Beyond What is Given(29)

I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms. “What is so funny?”

“Just a roommate!” She leaned over, holding her stomach. “Oh, you have it so bad, big brother.”

“Just a roommate,” I reiterated, but she headed into the backyard, her laughter louder than before.

Whatever. She could think what she wanted. Yes, I was insanely attracted to Sam, who the hell wouldn’t be? But having it bad? Not in the least.

I opened the freezer and pulled out one of the bottles of creamer, taking note of the manufacturer. Maybe if I ordered a case, they could just have it delivered.

Wait. Was I seriously contemplating this?

“Damn,” I muttered, shoving the bottle back in the freezer.

Bad, indeed.



“Please? Come on, Gray,” Mia cajoled from the Fort Rucker pool. Thank God she had on a one-piece. I would have hated to kill any of the new privates for hitting on my sister. It would have interfered with my class ranking, no doubt. “I’ve been here for three days, and all you do is study! What the heck could be so difficult?”

I flipped another 5&9 card. I was halfway through the stack, and then I’d take another test. As of this morning, I was only three questions short of completing the timed test, and was killing it with one-hundred percent accuracy. Two days to go.

Two more days of Mia investigating every part of my life before we both flew home to Nags Head.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mia,” I reminded her and flipped another card.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Mia,” she mocked me in the way little sisters do and climbed out of the pool. “At least Sam is on her way.”

That got my eyes off the cards. “You invited Sam?”

“She said she’d head over after she finished her tutoring session at the summer school.” Mia wrapped herself in a towel and wrung the water out of her hair.

“She’s getting tutored? That doesn’t sound right. Besides, her classes don’t start until next week.” Monday, in fact. Nine a.m. chemistry, if I remembered her schedule correctly. She’d taped it on the fridge with an adorable, goofy grin.

“No, she’s doing the tutoring. She’s got mad math skills.”

“And a big heart.”

She cracked a grin at me, squinting in the harsh afternoon light. “I thought you were studying?”

I dropped my gaze to the flashcards. Tutoring. Sam may have made some huge mistakes, but the way she’d stopped the spiral and started digging herself out meant a hell of a lot more to me than what got her there. Whatever it was.

That was the measure of a person to me. Not the shit they pulled, but the way they recovered from it, like when Jagger had taken the blame for us with that damn polar bear statue. The hardest thing I’d ever done was to march into that office, lay my shit bare, and risk everything I’d fought so hard for, but he wasn’t going to fall on my sword.

“What is that?” Mia pointed to my flashcards. Shit.

I moved to throw them into my bag, but she caught them with those freakish, catlike reflexes of hers. She opened to a random card, and I cringed. “Fuel pressure limitations on…”

Her inhaled breath may as well have been the shot heard ’round the world.

“Are you…” Her eyes flew to mine, and I lowered my sunglasses, my chest instantly tight.

“Am I?” I challenged her.

“Dad is going to kill you.” She narrowed her eyes in my direction.

“I quit seeking Dad’s approval years ago.” I held out my hand and waited, though every nerve ending itched to rip the study guide from her fingers. Tension coiled beneath my skin. “You’re eighteen now, Mia. Legally an adult and headed to UNC in a couple months. Are you really going to tell me that your life is going to be about what Mom and Dad want?”

She sighed, then gave me the cards back. “You can’t lie to them.”

I didn’t blink. “I never have.”

“This is a lie of omission.” She folded her arms under her chest.

“This has always been the plan.” I stood, tired of feeling like Mia had the moral and physical higher ground.

“The plan…changed.” Her voice dropped.

“No, everyone wanted the plan to change.” Because they don’t have something to prove like I do. She shook her head at me, but I cut her off before she got a word out. “Do you really want to go there? Constance, Joey, hell, even Parker have all given me their godlike opinion. Are you ready to throw your hat in that ring?” She flinched. Fuck. I’d never taken that tone with Mia. How the hell was I going to make her understand? “This is all I have.” Even my throat was tight, and it took effort to force out every word. “This is it. I’m here working my butt off, and when I’m not, I’m back in Nags Head with Grace. Forgive me, if I want just one thing for myself.”

Her face fell. “Gray…”

“I’m not asking for your approval, or your understanding. I’ll tell them after graduation. He’ll need me to prove myself.”

She got that stubborn look on her face, the one she’d had since she was two, scrunching her nose. “Fine.”

“That’s why you’re my favorite sister,” I said and turned around to grab my flash cards.