Page 62 of Discerning Blake

“I meant cupcakes!” Brody says with his hands up in defense.

“Uh-huh.” Scarlett scowls at him.

“I think it’s time to go,” Amelia says with a laugh.

“Noooo,” Penny whines.

“Cupcakes isn’t a bad word,” Chase says, deadpan, to Brody.

“I didn’t say it was a bad word, I said it’s a C word.”

Chase narrows his eyes as if he’s not sure whether Brody is joking or not.

Amelia gets up. “Come on, Chase. It’s getting late, and you have school in the morning.”

“Oh, cupcakes!” Chase smirks at Brody, who breaks out laughing.

Even I have a hard time holding back my smile as I ruffle Chase’s hair.

“We should go too,” I say.

My brothers get up, and we make our way to the door.

I want to pull Amelia to the side. I want to talk to her, to ask if she has regrets. But I’m stuck between Brody and Bryce on our way out the door.

We wave to Amelia and Chase as we all get in our cars.

We’ve barely made it out of the driveway when Bryce, who’s sitting in the back seat behind Brody, who’s driving, punches me in the arm.

“You slept with Amelia?”

There’s no need to guess what he thinks about it, his tone is clear. He’s pissed.

Brody laughs. “Did you?”

“It’s none of your business,” I say to the both of them.

“How could you?” Bryce says. “She’s in pain. How could you take advantage of her when she’s so vulnerable.”

“I didn’t take advantage. She wanted t—”

“Please!” Brody intervenes. “That’s the definition of taking advantage. She wanted to do something stupid to get back at her ex, and you eagerly volunteered. She’d never have done it under normal circumstances, but she’s hurt so... you took advantage!”

I want to deny it, but that’s pretty much exactly what happened.

So what? If it helps her out, why wouldn’t I take advantage? Urgh. I hate those words. I don’t want to take anything from Amelia. But she did end up crying, which only makes their point even stronger.

“So… what now?” Bryce asks.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you just friends? Are you going to do it again? Are you dating?”

“No!”

Brody chuckles. “I’d love to see Ethan’s face when he finds out.”

“Are you keeping it a secret?” Bryce asks.