Page 58 of Caught in a Bad Fauxmance
“What’s wrong with you?!” she shouts once she’s dragged me out of sight. “We had him!”
“I told you Stella and Henry weren’t home.” I wipe my face with my sleeve, blinking blood out of my eyes. “Why didn’t you call it off?”
“Are you being serious right now?” She storms up to me, chest to chest, nose to nose. “You’redefendinghim?”
Seeing her like this used to scare me, because I can’t stand when she’s mad at me. Today, I hold my ground. “He had nothing to do with what happened, Maya.”
He had nothing to do with everything. The chowder incident. The cheating. Suck-o. But telling her about Suck-o means unraveling their entire history. How they’ve let themselves be bulldozed by their father into following plans they never wanted, and harboring hate for someone they barely knew. And I still don’t trust that she won’t use it against them.
“That doesn’t change who he is,” she sneers. “At the end of the day, he’s still one of them.”
But he’s not. The Julian that I know is so unlike the person I expected him to be. He’s kind, and respectful, and thoughtful. He’s a bit of a dork, tripping over himself and getting flustered so easily and endearingly it makes my cheeks ache.He has this way of listening that makes everything you say feel like it’s exactly what he needed to hear. And he has those eyes. Those goddamn eyes that make me feel the most comfortable type of uneasy.
“That isn’t fair, Maya,” I reply.
“None of this is fair, Devin.”
She’s right. None of it is fair—to us or to them. We’re both being forced to play a game we never should’ve been a part of. But isn’t that what this plan is all about? Blurring the lines between what is and isn’t fair?
Maya brushes past me with enough force to smack me against a tree, storming back toward the cabin without another word. She’s fast when she’s determined, and even faster when she’s angry. She ignores me calling her name, slamming the door. I catch it before it can close and follow her inside. If I’d been a few seconds slower, it would’ve smacked me right in the face.
“Are we going to talk about this, or are you just going to be dramatic and ignore me until I go back to California?” Probably not the best way to open a civil discussion with your short-tempered sister, but I’mreallytired of having to play this stupid, pointless game.
It does get her to stop, though. “I’m not being dramatic.” She whips around, pointing a finger into my chest. “You may have forgotten everything they did to us, but I haven’t. And if you don’t want to be on our side anymore, that’s fine. But stop trying to play on two teams. That’s not how this works.”
“So, what? Not being an asshole makes me a bad person now? Beingfriendswith someone makes me your enemy?”
I know, IknowI shouldn’t argue with her. But I’m notperfect, and I’m not going to let her stand there and accuse me of being anything but loyal to our family. Not wanting to hurt someone I care about doesn’t make me a traitor.
“You’re either on our side or you’re not.” Her finger turns into a palm, shoving me toward the door. “And you’ve clearly already made your choice.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be on your team,” I shout, digging an even deeper grave. “A team that has to cheat to win isn’t a team I want to be on.”
I’ve spent so long mourning the family we used to be that I forgot who we are now. One last vacation won’t bring me and Maya back together. Not when we’re as warped and broken as the wood beneath our feet.
My reply makes her laugh, cruel and cold. “That’s rich considering what side you’re choosing.” She nods her head to the Seo-Cookes’ house.
“I’m not picking a side. I’m choosing to be mature for once.” I push her hand away from me, standing my ground. “And weren’t you the one who wanted me to spend time over there in the first place? This was allyouridea; you don’t get to be upset with me for seeing it through.”
“I didn’t tell you to fall in love with Julian, you idiot!”
My brain short-circuits.
Every argument I had locked and ready to fire falls apart, leaving me with fragments of the things I meant to say. My mouth hangs open. And that’s enough of an answer for her.
“I…I didn’t…I don’t evenlikeJulian,” I finally reply with as much conviction as I can muster.
She blows me off with a roll of her eyes, shaking her headas she turns toward her room. “Fine, Dev. Tell yourself whatever you need to hear.”
“But—”
“But what, Devin?” She stops in her bedroom doorway. “Say I’m wrong. Tell me that you haven’t been hiding things from me.”
I can’t.
So she slams the door in my face.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
