“There isn’t anything you can do,” I argued.
“I can help wet down the house and the area around it,” he said, leaning down so our faces were close together. “Maybe stop by Cecilia and Mark’s and grab his tractor.”
“This is fucking ridiculous,” I ground out through my teeth.
“Like I said,” Draco replied, dropping his hands away from my hair, “I’m not gonna sit back if there’s somethin’ I can do.”
“Yeah,” I snapped. “I’m aware.”
“What’s that mean?” he asked, his head jerking back at the venom in my words.
“Go,” I said, ignoring his question. I made a shooing motion with my hands. “Go save the day.”
“Kara,” he said, his voice dropping as I stepped away from him.
I shook my head and walked away.
I was halfway up the stairs, heading toward the sound of my brothers’ voices, when Charlie came bounding down them.
“Where are the guys going?” she asked. “I saw them out the window.”
“They’re going to wet down your parents’ house to protect it from the fire,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Like that’s going to help.”
Charlie looked stricken and I immediately felt like a piece of complete garbage.
“Jesus, Charles,” I said, reaching out to hug her. “I’m sorry. That was an asshole thing to say.”
“It’s okay,” she replied, hugging me before pulling away. “You’re probably right.” She smiled and squeezed my shoulders with both hands before moving around me and jogging down the stairs.
“Where are you going?” I asked suspiciously as she turned at the bottom of the stairs.
“To help,” she said with a shit-eating grin. “I’m not letting the dudes have all the fun.”
“Oh, Christ,” I spat, following her down the stairs. “That’s so stupid.”
“Probably.” She paused. “But, you’re coming with me, right?”
I stared at her as different terrible scenarios ran through my mind.
“Of course I’m going with you,” I said begrudgingly. “It’s not like I’d let you go by yourself.”
We didn’t say a word to anyone as we snuck out the front door and jogged to my car.
“You have the keys?” Charlie asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk.
I lifted my hand and grinned, shaking the keys from side to side. “Draco put them on the counter.”
“If he had any idea that we would follow, you know he would’ve taken them with him,” she said with a laugh.
I grunted as I unlocked our doors, not nearly as amused.
“There’s clothes in the back seat,” I told her as I cranked the car and pulled a U-turn. “We both need some long pants.”
“Good call,” she replied, slapping my shoulder. “You’re so smart.”
“At least one of us is.”
“Please,” she said, the top half of her body disappearing out of view as she leaned between the seats. “If you were smart, you’d get your shit together and start school.”
“I told you,” I said, carefully turning a corner as Charlie’s body swayed, “I’ll start this winter.”
“You should’ve started three years ago,” she grumbled. “Got some!” She scooted back into the front seat and held up two pairs of pants.
“You had to grab my most expensive pair,” I said in exasperation.
“They were the only ones I found,” she replied with a laugh. “At least they’ll cover our legs.”
“Oh, hell no,” I said, snatching my expensive jeans out of her hand. “You can wear the other ones.”
“Aw, man. These are mom jeans!”
“They’re not mom jeans. They’re work jeans that I wear when I’m helping the oldies outside. You can roll them up easier.”
“If you weren’t such an Amazon,” she muttered.
“If you weren’t such a shrimp,” I shot back. “Just be thankful that they’ll fit.”
“Oh, yeah,” she said as she stripped out of her shorts. “I’m so glad that you’re now skinny as a rail and I can wear your clothes. It’s a fuckin’ dream come true.”
“Hey,” I griped, coughing a little. “Fuck, where did I put that mask?” I searched my pockets, finally finding it under me. It was bent all to hell, but thankfully popped right back into shape when I put it on.
“I’m supposed to be this size,” Charlie ranted, ignoring my search. “I come from small people. You are not. Your dad is a fucking monster and your mom had an ass for days. I’ve seen photos.”
“I’m slender because I work out,” I said, glancing at her as she bent over to roll my jeans up her ankles.
“You’re slender because you don’t eat enough and you run like you’ve got a wild animal chasing you.”
“How else are you supposed to run?” I joked.
“I think what you never figured out,” she said, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest, “is that you don’t have to sprint when you’re running over five miles. It’s just fuckin’ weird, okay?”
“I like going fast,” I replied.
“No, you don’t,” Charlie scoffed. “You’re literally driving about twenty miles an hour right now. You’re the least fast person I know.”