Page 79 of Tell No Lies

“Umm, I think so? Like, in general?”

Deep down, I knew he wasn’t purposely being difficult, but I really didn’t want to come out and say it. Apparently, he wasn’t going to finish this for me.

“No. Specifically … about me.” I held my breath and waited desperately for him to speak.

His face softened immediately. “Aubrey.” He looked away and sighed. He ran his hands over his face for several seconds. “Brandon is going to kill me.”

My head was feeling light from the lack of oxygen, so I knew I might have misinterpreted him. “What?” The word came out in a rushed breath.

His hands reached out for mine and tugged me closer. “Aubrey.” That was all I heard before he leaned closer and his lips found mine.

The memory of our kiss on the balcony rushed in. This was what a kiss was supposed to feel like, exciting and full of all that was left unsaid. Through this kiss, I knew how he felt. I could feel his relief.

After the earth stopped spinning, I looked up at him. “Please don’t take that back.”

His fingers brushed my cheek before he cradled my face in both hands.

I closed my eyes and leaned against his palm as naturally as breathing. “Please don’t.”

“Aubrey, look at me.” He waited until I followed his words. “Never again. I’ve learned my lesson, and I’ve lost you once before. Never again.”

☼ ☼ ☼

It turned out talking with Carter was the easiest thing I had to do that day. He stayed with me, wasting the day on movies and cuddling. We were comfortably intertwined while watching the third superhero movie of the day when the door opened.

I felt Carter tense around me, but he didn’t move. It went against everything inside me to stay where I was and not fall to the floor in an attempt to cover up what we were doing. Because clambering to the ground would be so much better than simply lying still. We weren’t actually doing anything wrong. Brandon might not agree, but we had nothing to hide.

When I peeked out of the corner of my eye, I saw my brother standing at the edge of the kitchen, staring. His face was frozen in what appeared to be shock. His eyebrows were pinched together, and his mouth was slightly ajar.

“What. Is. Happening?” In all my years of living with him and pestering him as kids, I never heard this voice. It was authoritative and beyond angry. If I could guess what our dad sounded like, I’d bet it was just like this.

Carter looked over casually and smiled. “Hey, Brandon.”

“What are you doing with my little sister?” His face was growing redder by the second, like his anger level was changing for all to see.

“I told you I cared about her. I tried to tell you, but you never gave me a chance to explain.”

“Get away from her.” His words sent an icy chill down my spine. This was going worse than I could have ever anticipated.

Carter sat up but didn’t move away. “Brandon—”

“Get out of my house.”

My head shot back to him. “What? Brandon, he’s your best friend—”

“No. Not anymore. Get out of my house, Carter. Now.”

I couldn’t sit and watch this any longer. “No, Brandon. Please listen to me.”

“You are a child, Aubrey. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“I’m not a child!”

“You’re sure not old enough to be with him!”

“Next month,” I yelled back. “I’ll be eighteen in less than three weeks.”

Carter stood and put his arm in front of me, creating space between me and my brother. “Brandon, I’ll go tonight, but you need to accept this. It wasn’t something that just happened. I tried to tell her we can’t happen. I encouraged her to date guys her age and enjoy high school, but look how that turned out for her.” He paused as if expecting Brandon to interrupt him. “I care about her. You know that. I would never do anything to hurt her.”