My Sweet Escape Read online

  “Hold up, dude,” Taylor said, poking him in the stomach and snatching the list. “Not all of us can just pick out whatever books we want.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. Hunter had pulled all new books off the shelves, ones that were still wrapped in plastic. There was no way I could afford those. I’d have to get used ones, and even then it was going to be tight.

  Taylor started pulling books off the shelves, all with that bright yellow USED sticker on them. She flipped through to make sure they didn’t have strange stains, or missing pages.

  “This one okay?” She held one up and I flipped through it. Only a few of the pages were bent, and the spine was fine. I nodded and she put it into the basket Hunter was holding. Who knew getting textbooks would turn into an exercise of humiliation?

  “Why don’t you go see if you can find these?” She tore the list in half and shoved him toward the next shelf. Once he was gone she gave me a smile.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” I said, staring at the books as if I was looking for one when really, I didn’t even know what the titles said.

  “No, it’s fine. I know how it feels, believe me. Been there, done that. How’s this one?” She handed me another used book and I found a mysterious brown stain on one of the back pages.

  “I don’t even want to speculate what that is,” she said, holding the book in the tips of her fingers and putting it back. We got the rest of my list and filled the basket.

  “Now this is one of those times when it really does pay to have a strong guy around.” We’d both tried to lift the basket, but it wasn’t happening. As if she’d said his name, Hunter came around the corner with another equally full basket that he carried with no problem.

  “Did my ears deceive me? Did you order a strong man?” he said with a cocky grin. Yep, Renee hadn’t been exaggerating. He was a stunner.

  “Shut up and carry this for me.” She kicked the basket toward him. Hunter looked over his shoulder.

  “Hey, Dusty, you wanna give me a hand, man?”

  “Sure,” a guy said, coming around the corner. “Hey, Tay,” he said, smiling at Taylor. “And...Red, we meet again,” he said with an even wider smile for me. Seriously?

  “You two know each other?” Taylor said, giving me a look. I knew what that look meant, and I knew what it implied, and I had to shut that down before it went any further.

  “No,” I said at the same time the guy, who was apparently named Dusty, said, “yes.”

  “We’re acquainted,” Dusty said with another wink. Jesus, he thought he was God’s gift, didn’t he?

  “We met. Once,” I tried to clarify.

  “Where?” Taylor said. Hunter hadn’t said anything, but he was looking at Dusty and then looking at me, and I could feel my ears getting hot. One of the major downsides of being a redhead is that when you get uncomfortable or embarrassed, you broadcast it to the world. Which was what I was currently doing. Dusty seemed to get a kick out of it. D-bag.

  “It was at the hospital the other night. So, um, I think that’s everything. We should probably go,” I said, leaning down to pick up the basket. I was determined to get it myself. A set of arms beat me to it.

  “Let me get that, little lady,” Dusty said as I looked up to find our faces only inches apart. He laughed a little under his breath and I stood up so fast the blood rushed to my head.

  “I don’t need your help.”

  He looked like he was going to make a snappy comeback, but he just ducked his head.

  “Well, you’ve got it anyway.”

  “Okay, then. Ready to go?” Taylor said, taking my arm and steering me toward the checkout counter. I heard Hunter and Dusty talking behind me and I distinctly heard Hunter tell Dusty my name. Like it was any of his business.

  After I checked out and gave the UMaine bookstore a good chunk of my bank account, we carried the books back to Hunter’s car. Of course, being the always-helpful guy he was, Dusty had to come, too.

  “So Hunter tells me you’re enrolling here,” he said as we put the books in the trunk. Taylor and Hunter were deep in discussion, probably about me.

  I just nodded.

  He leaned against the car. “Look, I appreciate you’ve got this whole ‘don’t touch me, don’t look at me, don’t even fucking think about me’ thing going on, but I’m just trying to be nice. You could, you know, thank me for it.”

  “Thank you,” I said, giving him a completely fake smile. Yes, I knew I was being a complete asshole to this guy, but there was something about him that just made me grit my teeth. There was also something familiar that had gotten under my skin and was itching like crazy.

