Faked (Ward Family #2)(11)

"Finn told us you offered to step in his place, son," he said. "I know this isn't your scene."

Claire gave me a sideways glance when I laughed.

"No, it's not." I met her midnight blue eyes. "But I can think of worse ways to spend the evening."

An awkward pulse of silence fell in our little group until Adele cleared her throat. She and my dad shared a brief look.

"Lia, would you like anything to drink?" my dad asked. "I was just going to head to the bar."

She smiled. "I won't say no to that."

It was disconcerting how easily she'd slid into her sister's persona at the appearance of my parents. They walked away, leaving me with Adele.

"We're honored that Finn's best friend was willing to join us this evening."

I gave her a small smile. "Lia would do anything for him, wouldn't she?"

Adele exhaled heavily. "Please don't make a scene, Bauer. Tonight is important for the center, and your father and I. Lia is a big part of that."

For the second time that day, someone in my family felt the need to remind me that I better not screw this up for them.

All I did was stare at her.

She stared right back. "Considering what you've already managed to accomplish this week, I figured you should be reminded."

There it was, the ding I was waiting for.

"There are always two sides to a story, Adele." I kept my tone light.

Her laughter was airy and unaffected, and anyone walking past us would think we were having a grand ole time. "With you? Of course, there is. But tonight, your problem of maintaining a sponsor is not on my list of concerns. Just don't offend anyone, especially Lia, okay?"

It was a sharp reminder that Lia was off-limits to me, simply because I was the unwelcome stepson.

Always unwelcome.

Always a nuisance.

And unfortunately for Adele, that just made me want to remind her of all the ways I could ruin an evening.

Just as I opened my mouth to do that, I heard Scotty's voice in my head telling me not to be a dumbass, so instead, I smoothed a careful hand down the black tie around my neck. As fun as pissing my stepmom off might be, it wasn't the reason I was there. Keeping my eyes peeled for someone from Burton was.

She narrowed her eyes, more attuned to my thought process than I realized, because even my ability to keep my mouth shut made her wary.

"You've nothing to worry about, Adele. You'll hardly know I'm here."





Chapter Five





Claire





Have you ever been invited to a costume party? You take the time to plan your outfit, you buy the supplies, perfect the look, and then arrive, only to discover that you're the only one who wasn't in on the secret.

Yes, like Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.

Sitting at the innocuous round table with overpriced food in front of me and a massive floral display blocking my view of the person directly across from me, I was Elle in her bunny costume.

Everyone had been in on some secret that I was unknowingly dumped into, left flailing without a single person to grasp on to for support.

I always knew, abstractly and from vague hints over the years, that Finn and his half-brother weren't close. That he was kind of an outsider, though I figured Lia was prone to exaggeration when she'd said he was an actual delinquent. From what I could remember, Bauer Davis was at least five years older than Finn and from their father's first marriage. It was a strange thing that Lia had always had in common with Finn, a half-sibling from a parents' first try at matrimony. But if this dinner was any indication, that was where the similarities ended.

Our half-brother raised us after Brooke split. He was our brother, our father, and until he married Paige, he had to fill the mother role occasionally. Logan was the most steady, solid presence in our lives, and all four of us knew he'd take a bullet before letting anything happen to us.

But in front of me was playing out a completely different type of family.

Bauer was the outsider.

The black sheep.

The rebel.

In a sea of black ties and decorum, he was covered in ink and attitude.

What I didn't know, and what I couldn't stop trying to uncover as I watched his parents to my right, and him to my left, was whether Bauer had chosen that role, or if it had been chosen for him.

"This chicken is bullshit," he said as he leaned toward me. I caught a whiff of the same scent from the Jeep, spicy and clean and male.

The bite I was currently working on, and had been for a while, lodged in my throat when I choked.

"Bauer." His dad sighed.

He shrugged. "It is."

I tried to keep the smile off my face at the exchange because Lia would not have found it funny. My initial shock at seeing someone other than Finn at the door had morphed into quiet reluctance, then begrudging fascination.

That fascination was why I studied child development in the first place.

What made children become the people they were?

How much was biology? A coding in our genes that we couldn't fight.

And how much was the environment they were raised in? The words spoken to them, the rules they were given, the praise they received, or didn't as was sometimes the case.

Next to me was a grown man. He was tall and strong, unashamed in who he was as a person. But in front of the people who raised him, I watched the flip in his personality like someone had changed the channel on a television.