Page 111 of Wrong For Me

“I’ll keep him company,” Violet offers, that same mischievous smile on her face.

“Watch out,” I tell him. “She looks cute but she’s devious. You’ll be spilling all your secrets in no time.”

“I can handle it.”

I head to the house, turning back once to see that Violet has taken my seat. She says something that makes Leo laugh and my chest tightens. I like seeing Leo with my little sister way more than I would have ever imagined.

Ash is sitting alone, curled up in one of the lounge chairs in a corner of the now-empty patio, his nose buried in a book. I divert from the french doors and go to sit next to him, wanting to check in.

My youngest brother, Violet’s twin, has always been introverted. Sometimes I worry that his quiet nature hides sadness, but he insists he’s fine. It’s possible he confides in his twin more—Violet would never share anything he tells her in confidence. The two of them are incredibly close, seemingly able to hold entire conversations without talking. River says they have a freakish twin thing going. I would never call it that, but it can be off-putting sometimes.

“Whatcha reading?” I ask, sitting on the arm of his lounger.

He looks up at me. “Watership Down,” he says. “It’s pretty good.”

I push some of his hair off his face. Violet is the only one in the family who got mom’s spiral brown curls. River, Fox, and I all take after our dad. Ash’s hair is somewhere in the middle, not quite brown, not quite blond.

“You doing okay, little brother?”

His eyebrows go up. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Your boyfriend is probably going to dump you after today.”

“Hey!”

But he’s smirking up at me, and I’ve never been able to resist my little brother when he smiles.

“I’m just saying,” he goes on. “He had to put up with all this. Wouldn’t you break up with you?”

I laugh. “You have a point. But I think he’s pretty brave. He hasn’t run away yet.”

Ash cocks his head, studying me. “You look happy.” There’s a wistful note in his voice I don’t like.

“I am happy, Ash. Isn’t that a good thing?”

He nods, blue eyes serious. “Of course. I want you to be happy.” He looks away. “We probably won’t see you as much, is all.”

“Hey.” I reach over and tug on his ear. “You’re not going to not see me if I have a boyfriend. Why do you think I brought him here? I wouldn’t date someone who didn’t want to be around my family.”

He nods, but he still looks a little sad. “Aren’t you spending the weekend with me and River next week?” I press. “I’ve been looking forward to it.”

His face brightens. “Are we?”

I nod. Mom and Dad are going out of town for some event on the east coast, so River and I offered to take the twins. Fox is going to stay here, enjoying having the whole house to himself. That boy really needs to move out on his own.

“So start thinking about what you want to do, okay? I’m done with classes before lunch. We haven’t been to the aquarium in Long Beach in a while.”

“Okay, yeah,” he says. “I guess that sounds fun.”

I figure that’s about as enthusiastic as I’m going to get from a thirteen-year-old boy, so I ruffle his hair, making him scowl at me. “I’ll see you in a few days, buddy. Be good.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m always good.”

I realize my mistake as soon as I step through the french doors. I should have checked to make sure my dad was outside before I came in. Instead I find him in the kitchen, passing a beer to Uncle Cash, who’s sitting at the table with his wife Sam.

“Hey,” Dad says, looking up when I come in. “I’ve barely seen you today.”

“We’re leaving in a minute,” I say, my voice tight. “I’m going to the restroom.”

“Sit with us for a minute,” Cash says, pulling out the chair next to him at the table. Aunt Sam gives me a sympathetic smile, probably sensing how uncomfortable I am.