The Natural History of Us (22 page)

The sound of Annabeth's nasal yap shut that down.

Tugging harder on her hand, I increased my pace, wanting to get to my room before the step-witch figured out we were here. That was just what I needed. For her to see Peyton, and find some new way to humiliate me. Next to me, Peyton hurried her steps, sensing my unease.

A half a foot away from my bedroom door, my brother darted out of his.

“Justin!” Chase launched himself into my arms and I dropped Peyton's hand to catch him. “Did'ja hear? Did'ja hear? I get to meet Mickey! I'm gonna meet Mickey!”

Huge brown eyes stared at me with liquid joy and my anger melted. I'd kill for this kid. Readjusting his light weight on my hip, I gave him my full attention. “Mickey, huh? Man, that's awesome. Someone must love you a lot.”

He beamed at me. It was a game we played. Whenever anything remotely good happened, he'd run into my arms and I'd remind him how much he was loved. How special he was. Lord knows he wasn't hearing it regularly anywhere else.

“Think he'll give me any
cheese
?”

Just the thought had Chase's smile bordering on the slightly manic and I had to choke back a laugh. Peyton chuckled quietly behind me.

“You know, bud, anything's possible. But if he gives you any, you better save me a piece, okay?” When he nodded, he did so with his entire body, and I ruffled his hair before setting him on the ground.

“I'm pretty jealous,” I told him, only half-way teasing. Honestly, I could give a rat's ass about a six-foot cartoon character, but I hated missing this experience with him. “You're gonna have a blast in Disney World.”

Like most ankle-biters, my brother lived and breathed Disney. Seeing his face when he met Mickey or Goofy or whoever else floated around that place would've been cool. Not that I was surprised by the lack of invite. I was just the unwanted step-son.

As Chase ducked back into his room, screaming the theme song from Jake and the Never Land Pirates at the top of his lungs, I raised my voice so he could hear, “Make sure you take lots of pictures!”

“Oh good, you're here.” At the nasal voice floating down the hall, the smile fell from my face. Begrudgingly, I turned to confront the spawn of hell.

Annabeth
click-clacked
toward me in four-inch heels, typing away on her phone. “Your father got added to a panel in Orlando at the last minute, so we're joining him there for a little vacay. We leave in a few hours.”

At her fast and loose use of the word “we” I couldn't help but say, “Oh yippee! Guess I better run along now and pack, huh?”

My stepmother rolled her eyes. “Please. Like you want to spend Easter break with a talking rodent.”

When she finally raised her head to glare at me, Annabeth noticed the girl at my side. Shock filled her face before her lip curled, and after giving Peyton a cold once over, she said, “Besides, with us gone you'll have the house to yourself to…
do
whatever you want in peace.” Turning up her nose with thinly veiled disgust, she added, “Do try not to burn the place down.”

And with that helpful nugget of parental wisdom, and a final scathing look at my girl, Annabeth exited the hall. It took everything in me not to kick a hole in the wall.

“Holy crap.” Peyton's mouth hung open, eyelashes blinking. “That… that...”

Her eyes narrowed as her hands fisted at her sides, and if this had been a cartoon, fumes would be rising from her ears. She was seconds away from going nuclear. To tell you the truth, it was sexy as hell. But when she tucked her chin and leaned forward, clearly ready to take off after my stepmother, I grabbed her hand and hauled her into my room.

“Damn, you're feisty,” I said, shutting my door with a low chuckle. She'd gone a little crazy the day I'd finally told her about my dad and messed up upbringing. Peyton might've looked sweet and innocent, but she rocked a hardcore inner fire. “Just ignore her, Sunshine. I know I do.”

“But you shouldn't have to!” Throwing her hands in the air, Peyton walked the length of my room. “That woman is a mother?
Seriously
? That should be illegal! And that poor adorable little boy... how in the hell is he so sweet with that... that
monster
providing half his genes?!”

Feisty and protective was a sexy combination.

Biting the inside of my cheek to subdue my smile, I replied, “He takes after his kickass brother, obviously.” Then, plopping said ass on the bed, I patted the mattress beside me. “Seriously, baby, I'm fine. Who needs Disney World? I couldn't go anyway. With school out, your dad scheduled a practice for tomorrow, and I'd never let him down, so see? No big deal.”

Only, I couldn't seem to force my face to match my words. I was used to quiet. Most days, it was better than Annabeth flitting around, spending my father's money and pretending she was mother of the year. But school didn't start back up until
Wednesday
. That was a whole lot of quiet.

Peyton growled, not buying my act for a second, and jutted her hip against my bookshelf. Eyes narrowed, she mumbled curses under her breath—or what passed as curses for her—and I turned on my side to face her. She was seriously pissed.

Nobody had given a shit about me, not really, not since I had lived with my grandparents. That was years ago. That this sweet girl was so worked up over me boggled my mind. But I liked it. Probably too much.

“Why don't we put all that aggression to use?” I suggested, trying to get things back to a normal footing. I didn't do serious—but I rocked at casual hookups. I patted the mattress again. “I'm sure there's something we can do to distract ourselves...”

