Page 11 of The Inevitable Us

Thecafé‘skitchenisbustling that night, and we have to prepare food for dinner service since it’s an open mic night, meaning we’re open much later. By the time Trevor and Harris come in to replace me (and my now absent brother), it’s after three in the afternoon. My feet are killing me! Mom and Dad insist we work to pay for our car insurance, but everything else leftover is ours to save or spend as we wish. My parents paid for my insurance while I was recuperating from my sprained ankle from my hike, but I was back to work once I’d been released from treatment.

Before I’d graduated, it meant working most of the weekend since the school week was filled with homework and school. Now that graduation is long past, I work all of the available hours that I’m given to save up.

Except now my car is in the body shop after I was hit at a red light. I’m supposed to ride back and forth to work with Rory, but he’d bailed early today. He promised to pick me up at precisely three pm, but it was a quarter after three, and no Rory; no text from him either. Checking my phone one last time, I try to call and text.

When Rory doesn’t answer, I go through my options.

Go back inside and wait for Rory to show up, which could be never. Rory has a one-track mind, focusing on whatever is in front of him and little else. If he was working on a car or playing a video game with a friend, he wasn’t going to return his text messages. This was the least likely option to get me home sooner rather than later.

Call whichever security team member was with us today to come and pick me up. None of my friends drive, so it has to be one of the security team since my parents are out of town. This is probably Brody. I think of the older man who is half grandpa, half warden, and the undoubted lecture Rory and I will both receive since I’m covering up for Rory. I decide to go for my next option.

A ride share. I have my own bank account, so Mom and Dad will never know. The car can drive me down the street, and I can tell them the gate is stuck again. They would assume Rory dropped me off and left. The repair company has come out many times in the past after my brothers didn’t want Mom and Dad to see who dropped them off. If they got away with it countless times, I could get away with it once. I download the rideshare app on my phone and put in my address. A ride is only seven minutes away.

I decide to wait outside so that I can jump in the car before Mallory sees me and rats me out to my parents. Mallory’s their goddaughter and very close to my parents. She wouldn’t think twice about telling my Mom. I should have had the car pick me up down the street. The white Toyota Camry with the rideshare sticker pulls up, and I check to make sure the tags match the license plate on the app and walk towards the back seat.

When my hand hits the door handle and starts to pull, a firm hand grasps my shoulder, stopping me. Turning to look, angry dark eyes stare into mine, “Precisely what do you think you are doing, Baby Girl?”

“I was just….” I start to say as I try to think of a lie. It won’t work. Sawyer is one of Dad’s best, and once caught, you’re caught.

His jaw tightens as he leads me away from the car. He points to the sidewalk. “Stay here, Rosalie, do you understand?” He speaks to the rideshare driver and takes out his wallet before handing the driver some cash.

Stalking back to me, Sawyer grabs my hand and half drags me down the street. When we get to a modern-looking apartment building, Sawyer pulls me into the lobby. The lobby is well kept, and elegant light fixtures hang from the ceiling. “Are you taking me to your apartment?” I ask Sawyer as he leads me to an elevator.

“Am I taking you to my apartment?” Sawyer repeats my question back to me as if dumbfounded. “No, Rosalie, I am not taking my boss’ teenage daughter back to my fucking apartment.” The elevator arrives, and he pulls me inside.

He presses the number three, and the doors close. “Where are we going?” I ask cautiously.

His eyes drill into me with a glare. “You have a lot of questions for someone who was about to get into a car with a stranger, Rosalie.”

Biting my lip, I look up at him through my eyelashes. “I was just...”

“You were just covering for your brother,” he cuts off impatiently. “Instead of calling any of us, who would have picked you up right away, you decide to cover for Rory. Let me guess, the gate was going to break again?”

I decide it’s safest not to talk, that it’ll only give him more information to convict Rory with. The elevator doors slide open to a parking garage. Sawyer steps out first, dragging me behind him. He presses the remote unlocking the SUV he’d driven the night of the frat party. Opening the passenger side door, he gestures for me to get in.

I buckle the seatbelt and watch as Sawyer walks around the large vehicle and gets into the driver’s side. Buckling his seatbelt, he finally asks, “Do you know where your brother is?”

I pluck at imaginary lint on my shirt and give him my most flirtatious look “Nate? He’s a grown man. It’s Saturday night. If I had to guess, I would say he’s getting ready to go out or something.”

He holds my gaze for a moment before looking back at the front window.

His jaw tightens as he turns on the ignition. “Stop playing stupid, Rosalie. You are very aware that I meant Rory.”

I frown at him, my forehead wrinkling. “I have no idea where Rory is. He said he wasn’t feeling well and was headed ho....”

“Stop covering for him!” Sawyer roars, his nostrils flaring. “You always cover for Rory, and you usually pay the price.”

I look down at my lap and twist the drawstring of my hoodie. “I don’t know where Rory goes,” I answer softly, not wanting to make him even angrier. “He doesn’t tell me, and I don’t guess. I mean, I don’t know where he is.”

We drive the rest of the way home in stony silence. When we arrive at the gate, he punches in the security code, and we move up the long driveway. After putting the car in park once we reach the garage, Sawyer shoots me one last cold glare. “I should turn you over my knee for this.”

My breath catches; shocked at his words, I unbuckle my seat belt and run into the house. Once I slam the door behind myself, I watch from the window as Sawyer puts the car in reverse and heads back down the driveway.

Rorywalksintothehouse right before midnight. Hearing him come in, I walk across the hall to the room he shares with Nate. Dad painted it navy long ago, and the bunk beds have been traded out for two full-sized beds. Mom calls it the junk room because the boys always keep it such a mess.

Knocking softly, I let myself in. Even though Rory is the only full-time occupant, discarded clothing is mixed with empty plastic water bottles and assorted car parts. He’s half undressed, just pulling his hoodie over his head when I walk in. I stand in the doorway, trying to will the hurt in my throat to go away. “You left me at work today.”

Rory’s eyes shoot to his phone, to the countless texts he seems to never answer. “Ro, I’m so sorry. Who drove you home?”

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