Page 56 of The Rowdy Ones
“Lay a towel on the floor,” she says tersely. “I don’t want water everywhere.”
I obey her and then shift on my feet, waiting for her to elaborate on why she thinks this. Finally, unable to take it a second longer, I hiss out, “Aunt Eve. You know he’s not like them, right?”
She’s suspicious. Always has been.
Rowdy’s a good guy. The best. He’s the kind of man who drops his safety, his family, his home, and even his dog to take care of someone in need. I know he’d go to the ends of the earth for me.
So why do I have to keep defending him with everyone?
Unease settles in my gut. Especially since she refuses to answer me. I’m upset at her words, but I’m also angry. It burns hot inside my chest. I want to yell at her and tell her my life isn’t her life. We’re not the same.
“Out, Scout,” she orders in a rough tone.
There is splashing and then the dog shakes, shooting water everywhere. He’s cute, but I can’t even enjoy him because Aunt Eve has shaken the very foundation of my life.
Rowdy’s no monster.
He’s my protective big brother.
Safe and secure.
I love him.
Squatting down, I towel dry my dog, trying desperately to drive all the negative thoughts in my head out. I don’t want to think about Jace or the loss of my baby. I certainly don’t want to think of Aunt Eve’s brothers raping her and how she thinks Rowdy might be like them. It’s too much.
“Keep him still. I’m going to trim his hair,” Aunt Eve says. “If he wiggles, I might accidentally snip off his ear.”
Scout whines as if he understands. I kiss the top of his head to reassure him he’s safe.
It takes a few minutes, but she finally finishes up with his haircut. Before I can bolt from the tiny bathroom, she stops me by saying my name.
I pause, angling my head to her. Will she apologize for being out of line? For unfairly lumping my brother into the same category as hers?
“Be careful.”
No apologies. Just a command.
She wants me to be afraid of my brother like she was with hers.
Not happening.
It takes me entirely too long to text my sister.
Me: i know your probably going on a date with weston but i wandered if you could ride with me to clear my head evan texted me again and it fucked me up please i’ll bring scout okay let me know
Drumming my fingers on Uncle Atticus’s steering wheel, I wait impatiently for her to respond.
“She is learning more tech stuff today,” I tell Scout, who’s sitting in the passenger seat panting. “Hopefully, she can answer us soon.”
Another text from Evan pops through.
evan knox dont answer him: Alex can get you a free gym membership if you want. You don’t have to go with us. I know you’re still mad at me.
Mad?
I hate him. He destroyed all the good, innocent parts of me. His efforts to manipulate me into thinking he’s all of a sudden reformed fall on deaf ears. I won’t fall for his bullshit again. Especially with Destiny being here. She needs my full focus to keep her safe. I jab my thumbs on the tiny keypad of the phone, mashing each letter out one at a time at an infuriatingly slow pace.
Me: dont want to talk about this with you i’m not going to hang out with you and you’re boyfriend so stop trying okay bye forever
