of her face.
The thought made her shiver, and she swiped it away.
Chris reached out and took hold of the door handle. It lifted and opened without protest.
Figures. She turned to look at him. Her breathing felt a little quick. “Thanks.”
His eyes were dark. He didn’t seem to mind the rain on his face. “You’re welcome.”
Becca slid behind the wheel and pushed her key into the ignition. But she couldn’t make herself start the car, and he was standing there with a hand on the door, holding it open.
She sighed. “Tyler said if you pulled this again, that they’d take care of it themselves. That the deal was done.”
Chris didn’t say anything for the longest moment. “That’s it?”
“Yeah.” She looked up at him, unable to figure out his expression. “What does that mean?”
Lightning flashed, illuminating his features for a moment. For an instant, he looked frightening.
Then the lightning was gone, and he smiled in the darkness. “I have absolutely no idea.”
And with that, he swung her door shut and turned for the house.
CHAPTER 8
Chris wanted to sit on the porch and feel the rain. But Michael would eventually come out and ruin it, so he went back to his bedroom, where he could lock the door and sit by the window.
The heart of the storm was drawing closer, sending a strong breeze through the screen to ruffle pages of the notebook sitting there. Nick had claimed the desk chair to prop his feet on the bed. Gabriel was rolling a silver Zippo lighter across his knuckles, making it click every time it changed direction. Chris leaned against his dresser and looked out the window, watching the lightning flash in the distance.
Then he just waited.
“So she doesn’t like rain,” said Gabriel.
Nick smiled. “I kind of like the irony.”
“Jesus, you are such a nerd.” Gabriel flung the lighter at him. “Stop using big words.”
“Five letters is a big word?”
Chris sighed. “No one likes rain.”
“You do,” said Nick. He flung the lighter back to his brother.
Gabriel caught it. “Maybe we should put some money on it, see how long it takes Chris to get her wet.”
Chris ignored the double entendre and glanced at the pile of makeup work still sitting on his desk. “Could we maybe speed this up?” He could feel the rain pooling on his windowsill again. The red tail sharks in his tank circled and chased, slicing through the water until the less aggressive ones hid among the driftwood at the bottom.
Nick gave a low whistle. “Leave him alone, before the fish kill each other.”
Chris gave a pointed look at the door. “Why don’t you both leave me alone.”
Gabriel laughed and made no move to leave. “You have got it bad for this girl.”
Like that mattered. She’d been pretty clear where he stood. “Tyler shouldn’t be hassling her.”
“He’ll back off,” said Nick. “He’ll realize she’s got nothing to do with us.”
“I don’t know about that.” Chris glanced at the fish. They helped him manage his temper—he didn’t like riling them. But they seemed to be settling. “He threatened her. He told her the deal is off.”
Nick pulled his feet off the bed to sit up straight. “He said that?”
Chris nodded. “Well. She said he did.”
Gabriel rolled the lighter across his knuckles again, slowly now. “Because of last night?”
Chris met his eyes, then shrugged.
He still didn’t regret it.
“The deal can’t be off,” said Nicholas. “They can’t just decide—”
“They can do whatever they want,” said Chris, the words tasting bitter.
Nick stood. “We have to tell Michael. He’ll—”
“He’ll do nothing,” said Gabriel. “Don’t tell him.”
His twin looked at him like he was nuts. “Are you crazy? We have to—”
“No.” Gabriel sat up, any trace of humor gone from his expression. Thunder rolled in the air outside. “You saw him last night. He doesn’t give a crap what they do. All he cares about is letting them have their way.”
“So what do we do?” said Chris. He thought about the way he’d felt the water freeze into Tyler’s skin. That had been a good storm. A powerful one. He wondered how much damage he could do if he practiced.
The thought scared him, a little. But it comforted him, too.
“Tyler says the deal is off.” Gabriel flipped the lighter in the air and snapped it, lighting it as it spun. The flame danced between his fingers. “He’s not going to hold to it. Right?”
“Don’t be stupid,” said Nick. He knew his twin.
Chris knew him, too. But he liked the note of danger in Gabriel’s voice, the promise. It reminded him of that moment of solidarity last night. “Right ... ?”
Gabriel smiled. “That means we aren’t held to it, either.”
Her mom was working the night shift again. The sheer irony was that any kid with a normal social life would envy Becca’s freedom.
Quinn was sitting in the kitchen, but schoolbooks were spread across the table tonight. She looked up at Becca through a fall of blond hair. Her voice was small. “Hey. Your dad called again.”
Swell. Becca hung her jacket in the hall. “What, you’ll speak to me when you need a place to stay?”
“You’re the one who didn’t answer my texts.”
“Maybe if you hadn’t bolted from the lunch table, I could have mentioned that I broke my phone last night.”
Quinn didn’t say anything for a long moment. Becca grabbed a soda from the fridge and swung into a chair. She glanced down at the notebook on the table. Quinn was struggling with Trigonometry.
“So you want me to leave?” said Quinn.
Becca rolled her eyes and popped the can. The storm seemed to be sticking around—thunder still boomed every few minutes and lightning threw silhouettes against the glass. “You are such a drama queen.”
Quinn flung her textbook closed. “Well, at least it’s better than being a liar.”
Becca sat up straight. “A liar? What the hell did I lie about?”
“Self-defense class? You could have just told me you were sleeping with Chris Merrick.”
“Who said—wait—what the—are you crazy?” Becca couldn’t string a sentence together. “You think I’m sleeping with him? Why on earth would you think that?”
“Gee, I don’t know.” Her voice dropped to a mocking baritone. “I’m just here to thank Becca for last night.”
Becca stared at her, unsure whether to laugh or cry. “Quinn—”
“You could have told me, you know.” Quinn doodled on the margin of her notebook. “I didn’t even know you liked him, Bex... . I mean, after all the stuff with Drew—”
“I did go to self-defense class. And I didn’t sleep with Chris.” Becca paused, waiting for Quinn to look up. “When I came out,