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His brow furrows as he turns his head. “What?”
“Where did you learn sign language?”
He seems offended. “My college roommate was deaf, so I learned. What’s the big deal?”
The big deal is you’re making me fall in love with you, and it’s not fair.
I cross my arms over my chest in frustration. “It just took me by surprise. That’s all.”
“You seem angry about it.”
“I’m not. I’m glad. Normally, anyone I bring home can’t talk to or understand my brother.”
“Then shouldn’t you be happy?” he asks as he pulls out onto the street.
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumble.
But I’m not. That image of Luke signing with Jonah is etched into my memory. I’m irritated by how much of an effect it had on me. I’m irritated that it’s literally the only time this has ever happened. I’m irritated that it will probably never happen again.
“How are you feeling about your parents’ reaction?” he asks.
I shrug as anxiety swarms in my stomach. “Fine, I guess.”
Thinking about it some more, I realize it’s not fine. Luke stays quiet as I deliberate.
“It’s just…” I say as I stare out the window. “My parents have been telling Jonah his entire life that he can do whatever he puts his mind to. But it feels like they’ve been telling me the opposite. ‘Sadie, you can’t live on your own. Sadie, you can’t raise a baby. Sadie, you can’t just go back to college.’”
“Well…” he says, glancing my way. “Maybe telling you what you can’t do is how they motivate you.”
I screw up my face in confusion. “How the hell does that make sense?”
“I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose, but if I know you, and I think I do now, then I know that you like a challenge. You’re motivated by rebellion. You want to prove them wrong. So by telling you that you can’t do something, whether they know it or not, they’re basically encouraging you to do it.”
Mulling over his words for a moment, I smirk at him. “So I really am a brat.”
He smiles from the driver’s seat. “You really are a brat.”
Pulling up to his mother’s house a few minutes later, we park out front in the large, round driveway, which has enough space to accommodate at least thirty cars. Only two are parked out front.
Dean is sitting on the front porch steps, watching a little girl ride her bike around the massive circular drive.
It’s comforting to know I have two friends here, so it won’t be quite as uncomfortable. Luke’s family intimidates me. They’re Austin celebrities for both good and bad reasons.
Before a couple of years ago, they were a prominent family that nearly everyone in the city knew for their church. I was barely familiar with them, but then I got a job at the club and had a front-row seat to their downfall.
Luke’s dad turned out to be a dirty hypocrite and liar, and now he’s rotting in jail with a five to ten-year sentence for attempted murder.
Even if he’s not here, the family still intimidates me.
A petite, beautiful, silver-haired woman walks out of the house and waves to us as we approach. Her jaw nearly drops to the ground when she notices me standing next to her son.
“Is that Sadie?” she asks with a smile. She’s wearing baby-pink lipstick and has thin wrinkles around her mouth and eyes. She’s one of those women who looks like she wakes up perfect.
I’ve met Luke’s mother briefly at events, like Dean’s dad’s funeral. She’s always sort of ignored me for the most part, and I don’t think she was being rude, but until now, I was no one to her. Now, I’m showing up with her son.
“I’m so glad you could join us,” Melanie says excitedly.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Luke’s jaw click as he clenches his molars. I’ve picked up on all of Luke’s tells since I moved in with him. I can tell when he’s annoyed, uncomfortable or relaxed.
