Page 16 of Golden Ruin

“Ready?” Sterling asks, and I tear my eyes away from Mom as I nod.

“Whenever you are.”

I reach for my bag with my good arm, but before I even get the chance, he swipes it off the edge of the bed and tosses it over his shoulder. I’ve gotten so used to doing shit on my own that I forgot what it feels like to have help with the simple things, so I hate the way such a small gesture lingers in my thoughts.

I scan the room one last time to make sure I haven’t left anything behind, then I follow Sterling out into the unknown.

If I’m lucky, maybe there’s a chance I won’t regret this.

*

@QweenPandora

A little update for anyone keeping tabs on last night’s situation…

I’ve received several photos of #LostAngel leaving the hospital this morning, climbing into her mom’s car. But who was seen carrying her things, loading them into her mom’s trunk? You guessed it.

#MrSilver, of course.

You know what this means, don’t you? Whether he realizes it or not, this was no ordinary check-in.

Not sure about you, but I’m locked in and ready to see how the drama unfolds.

Later, peeps :)

–P

CHAPTER FIVE

Lexi

“Well… this is certainly something.”

Mom doesn’t close her mouth even when she’s done speaking. She’s too busy staring through the large, wrought-iron gate slowly opening as we trail Sterling, entering his neighborhood.

I take it all in, the ginormous houses with pretentiously expensive cars lining the driveways, the exaggerated landscaping with trees cut into spirals and large topiaries.

Or whatever you call those things.

Each home is at least ten thousand square feet. That guess feels accurate seeing how I’m pretty sure my house could fit inside them at least ten times.

Before we turn, we pass a house on the right where a mom and kid are hanging out. My stare lingers on them longer than I mean for it to. The kid’s about Jax’s age, and for a fraction of a second, I imagine it.

What it would be like to live in a neighborhood like this.

I don’t like the way it feels, so I dismiss the thought quickly, remembering the way paparazzi swarmed us as we left the hospital. Cameras flashing, people shouting as we loaded up and drove off, having to shrink into my seat to hide from it all. Yeah, if having to deal with the media circus is the cost of, well, this… then count me out.

Pandora fucking shit up on a regular basis is already too much.

“Is this the one?” Mom asks when Sterling slows in front of us.

I shrug. “Not sure. I’ve… never been here.”

I say that as casually as possible, because I know my mother likes to read into everything. But my tone doesn’t seem to have helped. My response has this look of shock on her face that says so much. I could use the excuse that Sterling only moved in 2 months ago after transitioning from a loft downtown, but that wouldn’t make a difference.

She’s already formed whatever opinion she’s going to.

The question she just asked gets answered half a second later, though, when Sterling turns into the driveway of the massive, brick monster that looks just as over-the-top as all the rest.