Page 21 of Good For Me

Heaven help us. They were bad enough as little kids.

“Who’s the girl?” I ask.

“Monica Gonzales,” Cade says sheepishly, and Ash kicks his shin. “Hey,” he yelps, jumping away. “Maybe River can help. He’s good with chicks.”

I manage to keep the grin on my face even as my stomach drops to my knees.Not so sure about that this morning, kid.

“Well the first thing to know is you shouldn’t call them chicks.” I give Cade a little shove. “Women like it when you’re respectful.”

Ash snorts. “Then why is she dating that asshole Tony Spencer?”

“Let me guess—the guy having the party?”

They both nod. “He’s such a tool, Riv,” Cade says.

“He’s a freaking bully,” Ash mutters, and my attention immediately sharpens on my brother’s downturned face. Ash is a sensitive kid. He can be shy—especially around people who aren’t family. It’s not exactly easy, being the son of a hugely famous man, particularly when attention freaks you out. Asshole kids aren’t a new thing for my brother, and my immediate reaction is to go find this Tony Spencer kid and kick his ass.

I try to channel our older sister Rose, who has a degree in psychology and is the smartest person I know. “Has this kid been messing with you?” I ask, somehow keeping my voice even.

“He messes with everyone,” Cadence says. “His dad is some Hollywood producer and he thinks he rules the school.”

“Kids like that are usually compensating because they don’t get enough attention or some shit at home.” I’m not sure if that’s strictly true—Rose would know—but it sounds right. “But that doesn’t give him the right to hurt anyone else.” I nudge Ash’s shoulder, waiting for him to look up at me. “You know what to do if he goes too far, right?”

He nods, but he won’t meet my eyes. “Tell Mom and Dad,” he says sullenly, his tone making it clear he has zero intention of doing that. My stomach clenches again. Bullying is a serious issue with our parents—our mom was cyber-bullied so badly in high school that she ended up institutionalized after a suicide attempt. Not putting up with that shit has been drilled into our heads since we were first old enough to start hanging out with other kids. Our parents started an anti-bullying foundation, for fuck’s sake.

But I know exactly what Ash is thinking right now. Telling our mom that her own kid is dealing with the same kind of shit would hurt her, badly. So if anything did happen, my little brother is going to keep it to himself.

“How about this,” I say, squeezing his shoulder. “The kid goes too far and you tell me. We’ll leave Mom and Dad out of it.”

Ash raises an eyebrow, looking so much like Rose I would laugh if I wasn’t feeling so pissed off at the world. The kid doesn’t deserve this shit. My mom didn’t deserve this shit.

“Like you wouldn’t tell them,” Ash mutters.

I hold up my hands. “I promise we’ll try to work it out first, okay?”

He nods, his face closed off. I hate when he gets like this—all silent and broody. It scares me, when he goes into his head where it feels like I can’t reach him. I wish Violet, his twin, was around. She’s the only one who seems to be able to communicate with him when he’s in one of these moods.

“Okay,” I say, slapping my hands on my denim-clad thighs, desperate to change the mood. “Well now we have a goal. Let’s get you guys rocking this ramp by Labor Day so you can show off in front of your girl at that asshole’s party.”

“Really?” Cade asks, his face lighting up. “You think we can do it?”

“Sure. We’ll practice all the time, okay?” I nudge Ash again. “Sound good?”

“Sweet,” Cade says. “Thanks, Riv!”

“Yeah,” Ash says, and my chest loosens when he smiles up at me. “Thanks, man.”

“No problem.” I check the time on my smart watch. “Let’s go in and get some lunch, then we can hit the ramp again after, okay?”

I herd the two of them into my parents’ house where we’re met, predictably, by chaos. My Aunt Paige is sitting with our cousins Santana and Cade’s sister Lyric at the kitchen table, painting their nails. Paige’s daughter Vega has taken control of the kitchen island and has recruited Violet into helping her decorate cupcakes. Vega is wielding a bag of frosting while Violet is sprinkling little rainbow candies on each one. Our cousins Nix and Presley lie on the rug in front of the fireplace, a stack of comics in front of them, while Silas sits cross-legged next to them, strumming a guitar.

I don’t see my own parents anywhere, even though this is our house, but that’s pretty par for the course. The five family homes are all within a few blocks and everyone is pretty much in and out of each other’s houses every day.

“Thanks, Vega,” I say, reaching out to grab a cupcake before she can stop me. I shove half of it into my mouth while she glares.

“Those are for family lunch tomorrow,” she growls.

“Holy hell, that’s good,” I moan around the heaven in my mouth. “What is that?”