True (True Believers #1)(42)
Author: Erin McCarthy

He grinned. “Spoken like a true scientist. Maybe one of these days I’ll take it out but I won’t tell you, and I’ll see if you notice. It’ll be like a blind taste test.”

I laughed. “That doesn’t sound right.”

“You know what sounds right?”

“What?”

“I love you.”

I would never get tired of hearing that. Ever. “I love you, too.”

Steam rose around us as we kissed, and I forgot all about my nervousness. I forgot about everything but him.

***

When Jessica got back from the wedding weekend, she looked exhausted, dumping her suitcase down on the floor and crawling into bed, clothes and coat still on. “God, my family wears me out.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, but my voice sounded more perky than sympathetic.

She noticed immediately. “What’s up with you?” she asked, rolling onto her side and studying me. “You look hopped up on caffeine.”

“No. I’m just, you know, happy. Tyler and I are officially boyfriend-girlfriend.”

“Really?” Her eyebrows went up. “Wow. Cool. Good for you.”

“Thanks, Jess.” I grinned, hugging myself.

Kylie came into the room, grinning. “Hey!” She flopped down on Jessica’s bed next to her. “Sigh. What an awesomely, fantastic, magical, wonderland, super-amazing weekend. God, I love Nathan.”

Jessica rolled her eyes. “Can you go on Rory’s bed and gush with her, please? I’m tired. You two can be in love with love together.”

Kylie jumped up and ran over to me. “Are you in love?”

I nodded, feeling ridiculous and thrilled and so far out of my element, yet sharply aware of being alive. “Tyler and I are dating for real. Like you and Nathan.”

She let out a shriek and grabbed my hands, spinning me around until I was dizzy. “That’s awesome!”

We laughed and twirled and I felt carefree in a way I wasn’t sure I had ever experienced before, but that I definitely did not want to let go.

***

On Tuesday we were at Tyler’s, and I was attempting to bake a pie from instructions pulled up on my phone. I was leaving the next day to go home for Thanksgiving, and I had wanted to make something that smacked of Turkey Day for Tyler and his brothers before I left, knowing full well they would not be having a traditional meal like the majority of America. I did cheat and buy a ready-made crust, but as I studiously measured ingredients, I marveled at how disgusting canned pumpkin smelled.

“That looks like cat barf,” Jayden told me, leaning over my shoulder to look into the bowl.

“I know. But trust me, it’s going to taste good.”

“If you say so,” he said doubtfully.

Tyler was sitting at the kitchen table helping Easton with his homework, and their mom was nowhere to be found. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going. The boys had come home from school and she wasn’t there, so there was no telling when she might show up. It made me nervous, I wasn’t going to lie. Somehow I didn’t think she would be thrilled to see me in her kitchen baking a pie. But I was determined to at least try, and if she came home and freaked, I would just leave.

“My dad’s girlfriend is a really good cook,” I told Jayden. “She makes six different pies for Thanksgiving.”

“We had pie at the shelter last year,” he said. “It was apple.”

“The shelter?” I asked, though I knew what he meant. I just didn’t want to believe it.

“Yeah, they give you free food on Thanksgiving.”

“You’re not doing that this year,” Tyler said from the table, his jaw set. “You know I’m pissed Mom took you there. We can afford our own food. She’s just f**king lazy. It’s not right when there are people who really need it.”

Knowing full well that Tyler’s mother spent most of her disability checks on drugs, I figured they probably did need it, but Tyler had his pride.

“She made me go,” Jayden protested, looking confused and miserable. He pushed his glasses up.

“I know, bro. I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at her.”

The back door opened and a guy walked in who looked enough like Tyler to make it clear this was his older brother, Riley. He was a little shorter, a little broader, but they had the same nose, the same eyes.

“You’re mad at Mom? So what the f**k else is new?” He reached out and fist bumped Jayden. “Hey, dude, what’s up?” He reached over and ruffled Easton’s hair. “Hey, little man.”

Tyler got a cuff on the back of the head. Hard. Tyler stood up, clearly prepared to challenge him, both of them grinning, like this was normal.

But Riley had turned his attention to me and the bowl. “Hey, what’s this? There’s a chick in the kitchen and she’s cooking? Someone call the cops, she’s clearly an escapee from a mental institute.”

“Hi,” I said, disarmed by Riley. He was more jittery than Tyler, his smile more superficial.

“This is Rory, my girlfriend,” Tyler told him. “So don’t be a dick.”

“Me?” Riley put his hands on his chest in mock protest. When he peeled off his flannel jacket, I saw he had a tattoo identical to Tyler’s on his bicep. He put his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Rory. I’m Riley.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” We shook and it was a hard grip, one that didn’t seem to notice or care that I was a girl. I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.

“What are you making?”

“Pumpkin pie.” I added the pumpkin spice and cinnamon to the mixture.

His jaw dropped. “No shit?” He shot a grin in Tyler’s direction. “Damn, brother, you done good.”

Tyler looked torn between being pleased and annoyed.

“You got any friends you could fix me up with?” Riley asked me. “That cook? Preferably blond?”

“Don’t answer that,” Tyler said. “None of your friends deserve to be subjected to this ass**le.”

Riley opened his mouth to make an undoubtedly smart-ass response to Tyler when Easton spoke at the table. “Knock knock,” he said.

Everyone looked at him, clearly surprised. “What?” Riley asked.

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?” Tyler asked, looking amused.

“Screw.”

“Screw who?”

“Screw you,” Easton said with a grin, the first one I’d ever seen him sport. When he smiled like that, he looked like he belonged with his brothers, and it made me laugh.