Page 23 of Reckless

That wasn’t the first time I heard him use that nickname, but I never bothered to ask about it. Having spent the entire afternoon in silence, I found myself in need of a topic. So why not ask about that. Hannah sure as hell knew what it meant.

“Why does he call her that?”

“Hmm?” she asked trying to fight the hunger and wait for the others. Her stomach growled and I chuckled.

“Eat, little Spencer. The least they could do after you spent hours packing their shit is to feed you.”

She hesitated for a moment, but she was too hungry to argue. She took a slice and started eating standing up beside me.

“What’s with that nemesis shit?” I asked again.

“Oh,” Hannah said between bites without even glancing at me. Apparently when she was hungry everything was a background noise. “It’s like a private joke between the two of them.”

I looked at her face waiting for a real explanation. She must have felt I was staring at her, because she finally turned to me.

“Nemesis. The goddess of retribution,” she finally said. “From Greek mythology.”

“I didn’t know my sister had a God complex.”

“She doesn’t,” Hannah glanced at their bedroom door and leaned closer to me to whisper. “Lucas on the other hand…”

Her scent invaded my nostrils just like on the airport that morning. She leaned back away from me more relaxed now that she was eating.

“Which Greek god do you think I could pull off?” I asked.

“Is there a god of recklessness? Of wasted time and STDs?” she shot me an angelic look. She was basically right, if you don’t count the STDs, but I shook my head and continued the game I was playing for years.

“I’m thinking Dionysius. The god of wine and good time.” Her laugher filled the space between us. It was a brief laugh. I wanted to hear it again, so I continued. “Hello? He is also associated with sexual freedom. I am big on pleasure.” And then because I was also reckless like she said a moment ago I added. “As you might remember.”

I expected another blush. She was easy prey, but I still liked making her uncomfortable. Hannah surprised me though. Her cheeks remained pale. There was a hint of a smile on her greasy lips. She continued munching and the conversation ended there.

I watched her while she ate. She was beautiful. I wondered why her douchebag of a boyfriend even paid attention to Tracy the other day. Hannah was gorgeous.

Lucas and Clem finally came out of their bedroom. My sister ran back there five seconds later, because the smell of the pizza made her stomach flip.

The three of us ate. Lucas and Hannah joked around, while I mostly felt out of place. We had to leave soon. We hadn’t talked about leaving the apartment together, but none of us suggested otherwise either, so I decided to pretend it hadn’t even crossed my mind. She did the same.

Half an hour later we both snuck into the bedroom to tell Clem we were leaving. She looked sick and sleepy. As if she hadn’t slept the whole afternoon.

“Call me tomorrow, okay?” Hannah said to my sister and left us alone.

I sat down on the bed with a question in mind. I had a gut feeling I wasn’t going to like the answer but I had to ask.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed help packing?”

Clem put her hand on top of mine that was resting on my knee and smiled.

“I know it’s not your thing.”

“Neither is camping in the woods, but you made me do that,” I teased and she smiled just like I intended.

“I have to choose my battles.”

Chapter Eight

Hannah

Ididn’tinviteTylerto get in the car I rented at the airport, but I didn’t tell him to go away either, telling myself it was risky to leave him alone. He could just get on the plane back to Boston. But the truth was I enjoyed his snarky comments and sardonic questions.

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