“Huh?” I blink at her.
“I asked which room you wanted?” She frowns, her eyes traveling to the neighbors’ house. “What were you staring at?”
I dare a glimpse back at Blaise, only to find him gone. “Nothing.” I shake my head, trying to clear the unsettling feeling that I somehow just lost a silent battle with Blaise by looking away.
I shouldn’t be worried, though. They’re just guys. Nothing more.
And I’ve handled worse.
6
HADLEY
My sistersand I spend the rest of the night unloading boxes and furniture into the house. Then we make a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some food. Our dad helps for a bit, but eventually goes up to his room and passes out, most likely hungover.
The house has three bedrooms, so Londyn and I bunk up in one and Payton and Bailey in the other. We don’t have much for furniture, just some mattresses, bedframes, and a couple of dressers, so organizing doesn’t take too long.
Once we’re finished for the night, Londyn climbs into bed, while I stare out the window at the next-door neighbors’, playing guard basically. The lights in the house are off, but the back porch light is on, highlighting all the cars in the backyard.
“So, what do you think about Dad already having a job, yet not telling us where he’s working?” Londyn asks, fluffing her pillow.
“I’m not sure.” I sit down on the dresser and continue to stare out the window. “He could’ve been lying, or he could be doing something illegal.”
“Where do you think he was last night?”
“Probably a bar.”
“All night?”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Yeah, but … didn’t he seem sort of, I don’t know, evasive about everything?”
“Isn’t that Dad’s middle name?” I remind her. “I feel as if I barely know him anymore.”
“Me, too,” she mumbles through a yawn. “One day, maybe we’ll have to do some detective work and figure out what he really does.”
“Wouldn’t that be funny?” I muse. “To use the detective skills he taught us when we were younger to bust his ass for doing something illegal?”
“It would be pretty funny. He’d probably get pissed off.” A beat of silence drags by. “Had, if he ever hits one of us again, I think we should report it to the police.”
My fingers drift to my cheek. “I thought about doing that, but at the same time, if the police intervene and Social Services gets called, we might be separated.” My hand falls to my lap. “But if he hits any one of you, I’ll do it.”
“I wish we could just gain guardianship of each other.” Londyn yawns again. “You’re almost eighteen and way more responsible than Dad.”
“I wish I could, but I’m not sure I can.” No, unfortunately, if our dad ever does lose guardianship, my sisters will probably end up in group homes, even though I’ll be a legal adult in just a couple weeks.
I remain sitting on the dresser for a few more minutes, staring at the neighbors’ backyard, listening to Londyn breathe heavily as she dozes off. Eventually, my eyelids grow heavy and I move to my bed, deciding playing guard all night isn’t possible. But the moment I hop off the dresser, a large SUV pulls into their driveway and parks near the porch. The headlights click off, and four figures hop out.
Clicking off the lamp, I hunker down as the figures move toward the house. When they step onto the porch, the porch light casts across their faces, revealing the four figures are none other than Blaise, Alex, Jaxon, and Rhyland.
They appear to be having a heated argument. Blaise is in Alex’s face, his hands balled at his sides as he reams into him. Alex stands stiffly with his arms crossed, his lips never parting, while Rhyland and Jaxon watch.
As Blaise continues to bite Alex’s head off, his gaze suddenly darts to my bedroom window. Panicking, I crouch down lower, though there’s no way he could have seen me.
With Alex’s gaze fixes on my window, he nods once. Then Blaise nods, visibly relaxing and giving Alex’s shoulder a pat. He says a few more words, and then the four of them head into the house.
My stomach twists with uneasiness as I tiptoe to my bed, climb in, and spend half the night lying in bed, worrying, before finally falling asleep.