I raised my eyebrows and Peyton laughed like I was a dork. Not the result I intended. But when her peaches and cream cheeks warmed with a blush, I counted it as a win. Rolling her eyes, she tromped over and went to give my shoulder a playful
shove, but I reached out and snaked my fingers around the delicate bones of her wrist, tumbling her onto the bed.

“Oomph!”

Peyton's blush deepened as she wiggled on the bedspread beside me. Curiosity widened her eyes, but the underlying affection was what got me. And with her wild hair spread out over my pillow, I swore she'd never looked hotter.

“Listen, it doesn't bother me, okay?” I smoothed the hair away from her face, addicted to the feel of her skin, and her eyes searched mine, obviously not believing me. Damn, she was smart. And loyal. And way too good for me.

My mouth lifted into a smile, this time a real one. “I'm used to it by now. As long as you come by and see me a couple times, I'm all good. I promise.”

Peyton frowned, and I swear, it was like I could hear the wheels turning in her brain. I already knew she was stubborn, determined, and on a mission to save me. Knowing she was planning something… no lie, it made me nervous. When she bolted upright, nearly knocking me out with a head butt to the chin, I figured I had every right to be.

“Oh, you'll see a lot more of me than that,” she declared, pushing up to her elbows.

Say what
?

“Uh, Sunshine, not that I don't love where your head's at right now—because I totally do. But we don't have—”

A pillow to the head shut me up.

“Not like
that
,” she said with an amused sigh. “God, you're such a horn dog!”

“Guilty as charged,” I said with a laugh, and threw the pillow near the headboard. “But there's a pet name for me. Sunshine and Horn Dog. Has a certain ring to it, I think.”

My dirty little secret: making Peyton laugh was my new favorite hobby. I preferred it even to baseball, so when she
tossed her head back, musical notes combining with groans at my ceiling, the crap with my parents flittered away.

This, right here, was all I needed.

Mumbling about boys, hormones, and one-track minds, Peyton tramped over to my closet. She yanked the door open and I watched, amused, as she pulled out a duffle bag and began throwing random shit inside.

“Just curious,” I called from my prone position on the bed, “but what exactly are you doing?”

“Packing,” she called back, like it should be obvious. Which, I guessed it was. I must've missed something.

“And why are you packing again? You heard me say I don't care about Disney, right?”

“Oh, you're not going to Disney.”

“Uh huh.” Women were weird creatures. “Then if I'm not going to Disney… can I ask where it is I am going?”

In response, Peyton tossed the opened bag on my bed, placed her hands on her hips, and smiled so wide I feared her face would crack. “Yep. You're moving in with me.”

The
clock on the wall was broken. Useless piece of junk. I'd been standing by the window for an eternity, staring out into the quiet, car-less night, yet the stupid digital read-out claimed only two minutes had passed since I last checked.

I called shenanigans.

“Relax, honey.” Mama smiled a secret smile and stole a glance at my dad. She didn't know Justin and I were together, but it was pretty obvious she thought I had a crush. Her side of the bookshelf was stuffed full of red-spined romances, and knowing her, she'd be in matchmaking mode this weekend. I'd have to remember to warn Justin.

Sliding another cookie onto the tray, she asked, “Justin likes chocolate chip, right?” Spatula in the air, she frowned at the cooling rack of goods. “Or maybe I should've gone with chocolate chunk?”

The woman and her baking. It was a wonder I wasn't the size of a hippo.

“I told you, Mama, we're friends. How am I supposed to know his favorite cookie? You act like I know the guy's shoe size.”

Size 11. That tidbit was obtained when I'd packed his bag earlier because, as we'd already established, I was a borderline stalker when it came to Justin Carter.

Mama so didn't need to know that.

“Cookies are cookies,” I told her, softening my words with a smile since it wasn't her fault the dang clock was broken. “He's a growing boy so I doubt he'll care either way. If it's edible, he'll devour it.”

Dad snorted his agreement and I turned back to the window.

Where is he
?

When I'd left Justin's house two hours ago, Rosalyn had promised she'd drop him off on the way to the airport. He'd chosen to stay behind and help Chase finish his packing, which made me happy for two reasons. One, because watching him with that adorable little boy made my cuteness-meter explode. And two, because I needed extra time to prep my parents.

It'd never really been a question that they'd agree. Mama was a total softie and if she was on board, I knew Dad would
be, too. He normally went along with whatever she wanted—‘happy wife, happy life,' he often said. Wise words to live by.

So, once I'd gotten home, I'd casually asked if we'd have room at the table for Easter, dropping the fact that a friend was going to be all alone for the holiday. As expected, Mama pounced on it and invited them to stay the entire weekend.

That was when I'd dropped the friend being a
boy
part of the scenario.

Strangely enough, it didn't much seem to matter. Mama had heard all about Dad's skilled catcher over countless dinners, she'd met him a few times here at the ranch, and most importantly, her big, bleeding heart couldn't stand for anyone to be lonely. Hinting at how horrible his parents were, without going into any specifics of course, had cinched the deal.

For Dad's part, he'd been suspicious at first. Hesitant after that. But thanks to my Oscar-worthy performance, proclaiming my relationship with his catcher to be strictly platonic, he'd approved the plan with flying colors.

My latent guilt was growing palpable.

“I'm proud of you, angel girl,” Dad told me now, hugging me to his side. “I appreciate you watching out for my boys.”