Brian exits the room, leaving everyone, including his wife, staring after him in admiration. He’s such a great man to have on our side, and it’s moments like these that make me miss my own father.
The oven timer goes off and Natalia runs back up the stairs, leaving everyone to talk excitedly about the trip. Charlotte’s even making a list of stuff we’ll need to bring and calculating how much supplies will cost.
“Actually,” I jump in, “I still have all the money Aiden gave me from winning the race against Ryan. We can use that for food and activities and stuff if we get the house for free.”
“What?” Aiden leans in, speaking in a low voice. “That money is for you to do whatever you want with.”
I meet his steady gaze. “What I want is to spend it on all of us.”
He studies me for a second longer before nodding and leaning back. This can be like a good-bye gift to them; maybe it’ll ease the guilt that’s gnawing at my chest, especially since I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to tell them that I can never see or hear from them again.
“I still can’t believe you gave her four thousand dollars! You never give me anything.” Noah glares at Aiden, then adds in a low tone, “Clearly you gotta be a pretty girl with a nice ass to get anything around here.”
My cheeks turn red but I still burst out laughing with everyone else, while Aiden shoots Noah a glare.
“You have a great ass, Noah,” Annalisa says matter-of-factly while munching on a potato wedge, making Julian look at her quizzically.
“Plus,” adds Mason, “last week Aiden got you an oil change and fixed your exhaust for free.”
“Four grand still would’ve been nice … at least a couple of burgers thrown my way,” Noah mutters while playing with the straw of his now-empty soda.
Charlotte looks up from the list that she’s making. “Hey, he’s technically buying you all kinds of food now for this trip. You can make all the burgers you want when we get there. Hey, do you think I got everything?” She tosses her list to me and I skim it over.
“Probably.” I nod admiringly and hand it back. Thank goodness for her organizational skills, because I didn’t even think about bringing half of the stuff she put on that list. Who thinks about bringing toilet paper? That stuff always just appears in my bathroom.
“Great news,” Brian says as he appears back in the basement. “Michelle said the house is all yours. You can meet the cleaning lady there tomorrow at three and she’ll let you in and show you where the spare keys are. It’s six bedrooms too.”
Everyone starts talking at once, and even the twins pop in to ask us if Santa will know that they’re there, and we assure them he will. I catch Aiden’s eye and smile when I notice the heaviness around his eyes has eased. Now there’s no doubt in my mind that I have to go, and all that’s left to do is somehow convince my mom.
It’s only eight by the time I walk in the house, and I find my mom on the couch in the family room, with a glass of wine and a book. We haven’t spoken since our fight this morning, and I hadn’t been planning on breaking my silent treatment anytime soon, but I guess now I need to.
“Can we talk?” I ask her, timidly walking into the room and stopping a few feet away from her.
She sits up and takes off her reading glasses. “Of course.”
I take a steady breath for confidence. What will I do if she says no? I don’t even know, but I do know that failure isn’t an option. “We want to go away for the two weeks of Christmas break. Torywood Springs—it’s not far from here. We have a house for free and it’s right on the beach and we have money for food and stuff and it’s break anyway and I’m all caught up on courses.” The words rush out together before I can stop myself.
She frowns. “Who’s we?”
I shift nervously. “Me, Aiden—”
“No.”
I’m taken aback. “What? Mom! You didn’t even let me finish!”
“You’re not going away to some random place with Aiden.”
I huff in annoyance, my tone clipped. “If you had let me finish, then you’d know that it’s not just me and Aiden. It’s me, Aiden, Anna, Chase, Julian, Char, Noah, Mason, and Aiden’s brothers, Jason and Jackson.”
She tilts her head slightly. “And where are you going?”
That’s not a straight up no. Hope builds up in my chest. “Mason’s dad’s friend has a beach house. She’s not there right now so we can use it for break. It’s only five hours away.”
One of her eyebrows draws up. “Mason’s dad set this all up?”
Mentally high-fiving myself for mentioning another adult’s involvement, I steam ahead. “Yeah. We’re all so stressed about”—I pause and pick my words carefully—“school. So Brian suggested we have some fun, and he set up the house for us.”
She takes a sip of her wine, studying me intensely. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. You’re not supposed to be getting close to people and now you want to live with them for two weeks?”