Priceless (Forbidden Men #8)(8)

But she just kept being nicer and nicer to us, which made me leerier and leerier. No one was that nice. Something fishy was going on.

That’s why I was keeping a close eye on her, trying to figure out her ulterior motive.

So while Noel was at work, Caroline was holed up in her room by herself, and Colton was wrapped up in a blanket, watching cartoons in the living room, I wandered toward the kitchen to snoop on her.

Colton had taken to Aspen immediately; it was actually Noel he seemed scared of. Idiot kid. But it’d been three years since we’d really seen our big brother, and Colton didn’t remember him. Noel would do anything for us, though. He was the absolute last person to be wary of. Aspen, on the other hand...

She hummed under her breath as if she was happy while she worked in the kitchen, cooking, get this...supper. Why would she cook us supper every single night when our own mother never had? And why would she be happy about it? Something definitely had to be up with her.

She must’ve sensed me in the doorway, watching her, because she glanced over her shoulder and jumped. “Oh!” Then came out the warm, welcoming smile. It had to be fake. “Hey, Brandt. You want to help?”

I shrugged and pushed away from the doorframe. “Sure. What do you need me to do?”

This was good. I could get in close, right under the radar in the guise of helping, and figure out what she was up to.

She opened a cabinet and pulled out some plates before piling them into my arms to set the table.

As I went to work, setting a plate in front of each chair, she asked how everything was going.

With another shrug, I answered, “Fine.”

“Miss your friends from home yet?”

I mumbled an answer because I wasn’t sure if I’d honestly left anyone behind to miss. So far, nope. All the most important people in my life were here in this house with me...and her.

“You know, if you want, you can borrow my computer, go online and get in contact with some of them. That’s totally fine, any time you like.”

I nodded. “Thanks.” I still couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to contact, but I added, “I might take you up on that.” Maybe I could do a little research on Aspen Kavanagh, see if I could dig up any good dirt on her.

She waved me off, telling me I didn’t need to help her anymore, so I wandered toward the front room until I reached her computer. My first Google hit led to her LinkedIn account, saying she was an English professor at the college Noel attended. That was strange. She didn’t look old enough to be any kind of college professor, and besides, I’d seen her searching the newspaper for jobs, meaning she was unemployed, so I figured that page was for another Aspen Kavanagh.

I logged onto Facebook to check her out. The profile picture for the only Aspen Kavanagh I could find showed some literary quote, and that Aspen wasn’t friends with Noel, so I figured it was the account for the other teacher-Aspen. I was about to leave Facebook when a friend request popped up from a Sarah Arnosta.

I squinted at the name, trying to figure out how I knew her. Her pic showed flowers—typical—and her page was private, meaning I couldn’t get any other details without accepting her request. So, I did.

We didn’t have any friends in common, so I popped her a quick message, asking her who she was.

She told me she was Mason’s sister, which made me glance around the room and ask, “Who the f*ck is Mason?”

After typing the question, she answered quickly.

He works at the Forbidden Nightclub with your brother Noel.

Oh... right. Now I remembered Mason. At least I think I did. Noel had taken us to some barbecue picnic thing with a few of his coworkers over the weekend, and I was pretty sure I knew which one Mason was.

He’s the one that has the hot brunette girlfriend with the nose ring, right?

A second later, a little bubble popped up, telling me she was typing.

We call the hot brunette with the nose ring Reese, but yeah. That would be them!

I grinned. Mason’s sister seemed cool. But I still wasn’t sure why she’d picked me to befriend. I did a quick check on her page and saw that she hadn’t friended Noel, so she wasn’t the type to just befriend everyone.

But she answered my question before I could even ask. Reese said one of Noel’s brothers would be transferring to my middle school next week. I’m guessing that would be you.

Oh, so she was my age. Sweet. Maybe I could actually get to know someone before starting a new school. I hadn’t exactly been looking forward to the first day.

Unfortunately, yes, that’s me, I typed. Not that I’m excited to start a new f*cking school.

Sarah sent a sympathetic frowny icon and said, Who is? I’ve only been here since January. We moved from Florida, and the first day sucked big time. I thought I was going to throw up I was so nervous.

I nodded, glad she got it. Hoping maybe I could get a little intel from her about Aspen, I began to fish a little.

Do you know why we had to move here? I asked.

No. That’s why I was super curious and went snooping on your page. Sorry for being snoopy, by the way. I just know Noel was the guy who worked with Mason that was sleeping with his teacher and got her fired.

My jaw dropped. But...what? Noel slept with a teacher? No...well...

No!

No way.

Before I could tell her she was whack, she kept typing.