“I might not be so lucky.”
Jess laughs.
“Can I use your phone?” I ask, knowing Lo is probably out of her mind at this point, worrying about Jesse. My phone is dead and forgotten in a pocket somewhere at home.
Jess looks at me, assessing, before flicking his cigarette to the ground. “Sure. It’s inside.”
I follow him inside. The first thing I notice is that it’s pitch-black, the only light coming from the flickering of a candle that sits on top of the coffee table. The second thing I notice is the fact that somehow, it feels even colder inside than it does outside.
Jesse retrieves his phone from the couch and hands it to me before sprawling out, folding his arms behind his head like this is his normal. And fuck, I can’t help but see myself in him. How many times was I without heat or electricity…or food for that matter? How long have they been living like this?
I walk into the kitchen, checking the top of the fridge and the junk drawer, until I find what I’m looking for, stuffing it into the back of my sweats.
“Let’s go,” I say, dropping his phone back on his lap.
“Where?”
“My house.”
“Nah, man. It’s late and this wrestling shit has me beat.”
“Does your sister know the power’s out?”
Jess shrugs. “No idea.”
He isn’t like most high school kids—that much is clear—but he’s still just that. A kid. He wants a warm bed and a hot meal, but he won’t say that shit. I know this because I was this kid. Too stubborn to ask. Too proud to take a handout. And that’s exactly why I won’t leave him here. I just need to present it in a way that doesn’t resemble pity.
“Your sister’s pretty freaked out. I’m sure she wants to see that you’re okay.”
He’s not dumb. He knows my angle. But he nods anyway, taking the out I offered, grabbing his backpack from the floor before stuffing a sweatshirt inside.
“I’ve gotta stop and get some gas.”
“Ride with me. I’ll drop you off at school tomorrow. I have to come back this way anyway.”
Wordlessly, Jess walks over to the door and picks up his board, sticking it underneath his arm.
Once we’re in the truck, we don’t speak. Both too fucking tired to force conversation just for the sake of it. Jess stuffs his earbuds in his ears, leaning his head against the window for the duration of the drive.
As soon as my headlights shine on my house, Lo throws open the door, standing there in my T-shirt and socks up to her knees that I recognize from my little shopping spree with Briar and Mollie, arms folded across her chest.
?
??Annnnd, she’s pissed,” Jesse says with a chuckle, wrapping the cord of his earbuds up before stashing them in his backpack.
We both approach her like a couple of dogs that just shit all over the carpet, but once Jess is within reach, she pulls him in for a hug. “You good?” she asks, holding his cheeks in her hands. He nods, and she ruffles his hair before jerking her chin, telling him without words to wait inside.
“I didn’t touch him,” I say before she gets a chance to speak up. “I exhibited excellent self-control.” It’s technically the truth. I took my anger out on his Range Rover instead of his face.
Lo stares at me intently, and I don’t know whether she’s going to punch me or hug me. She does neither.
“Don’t leave me like that again,” she says, pointing a stern finger at me. “You made me feel like he did. Like I’m a child, incapable of making my own decisions. Like I’m something you…own. I don’t like it. I’ve been taking care of Jess and me all by myself for a long time now.”
The fact that she can even compare me to that piece of shit pisses me off. I get that she’s still raw from that asshole, but she has to see the difference.
“That’s the thing. You don’t have to fucking do it alone.” I reach for her hand, and she lets me pull her into me. Lo wraps her arms around my waist, and I bask in the warmth that seeps into me.
“I don’t know how to do that,” she admits, propping her chin against the center of my chest as she looks up at me.