  He shook his head.

  “Okay, fine.” He started to walk away.

  “Hey,” I said, and he stopped. “I’m sorry I’m such an asshole. It’s kind of my thing.” I laughed at the truth of it.

  “No, I don’t think it is,” he said, looking at me intently with those green eyes that seemed to see everything. “See you tomorrow, Hunter?”

  “Right,” Hunter said, as if he’d just remembered something. “Tomorrow.”

  “’Bye, Red,” Dusty said, walking backward with his hands in his pockets.

  “’Bye,” I said, closing the trunk of the car.

  “What in the hell was that?” Taylor said, crossing her arms and giving me a look that was almost exactly like Renee’s. Damn, those two had rubbed off on each other.

  “Nothing,” I said, trying to get into the car.

  “You guys hungry?” Hunter said, in a blatantly obvious way of trying to divert attention.

  “I don’t know what you’re making such a big deal of,” I said, getting into the backseat. “We met at the hospital for, like, five seconds. End of story. Am I not allowed to talk to people now? Is that part of the unwritten rules my sister didn’t tell me about?”

  Hunter gave Taylor a look, and she shook her head.

  “Never mind. I overreacted. I have a tendency to do that, just so you know,” she said.

  “No, really?” Hunter said, and she smacked him and turned on the music, leading to another argument about song choice.

  What were the chances that I’d encounter Dusty all that much, anyway? I mean, he and Hunter were friends, obviously, but UMaine was a huge campus. Besides, if he ever came to the house, I could just hide in the basement if I had to. Or escape somewhere, if Renee would let me. She had to loosen the reins at some point. And who really cared if I saw him again? It wasn’t like he affected me or anything. He was just a guy.

  Just a guy.

  Chapter 6

  Sunday was chore day at Yellowfield House. Lovable control freak as always, Darah had added the list of chores and everyone got their fair share, including a rotational schedule so no one had to do the same thing over and over. The funny thing was that they all followed it without question. Like she was their mom and giving out gold stars and higher allowances for each one they completed.

  “I figured you’d need another week to settle in, but next week you’re on the list,” Darah said, as if she was offering me a plate of those amazing snickerdoodles.

  “Great,” I said with a smile that was totally forced. Not that I wanted to be a mooch, but they seemed to have everything in hand. I kept my room and bathroom clean and helped with the dishes. They kept trying to integrate me into the machine of the house, and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I wasn’t a part of it, not really.

  They were all helping pay for the house. I was just an inconvenience that had been pushed on them. The annoying kid sister.

  By late morning all the chores were done, and the already-spotless house was even more spotless. I did my first load of laundry, and everyone settled into their own activities. Renee was having a “Call of Duty” tournament with a few of Hunter and Mase’s friends, Dev
and Sean, and Darah was catching up on homework and Taylor was reading some vampire book on her e-reader while Hunter played his guitar.

  Renee had told me he was some kind of musical genius who could play practically any song. At the moment he was playing anything that Taylor yelled out, including Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Seal and Matchbox Twenty.

  I changed my laundry over to the dryer and was about to sit back down and watch the “Call of Duty” battle when we all heard the doorbell ring.

  “Got it,” Hunter said, getting up and rushing to the door as if he was trying to beat everyone else. No one else had even gotten up. Weird.

  “Hey, man, you know you don’t have to ring the bell. It’s always open.” He stepped aside to let the person in, and I glanced at the doorway.

  “I know, but I have this thing for doorbells,” a familiar voice said before a familiar person walked through the door. Dusty.

  I was surprised to see him, but he didn’t seem surprised at all.

  “Red,” he said, giving me a little bow. “Nice to see you again.” I looked at Hunter, who was trying not to look at me. Something clicked in my brain. Dusty had said he’d see Hunter tomorrow. Well, that day was today. Hmm, Hunter hadn’t said anything about Dusty coming over. Wonder why that was?

