A Whole New Crowd(83)

Tray’s voice gentled. “You took your sister to rehab and found out a day later that your ex-boyfriend died. It’s okay that you didn’t go see her.”
“They had family sessions.”
“And you didn’t go because you found out your adoption was a lie. You felt like they didn’t want you after all.”
“Kevin was forced to take me and he tricked Shelly into wanting me.” Tray was right. All of it. I shook my head. “I don’t feel like I was there for her.”
“Taryn.” His tone firmed. His eyes darkened. “You were both going through some massive things. Stop feeling guilty. Believe it or not, you can’t save the world. Stop taking on the duties of Wonder Woman when you’re not Wonder Woman.”
I cracked a grin. “It’d be awesome to have those powers.” I frowned. “What powers did she have?”
He chuckled, patting my leg as the car slowed and he turned onto paved driveway. “Does it really matter? Get the lesson here. You’re human. Stop acting like you’re not.”
“Okay, okay.”
The driveway went up a hill and curved to the left. There was dense forest on both sides of us and when we saw the house, I saw the amount of cars and my eyes got big. “For real? There’s like thirty cars down there.” I didn’t waste time. As soon as Tray parked, I was out of the car and into the house. The living room was crowded. I couldn’t get through to the kitchen, but then I growled and the crowd parted. People saw me coming and moved aside. Sweeping through the kitchen, I went to the patio and there she was. Mandy was at a table, sitting on Dylan’s lap. Jennica and Amber were laughing, but the sound shriveled up as I headed for them.
Mandy saw me and sat upright. “Taryn?”
Her surprise punched me in the chest. “You didn’t know?”
Dylan squirmed underneath her. His hand was on her thigh. She was wearing a dress. The hemline rested above his hand and he cupped her skin for a moment before letting out a soft sigh. She turned to him. “Dylan?”
“I invited Evans. Her and him are a deal now, you know.”
“You don’t want me here?”
She looked back to me. Her indecision was clear, then she shook her head. “It’s not that, Taryn. It’s…” She bit her lip and scanned the table. Her friends had varying expressions. Amber seemed expectant of something whereas Jennica couldn’t look away from the doorway behind me. Then Mandy stood up. “Can we talk?”
I nodded, my neck stiff. Following Mandy as she weaved through the crowd, I wasn’t surprised when people shouted their hellos and welcome backs to her. A few saluted her with their cups. When she headed for the stairs, Tray was coming from the kitchen. He paused and his eyes narrowed. An unspoken question passed from him to me, asking what was going on. I lifted a shoulder. I was about to find out.
“Hi, Tray.” Mandy gave him a small wave.
He nodded to her. Then as she started up, his hand stopped me. “You okay?”
People were watching us with confusion and skepticism. When they kept looking at Tray, I had a second realization. They had missed their leader. I’d been monopolizing him. Feeling a pang, I said back, “I will be.”
“Text if you want to go. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Reaching for his hand with mine, I squeezed his in response, then squared my shoulders and headed up the stairs. Mandy was waiting for me in the hallway. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was leaning against a wall. She gestured to a room. “We can go in there. Dylan uses it when he stays here.”
The room had a king-sized bed with a set of couches beside the bed. A side room opened off to the right and I could see a door on the other side that led to a bathroom.
“Where are his parents? And what’s his deal again?”
She laughed softly, sitting down on the bed. Her head lowered and her hands played with her dress. “Um…Dylan goes to school in another state, but he comes back when he can. I told you this before.”
“Are you together?”
“God, Taryn.” Her head lifted and her cheeks were red. “You just dive right in, don’t you?”
I shrugged, leaning against a wall. “I have other questions I want to ask. Believe it or not, this is me trying to hold back.”
“Oh.” She looked back down to her lap. “Yeah. I think so. I don’t know. I dumped Devon.”
“Yeah.” I rolled my eyes, but she couldn’t see it. “I thought you dumped Amber and Jennica too?”
“I did, but they came over last night to welcome me back, see how I was doing,” she looked up again, “and to apologize.”