It’s all so fucked-up.
“Even less than I know about Justin,” Chas admits, scratching absently at his lower belly muscles and wrinkling up his black tee enough that I can see a tantalizing strip of flesh above his pants. “She hasn’t had any contact with him since Tess came into the picture. Like, none at all. Zero.” He makes a circle shape with his fingers, and we both pause as Maxx opens the door to Parrish’s bedroom.
He looks slightly chagrined, his chocolate hair fresh and clean, dressed in tight jeans and a disturbingly tight red t-shirt with a bike on the front. His lush mouth is twisted to one side in thought. He seems almost surprised to see us standing there.
His emerald eyes take us both in before dropping to the pile of bedding on the floor.
“Tess kicked me out of the living room; she wants me to sleep with you tonight.”
Maxx nods, reaching up to rub at his chin for a second. If he knows that Chas and I slept together again last night, he doesn’t let on.
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” he admits, sighing and then running the fingers of both hands through his hair. “My emotions are a goddamn mess, and I’m struggling with my classes. I …”
“No explanation needed,” I say, lifting both hands up, palms out. “We’re all struggling with a lot here. And I … I’m sorry about Maxine.” The words come out in a near whisper. I haven’t been thinking about my sister much with everything else that’s going on. My thought is, if I can get Parrish back, if I can figure out how to deal with the Slayer, then I can tell her everything, apologize properly, and then grovel for forgiveness.
As of right now, I’m shit out of luck. I cannot have her involved in this like, at all. I don’t want her anywhere near this mess. She’s better off in Oregon, buried in her studies. In the summer, she always goes back to New York. Soon enough, she’ll be in the Catskills with our grandparents and maybe, if the winds are blowing just right, Saffron as well.
X drops his arms by his sides and gives me a tight nod and an even tighter smile.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
“What happened?” Chasm asks, and I cringe slightly, giving him a look. The guy has absolutely no shame. X moves into the room with us and closes the door. The atmosphere in my bedroom changes substantially, and I’m not sure, exactly, how to process it.
“She broke up with me,” X explains, sweeping past me and pausing briefly to flip off the phone on the tripod. I almost smile at that, thinking of Parrish, but then, there’s not a lot to be happy about when it comes to our situation. He stares out at the window, craning his neck to try and get a glimpse of the reporters down the street before he scowls. “Fucking vultures. I’d kick all their asses if I could find a get out of jail free card for the assault charges.”
“What’d you do to make her break up with you?” Chasm continues, sitting on my bed and tucking one leg up against his chest. He’s got a bag of chips that he must’ve snatched from the coffee table on his way up here. He starts eating them on my bed, and I give him a look that can only be interpreted as do not get crumbs in my bed, or I will never let you call me naekkeo again.
Maxx turns a look over his shoulder that’s half-threatening, half-bemused. He very clearly, um, ‘daddies’ the other boys. They barely have a two-year age gap, but the dynamic seems to work somehow. He and I are exactly three years apart; I know from Maxine’s ramblings that his birthday is just three days after mine.
“Why do you assume it was something that I did?” he asks, sounding annoyed. He turns the rest of the way around, wetting his lips and then sighing. “She … kept defending Dakota.”
“Defending Dakota?” Chasm asks, offering me the bag of chips. I wave him away, too focused on Maxx’s story, too curious for my own good. I’m far more emotional over this than I thought I would be. Maxx Wright isn’t the first boy that my sister’s broken up with. He’s also the only one I’ve ever been remotely attracted to.
The thing is, whether he’s dating Maxine or not, he’s completely and utterly off-limits, and always will be. Even if I were inclined to investigate the natural chemistry between us, I’m already dealing with some sort of screwed up love triangle between Chasm and Parrish.
I don’t need any further romantic complications.
“She kept telling me that she knew something was wrong,” Maxx says, his voice heavy with melancholy. I keep thinking about my sister and how devastated she must be, but it looks like X is hurting pretty badly, too. My heart aches for them both, and also, selfishly, I get a jealous tummy ache that makes me furious with myself.