  “Hey, Sharp!” Mase yelled as something exploded and Dev groaned and threw his controller.

  “Hey,” Dusty said, coming in and sitting down on the couch as if he’d done it a million times before. He was also sitting in my spot. “‘Call of Duty’ again? How bad are you losing?”

  Mase grumbled as I looked at Hunter. He stepped around me and went to sit back on the recliner. I had no choice but to go and lean against the arm of the couch.

  “Oh, Dusty, this is my sister Jos,” Renee said, barely glancing up from the game. She had a one-track mind when she was playing.

  “We’ve met,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me and then back to the game.

  “When?” Renee said, moving her whole body as she moved the controller, as if that would make some difference. I’d always threatened to video her while she was doing it for future blackmail use.

  “I can’t quite recall. Where was it that we met?” I couldn’t glare at him with everyone watching, so I had to settle for clenching my teeth. He knew very well where we had met. He was totally screwing with me in front of everyone. Oh, two could play that game. I wasn’t a redhead for nothing.

  “That’s right. It was at the hospital, and you needed to know the way to the pharmacy. Has the itching on your junk finally gone away?” I stage-whispered the last part and motioned in the general area.

  Dusty’s eyes went wide for just a second before they narrowed and a grin spread across his face. Everyone else started laughing nervously, wondering if I was being serious or not. They didn’t know me well enough yet. Of course Renee just rolled her eyes.

  “TMI, dude,” Mase said, shaking his head, and Dev tried to slide away from Dusty on the couch.

  “Well played, Red. Well played.” He started a slow clap while he laughed. “Yes, my junk is now itch-free.” He shifted on the couch, adjusting his pants. Seriously, how did his pants stay up? It was one of those mysteries science had yet to solve. Like where your missing socks went when you put them in the dryer. He cleared his throat when he caught me staring at his pants. Jesus, he probably thought I was trying to check out his junk. Not that I could even see it...

  “On that note,” Hunter said, clearing his throat and giving me a look before grabbing his guitar again. “Okay, requests are now open from anyone but Taylor.”

  “Hey!” she protested, glancing up from her book.

  “Sorry, Miss, it’s time for someone else to abuse my musical genius.”

  “Fine,” she said, going back to her e-reader, but she gave him a little wink before she did it. Everyone else seemed too wrapped up in what they were doing, or was busy trying to think of a song.

  “‘Sunday Morning,’” I blurted out. It was the first thing that came to mind.

  Hunter looked up from the guitar. “Maroon 5?”

  “Yeah.” He smiled and looked over at Dusty. “Can you give me a beat on that?” Dusty nodded and sat up. After thinking for a second, he started making sounds with his mouth. Not just sounds. Beat boxing. Hunter listened for a second and then started strumming as Dusty layered on more sounds until it was like he was creating an entire percussion section for the song with only his mouth.

  I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from rising, but no one else seemed surprised. Dusty turned his head, and I made my face neutral, but he still sort of grinned at me anyway. Cocky much? Hunter started singing, and I tried to find a comfortable way to lean on the arm of the couch while also pretending to be interested in the explosions and chaos happening on the television. I would rather set my hair on fire than ask Dusty for his seat, or give him the satisfaction of going to the dining room to get a chair. Should have just stayed in my cave.

  Okay, so Dusty was really good at beat boxing, not that I was an expert, by any means. He made sounds with his mouth that I didn’t know a human could make. So what? There were a million people online who could do the same thing. It wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t anything to swoon over. He wasn’t anything to swoon over.

  They finished the song, and Dusty did a fancy noise that sounded like a cymbal crash and reverberation.

  “Good enough for you?” Dusty said, turning to face me.

  “Meh,” I said, shrugging one shoulder and turning back to the television as Renee screamed and jumped up and down and all the guys groaned and threw their controllers down.

  “Take that, bitches,” Renee said, pointing at them. “In your face.” She started doing a dance that was somewhere between slutty club dancing and a weird touchdown dance hybrid. The guys all booed and threw things at her. I just shook my head. That was my sister.

