Page 83 of Restless
“I can ask you the same thing,” she said slowly. “You’re staring at a fucking undecorated tree as if it holds the answers to life’s mysteries.”
He tested one of the stiff branches. “Something should.”
“Oh.”
The silence stretched for so long, he thought she’d left him alone, until she came next to him and touched his arm. He looked down at her. She wore a troubled expression.
“What’s wrong? Is Mom okay?”
“Where’ve you been?” she asked, instead of answering him.
“I spent part of the day working on me project,” he said glumly, deciding not to detail Tom Harris’s destruction. Just as football might be a lost cause, passing Billson’s class seemed even more unlikely. “I’ll probably have to go to summer school,” he muttered.
At Rebel’s snicker, CJ grinned.
“What’s up, Reb? Talk to me.”
Dropping her hand from his arm, she gazed at him through her lashes. CJ groaned under his breath. Very soon, he would have to fuck up more than a few motherfuckers thanks to Rebel discovering hergirlness. Now, he had another little sister to worry about.
“You went to Molly’s?”
Fuck, no. After yesterday’s visit, he hated the thought of returning to that house, so he’d worked alone on their project in his bedroom. But she’d appreciated the food he’d sent to her house. “I stopped at the hospital to see Mom and Jo. Dad was asleep. Mom said he’d awakened for about an hour, then fell into lala land again.” In retrospect, CJ could’ve asked Uncle Mort just how strong the fucking sedative was, but it hadn’t crossed his mind. He looked at the tree again. “Then, I went to talk to Harley.”
“Oh. That bitch.”
“She isn’t a bitch, Rebel.”
“Okay. Sorry. Thatfuckingbitch. Better?”
CJ scowled at her profile. “No.”
“I can think of worse.”
“Never mind. Stick to what you have.”
“I thought so.” Rebel squeezed between him and the tree, forcing him to back up. She glared up at him. “Well, what did she say?”
“You don’t even know why I went to see her.”
“I don’t need the reason. The result is written all over your face. She hurt you.Again.”
“She doesn’t believe I haven’t slept with Molly,” he said dismally.
“If I were you, I’d fuck Molly just to get back at Harley.”
“Yeah, because you’re fucking vicious.”
“Quite petty,” she agreed cheerfully. “If she’s accusing you, why not make it a fact?”
“What the fuck will that help, Rebel?”
“God, you’re so fucking nice! You have the best of both Momma and Daddy, while I have their worst traits. Spoiled like Momma and violent like Daddy,” she said glumly.
He bent and kissed her cheek. “You’re perfect in my eyes now that you’re thinking clearly again.”
She thumped his chest. “Perfection is overvalued, doofus.”
“True,” he agreed, not up for a debate.
