to keep the tone light. Just tell him. Lying to Hawk had been bad enough. Now, was I going to spend my whole life lying to my family? Frustration swept through me.

Brute snorted. “We’re not fifteen still, you know. If you went out for a hook-up, trust me, I totally get it.”

The man had a list of hook-ups a mile long—of course he’d understand. My heart picked up a desperate beat. “Well, fine then. I did.”

Brute cracked a grin. “I knew it. Sadie got laaaaid. Who was it?”

Cymbals crashed between my ears, and my vision almost went gray. Just tell him, just tell him. I was done with the sneaking and the lying. I was too old for this shit. Brute didn’t control my life or my choices, even when it got professionally murky. “I went to see Hawk last night.”

He blinked. “What?”

“You heard me.” I tightened my coat around me, even though I was suddenly hot.

His reaction moved across his face in slow-mo. It was worse than a B-actor showing surprise. “Fucking Hawk?”

I bristled. “Yes. We’ve been…you know…meeting up.”

His neck went red, veins popping out. “Sadie, what the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” I hissed, heading for the elevators. He followed close behind.

“Is that why you were talking to him yesterday?”

“Yes. Among other reasons.” I couldn’t get into the whole thing with Brute right now. I just wanted to get into my warm shower and move past all this.

Brute scoffed, running a hand over the top of his head. “I can’t believe you.”

“Well? Who cares? This is my personal life.”

His face shone with hurt frothing into shock. “But this is my career. Which you fucking own, by the way.”

I tapped my foot as the digital numbers ticked downward. “Well, I’m not seeing him again, so don’t worry your pretty little head.”

He huffed, nostrils flaring. “But fucking Hawk?”

I sighed, stomping into the elevator once the doors slid open. Brute stood gawking at me from the lobby. “Can we just forget about this for now? You have bigger things to worry about. Like weigh-in.”

The doors slid shut before he responded, and I leaned against the wall, head throbbing. This was too much, too early. And though standing my ground felt good, I knew there was more to come.

Hours creptby as I waited for the group trip to weigh-in. My skin itched to see Hawk while I was desperate to avoid all contact with my family, perhaps indefinitely. I could probably just communicate via email and text from now on. The ghost of their former daughter. Brute’s career could be remote, everything would be fine.

I arrived in the lobby only minutes before we were scheduled to leave. Brute looked dour and approached me immediately.

“I told mom and dad,” he said.

“Jesus. What are you, five?” I groaned, pulling my BRUTE jacket tight around me.

“I’m your older brother, and I’m rescuing you from whatever dark road you’ve started down.”

I scoffed, hugging my purse tighter to my side. My father looked on disapprovingly as I came nearer. My mom shook her head.

---