“Fuck off, Casper!”
“You’re drunk and being stupid. Get back in the car.”
He relents, shrugging him off. Something is vaguely familiar about the confident way he stands. The kind of something that automatically demands your attention.
The hair on my neck rises in awareness.
No, it couldn’t be.
A third voice chimes in, breaking my concentration, but not stopping the pounding in my chest.
I could tell his hair was lighter than the other two, but that was it. The darkness my enemy.
“Come on, worry about it Monday when school starts.” He taps his knuckles on the hood, climbing in the driver’s side. They are at least responsible enough not to let the intoxicated one behind the wheel.
“Yeah, get his dumb ass home before he does something he regrets,” the one adds with a final shove, breaking apart.
His stumble less obvious this time, he arches his neck, his face angled up at my room. I freeze when the light outside no longer hides his features. His eyes stop where I’m standing. My pulse slows.
Those ice-blue eyes, the one thing that hasn’t changed. He has the body of a man, enlarged muscles, and toned build, shedding the body of his youth like a snake does its skin.
Caught in a trance, I can’t look away.
That jawline absolute, hard. His mouth parts, hanging open like he can’t believe I’m back. I guess that would make two of us.
My skin grows tight against my ribs. I want to look away, but I can’t.
The seconds tick on like his ticcing jaw.
Looking away, he breaks the connection, climbing into the car and driving past the gate.
I release the breath I finally realize I’m holding.
Those eyes I would recognize anywhere. They belong to the one person who made sure I knew I wasn’t wanted here. That I was a barely tolerated amusement endured by my father for a summer.
And for all his faults, he’d been right.
…Until now.
I don’t know how long I stay standing there but a knock brings me from my stupor.
“I’m changing,” I yell, not wanting company. Dread and something else I couldn’t describe filling the pit of my stomach.
“You have about five seconds to open the door or I’m coming in anyway,” the irritated voice mocks.
I cross the room in annoyance, opening it. Finding none other than my half sib. My eyes narrow. “What do you want, Finn?”
This is the first time I’ve seen him in five years. He’s changed too. Taller, body more proportional to his ego-filled head. Same chocolate-brown hair, though, now shorter on the sides and longer on top.
He stares me down, keeping his face expressionless. “You’re back, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.”
Rolling my shoulders, I exhale a tight breath. “I haven’t left my room.”
“You’ll learn quickly not to eavesdrop on conversations you aren’t welcome in.” His eyes are a dark cavern of hatred.
My heart plummets as my anxiety spikes. Finn sees none of that, a saccharine smile tugs at my lips.
“Careful, don’t want to pop a brain vessel on my account,” I counter smoothly. He may only be my half brother but that is still one too many halves.