  “I’m hoping those moves are genetic,” said a voice so close that I slid off my perch on the arm of the couch. Luckily, I was able to catch myself before my butt hit the floor. Everyone else was too distracted by Renee’s victory dance.

  “You know it’s rude to sneak up behind people,” I said, turning to face Dusty, who had somehow managed to get off the couch and creep up behind me.

  “You know it’s rude to tell everyone that a fellow has a rash on his dick when he doesn’t.” He crossed his arms and leaned down, challenging me. “So what do you have to say to that, Red?”

  Yeah, should have stayed in my cave.

  “Nothing. I have nothing to say to you.”

  Fortunately, Mase interrupted us.

  “Little Ne, you want to take a turn?” The video-game-master gene seemed to have skipped me and just been concentrated in Renee. I turned away from Dusty. Hunter was watching us with fascination. Ugh, that was the last thing I needed.

  “No, I’m good,” I said, stepping around Dusty and taking the seat he’d vacated on the couch and claiming it as mine. I shot him a smile, and he just pretended to clap again before going to the kitchen and dragging in one of the dining room chairs.

  * * *

  Renee was still kicking ass when my phone rang with a call from Mom. Just what I needed. I got up from the couch and headed for my cave. No way I was talking to her in front of everyone.

  “Hey, Mom.” I heard screaming in the background, but that was par for the course. Mom always called me when she was doing a million other things.

  “Hey, Jos.” Her voice was tense, but less tense than it had been earlier in the week. We’d somehow made our way onto less-shaky ground, but that didn’t mean she was any less pissed at me. “You ready to start classes tomorrow?” A shriek meant that she was probably taking something away from one of the twins.

  “As I’ll ever be.” I didn’t have a choice. They wouldn’t even let me drop o
ut when I’d suggested it as a potential solution to my academic implosion. I could get a place and a job and then they’d get off my back. I wouldn’t waste their money—or the government’s. Win-win situation. Or so I’d thought. Mom had acted like I’d just told her I’d brutally slaughtered a bunch of people, and Dad just hung up on me when I pitched it to him after striking out with her. And Renee had threatened to strangle me for even mentioning it.

  “Well, I want a full report when you get back, you hear? I swear, if I get a call from your sister telling me that you’ve skipped, there will be hell to pay.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “Okay, then. No, you cannot have cookies for dinner. How many times do I have to tell you that?” I waited for her to be done yelling at whichever of my siblings had the audacity to want cookies for dinner.

  “Listen, I’ve got a tantrum brewing here, and Chuck is working late, so I’m on my own. Can I call you later?”

  “Yeah, sure.” She never would.

  “’Bye, Jos. Say goodbye to Jos, everybody!” She must have held the phone up, and I heard a chorus of my siblings saying goodbye.

  “’Bye, everybody,” I yelled back. Then the chaos resumed and then the call died. So much for that. I put my phone back in my pocket and went up the stairs.

  Hunter and Dusty were going crazy with a rendition of “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees. Dusty was also banging out the rhythm on his chair. The video game had been abandoned, and everyone else was humming along, including Renee. I stood back and hovered, not wanting to bust into the musical bubble. The song ended and Renee gave me a look. She probably wanted a play-by-play of the conversation with Mom. It wasn’t really anything earth-shattering, so I just sat back down on the couch as they finished the song.

  “Okay, my turn. ‘Scream,’ Usher. Go,” Dusty said before starting a set of vocal gymnastics that were even more impressive than what I’d heard already. Okay, okay, you’re talented. We get the message. As soon as Hunter started singing, Mase jumped up and started dancing. Dev hopped up and they somehow managed to dance in the small space without breaking anything. I would have thought Darah would have been tweaking out about the possibility of one of the carefully arranged pictures or vases or any of the other really nice things being smashed by her boyfriend’s sick dance moves, but she just smiled and watched with her chin in her hands. Idiots. They were all idiots.