Page 8 of Regrets

He smiles and climbs out of the closet, reaching for my hand. “It’s okay, let’s go find Asher so it’s not a total lie.”

Linc rolls his eyes as we head back down the stairs.

I love their house and their entire family, but as I walk past the silver mirror in the staircase, I look at my refection, my long dark hair and ratty clothes . . .

I know I don’t belong here.

5

LINC

“Linc! Are you home?”

I open the sliding glass door, coming back in from the backyard when I hear my sister’s voice bellowing throughout my house.

“There you are.” She throws her hands up as she tosses her handbag on my couch. She’s dressed up for her job at our dad’s investment firm in Kansas City.

“What are you doing here? It’s a workday.”

Manhattan is a good two and a half hours from Kansas City. “I called, but I guess you didn’t have your phone on you.”

Nope.“What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just took off early today and thought I’d catch up with my brother.”

I eye her from across the room, knowing she’s full of it. She’s here to check up on me. “Right. You want something to eat?”

“No thanks.” I notice her looking around. “Penelope here?”

“No.”

“Where is she?”

Things with P have been rocky, and Lola knows that. But she has no idea how bad things have gotten. To my family, she’s still the shy, sweet girl they all first met. “She’s studying on campus.”

Lola is too much like our mother. Her eyes narrow in my direction as she takes a couple of steps toward me. “Studying? Penelope hates to study.”

I shrug, hoping she’ll drop it. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Tell me the truth, Linc. Last time I saw Penelope she looked like death. She doesn’t call. She doesn’t text.”

I groan as I flop down on the couch, propping my feet up on the coffee table. “Fine, Lola. She’s more than likely fucking some random guy on campus. Probably drunk, but who knows? Maybe even high so she doesn’t have to feel.” I look up at my sister. “That make you feel any better?”

Penelope moved in with me in the fall, and with it now nearing the summer, I’m getting tired of keeping her secrets. My sister sits in one of the chairs, her posture still perfect as she keeps her back straight and crosses her ankles. “Is that true?”

I swallow tightly and run my hands through my hair. Penelope was a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks. She had it rough, and my family knew that, but they still held her high. They thought she was like Colt.

And maybe she was once.

“Lola . . .” My eyes meet my sister’s, and I don’t really wish her any harm. I don’t want to shatter her perfect perception of Penelope. “We’re fine. You don’t need to drive all this way to check up on us.”

Her eyes meet mine as her neck tightens. “Is it true, Linc?”

“I don’t know what she’s doing, Lola. I don’t get into her fucking business.” I climb up from the couch. “I don’t know why you all act like I’m supposed to be her fucking keeper.” I point to my chest. “That’s not my job.”

Lola stands up. “Of course it is.” Her eyes meet mine as she points at me, her fingernails perfectly polished. Lola makes our mom proud, being the perfect princess, like Colt was the perfect prince. “You were the closest to her through the years. Andhim.”

I hear the sob catch in her throat, and I swallow the thick lump in my own. “You can’t say his name?”

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