I’d told Oscar the good news that the road trip was back on, but I’d deliberately misled him on the timing. I want to surprise him. I’ve been planning it for weeks, although nowhere in my imagined scenarios of seeing Oscar’s happy, surprised face was there Reece Sullivan lurking in the background.

Reece picks up the box near my feet, then gives me an incredulous look as he manages the weight easily. “What the hell’s in here? Air?”

“Yup, just stuffed a whole lot of air in there, Reece. Never know when you might need it.”

He rips open the top flap, then gives a grunt of disgust when he sees the pillows inside. “Take them out.”

“They were expensive. Down. They’re coming.”

“Your down pillows can still come, but there’s no reason they need to be in the box. We can shove them around the other stuff.”

“Have you thought about the sleeping arrangements?” I blurt out, ignoring his command about the pillows, and watching as he continues to load the trunk, somehow making everything fit a hell of a lot better than I did.

He doesn’t pause, doesn’t even look at me, which is mildly insulting. “When I planned the trip, I saved up enough for cheap motels. I’m assuming you did the same.”

He’s right. I did save up, but it’s a little jarring the way he doesn’t even seem to joke about us saving money and sharing a room.

Sharing a bed.

I chew my lip again. “I just feel bad, knowing you probably planned for a few nights on the road, and I planned for two weeks.”

“What Lucy wants, Lucy gets. Isn’t that the way it works?”

“I’m trying to be decent here, Reece,” I say. “I’m saying I can help pay for your room, some of the nights, since I know it’s my fault we’re extending.”

His blue gaze is murderous when he glances over at me. “I don’t want your money. I don’t want anything from you. Haven’t in a long time.”

My own temper snaps right along with his. “Yeah, I picked up on that. Because what I was giving out, you could find from some other girl if you wanted to, right? Oh wait. You did want to.”

He tosses his own stuff in the trunk before slamming the station wagon hatch shut. “Go tell your family goodbye. Let’s get this nightmare on the road.”

Right. Right. Because heaven forbid we put off the inevitable of finishing what we started years ago: destroying each other.

Chapter 6

Reece

Craig Hawkins has been my best friend since we were in fourth grade.

It started like this.

Some mean girl named Katie or Kelly or Kimmy was giving me shit for the fact that my mom had accidentally grabbed one of my sister Trish’s My Little Pony Band-Aids instead of the Power Rangers one I’d requested, and then slapped it on the scrape on my forehead like it wouldn’t ruin my budding manhood.

(Yes, that was back when the biggest problem in my life was the pattern on my Band-Aids, but you should still feel sorry for me, because the humiliation was real.)

Anyway, Craig stepped forward with an impressive swagger for a nine-year-old and told Kelly or Katie or whatever her name was to knock it off.

I returned the favor the next day, sharing some of the chocolate peanut butter cup my mom had snuck me as a snack even though we weren’t supposed to bring peanut snacks, because some kid probably had an allergy. (Probably Katie/Kelly/Kimmy.)

Anyway, a friendship formed over Band-Aids and nut products is apparently forever, because we’ve been best friends ever since.

I’d do just about anything for the guy.

Now, I’m betting this is the part where you think that I’m all torn up about betraying his friendship by hooking up with his little sister, but it’s not like that.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not like he knows. At least I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. But neither is this that cliché big-brother story where Craig threatened to castrate any guy who dared check out his little sister, leading me to hide my lust for years, until I finally gave in, seduced the hot sister, and now spend my life feeling guilty.

Craig’s a good big brother, but he’s never been the overprotective type. That was always my gig. Everyone’s always known not to fuck with the Hawkins girls, but not because Craig would kick their ass—but because I would.

And yes, it applies to both girls—I’d kill anyone who ever tried to hurt Lucy or Brandi, but really Lucy was always the one on my radar.

At first it was an age thing—Brandi’s five years younger than me, and of course I looked out for her when I could, but our paths never crossed much outside the Hawkinses’ home.

Lucy, though, being only a year younger, has always been in my peripheral vision. Well not always. For a while there, she wasn’t peripheral, so much as all I could see.

But anyway, eventually I started looking out for Lucy, not just because of proximity, but because of well…necessity. Not that she needed a guardian so much as she always sort of felt like mine, and I protect what’s mine, you know?

Shit, where was I going with this?

Craig. Right.

Though Craig always made the requisite comments about telling the pigs in high school to stay away from his little sister, he’d never said a word to me. Because he trusted me? Probably.

But here’s the thing.

He should have said something. I don’t blame him for what happened, obviously, but I’ll confess that sometimes I wish that, just once, he’d done the whole I love you like a brother but touch my sister and I’ll kill you thing.