Something in the Way (Something in the Way #1)(48)

“Yeah,” he said and laughed as if it were some kind of inside joke.

Maybe it was. I didn’t know what an “around-the-way girl” was, but they seemed to. “What mood?” I asked.

Manning looked at something behind me. “Never mind.”

“What are we talking about?” Tiffany asked a second before she fell into Manning’s lap. He oophed, and she put an arm around his neck. “Oh, please. You’re twice my size.”

“Now I see where Lake gets it,” Gary said.

Tiffany flipped her hair over her shoulder, sending a telling waft of Herbal Essences in my direction. There was no sign of the dirt I’d seen earlier, and she had on a full face of makeup. The girl had showered. “Gets what?”

“Playing the boss.”

“I don’t play. I’m bossy, and I make no apologies. How else would I get what I want?” Her eyes twinkled with everyone watching her. She looked up at Manning. “Right, babe?”

“Are you two dating?” Gary asked.

Tiffany looked at Manning, so we all did, too. “No.”

“We’re taking it slow,” Tiffany said.

“It’s cool,” Gary said. “Just leave that stuff at home this week.”

“You have my word, man.” Manning patted Tiffany’s outer thigh. “Up.”

She kissed his cheek and stood, then motioned for me to let her sit. “Scooch.”

I could barely function enough to slide over and share my seat. She just kissed him when she wanted. Hugged him. Sat on him. She didn’t know how lucky she was. I didn’t think I’d ever just reached out and touched him. I looked at my hands, at the dirt in my cuticles from planting trees earlier.

“How’d today go?” Manning asked her.

“Great.”

Her smile was so fake, I couldn’t believe Manning bought it, but he smiled back. “I’m glad. I was worried about you.”

“Aw. Next time come check on me,” she said. “I missed you, and I could’ve used some back up.”

“Thought you said it was all right?”

“It was . . .” She shrugged. “But they’re a little hard to handle.”

“Too bad you aren’t in charge of boys.” Manning stretched his long arm along the back of our chair, his thumb ghosting over my far shoulder. “You’d have no trouble getting them to do what you say.”

Tiffany actually blushed, which was rare. Meanwhile, my heart dropped a thousand miles. Why was he worried about her? Why did she miss him? They didn’t even care about each other. She took a sip from a red Solo cup I hadn’t noticed before.

“What is that?” I asked her.

“Special grapefruit punch.”

I looked in at the pink drink. “With alcohol?”

“Yep. Want some?”

Manning had turned away to talk to Gary. I took the cup from her and sniffed the rim. It didn’t smell like grapefruit. More than once, my dad had come home groaning that he needed a drink. I’d never really had the desire to get drunk, but Tiffany and her friends and mine all made it sound so glamorous. Like fun in a bottle. Much better than feeling like this, jealous of my own sister, invisible to the only man who’d ever seemed to see me.

Still, I wasn’t brave enough to drink it. Camp was no place to be reckless. I wasn’t sure where Tiffany had gotten the alcohol, but it definitely wasn’t allowed.

I went to hand it back when Manning’s arm flew over my head. He grabbed my wrist so fast, punch sloshed over the side onto my top. “Don’t drink that,” he said.

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Oh, come on,” Tiffany whispered. “One sip won’t kill her.”

He turned on Tiffany, keeping my arm firmly in his hand. “What are you doing?”

“What?” she asked. “Our parents aren’t around for once. I just want her to have some fun.”

“That’s your little sister. She looks up to you. If you tell her underage drinking is okay, she’ll believe you.”

My ears burned with embarrassment. I didn’t feel this childish when my parents scolded me. “I’m right here,” I said.

“If she gets caught drinking, you know what’ll happen?” he asked Tiffany. “Did you even think about that?”

She shrunk down. “No.”

Manning lowered his voice. “Gary will kick her out faster than she can apologize.” He looked at me. “He’ll call your parents to come get you. Tonight.”

Going home was the last thing I wanted. I tried pulling my hand back, but I couldn’t even move him. If he was trying to warn or scare me, his grip was having the opposite effect. My insides flurried as I realized the extent of his strength. I wondered if this was why Tiffany sometimes did things she wasn’t supposed to. If she thought this kind of attention was better than none at all.

Tiffany took her drink back. “Sorry, Lake. I’d die if you left me up here by myself for the week.”

Finally, Manning let me go to take the cup from Tiffany. “That goes for you, too. Where’d you even get this?”

“I have my ways.” She pouted. “What about later, when it’s just you and me?”

“No. And don’t bring it up again.”