Page 22 of Craving Theodora
“We’ll figure it out. You still there?”
“Uh, yeah,” Draco said, something in his voice making me sit up straighter. “Just hangin’ with Dyl until you get here.”
“What’s going on?”
“All good, Curt,” he said, lying through his teeth like I wouldn’t know. “The girls went to Mom and Dad’s for the night, and you know Kara. She’s been putterin’ around in here, lightin’ candles and shit to get rid of the musty smell.”
“It doesn’t smell.”
“Yeah, man, that’s what I said. But she said it smells like no one lives here.”
“That tracks since no onewas,” I replied. I wanted to grill him, but I was hyper aware that a car full of people was listening to every word I said, and I didn’t want to worry them.
“She went to the store and got you guys set up. All the essentials you could possibly need right away.”
“And candles,” I added.
“Those too. Plus, she got you those little things that plug into the outlets. Gonna smell fresh as a damn daisy by the time you get here tonight.”
“And Dylan made it okay?” I asked, needing that clarification since my brother was trying to bullshit me so hard he’d resorted to talking about air fresheners.
“Yeah, he’s here,” Draco replied, that thing in his voice back. “Listen, I was just checkin’ in. I’ll let you drive.”
“Capable of doin’ two things at once.”
“I’ll see you when you get here,” he said, ignoring me.
“Drive safe, Curt,” Kara yelled in the background.
Then the line went dead.
I dropped the phone onto the seat next to me, wondering what the hell was going on at my new house that Draco was trying to hide. I’d be there in a few hours. It wasn’t as if he could hide it for long.
“My brother,” I told Teddy when I felt her watching me. “Just checking in.”
“You have a brother?” Finn asked, his voice a little closer, like he was sitting forward in his seat behind me.
“Seatbelt on your shoulder, Finn,” Teddy ordered.
“Fix your seatbelt,” Jesse said at the same time.
“Yeah, I have a brother,” I replied, looking at him in the mirror. “He’s my twin.”
“Does he look like you? I have twins in my class, Micah and Luca, but they don’t look like each other. Micah is really tall, but Luca isn’t.”
“We’re identical.”
“Really?”
“Yep. But you’ll be able to tell us apart because I’m a lot better looking.”
“Nu-uh,” Finn argued with a laugh. “Identical twins look the same.”
“I have a beard, and he doesn’t,” I admitted. “And my hair is longer.”
“But if you cut it off, you’d look exactly the same?”
“Maybe,” I replied. “I haven’t checked in a long time. We used to as kids, though.”
