it. She was staying for me. She knew I knew, but I wasn’t going to say anything. So we got into bed and said goodnight and I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything but how much I wanted to call Stryker and talk to him. Even if he wouldn’t talk back.
Chapter Sixteen
Stryker
I knew I was going to see Zan the next day and I knew he would be able to see what I’d done written on my face, so I skipped class and stayed at my apartment. Not that I would have been able to go, even if I’d wanted to. “Hung over” was an understatement. I was still hanging. I was also still hating myself for the night before. I checked my phone, but there were no messages from Ric, which was good, and there were a lot of messages from Trish, Zan and the rest of the crew, which was bad.
I wasn’t going to be able to avoid them forever, but maybe I could get one more day.
That one day lasted until two in the afternoon when my sister burst through my door and slammed it shut behind her.
“You have got to be out of your fucking mind,” she said storming over the couch where I’d been tuning my violin. Hurricane Trish had arrived and she was pissed. Nostril-flaringly, violet eye-buggingly pissed.
“You slept with Ric?” That didn’t take long to get out. Trish came over and smacked me on the chest.
“Ouch,” I said, putting my violin back in the case. I didn’t want it to get damaged.
“That’s all you have to say, asshole?” She smacked me again and crashed down next to me on the couch.
“Who told you?”
“Well Ric couldn’t keep her mouth shut, and she told Zo and Zo told me. I wanted to believe it wasn’t true, but even Ric couldn’t make that up. Please tell me you’ve been to the doctor and that you have multiple personalities, or brain damage, or something to explain this excessively stupid thing you’ve done.”
“Nope.” I flinched back before she could hit me again. “Just doing what I do best.”
Trish glared at me so hard her eyes were just slits. I stared right back at her, not breaking eye contact. Her eyes widened suddenly, snapping open like shades being yanked upward.
“You have got to be kidding me.” She got a hit in this time. Her jaw dropped as I tried to figure out what had gotten her so shocked. It couldn’t have been what I just said. There was something else she’d seen that had shocked her.
“What?” I said, not sure if I wanted to know what revelation had made her look like that.
And then she opened her mouth and said the last thing I ever thought she would say. “Oh. My. GOD. You love her. You fucking love her.”
I nearly fell off the couch. It was a good thing I’d put the violin away because I might have crushed it in my hand.
“W-what?” I stuttered. Trish leaned over and grabbed my face between her hands and stared into my eyes, searching for something. I was too out of it to stop her.
“You. Love. Her.” Each word was like a punch she delivered to my brain with brass knuckles.
Those three words made me come to my senses. I shoved Trish away and got off the couch. I didn’t know where I was going, but I had to get away from her and what she was saying. I stumbled backward, nearly crashing into my standing bass.
“Aha!” Trish said, pointing my finger as if she was accusing me of a crime. “You love Katie. That’s why you slept with Ric. Oh, Stryk. You are in so much trouble.” She shook her head sadly and then grinned at me.
“I do not love her,” I said, nearly choking on the words.
“Yeah, you do, brother. We may not have twindar, but I I know you pretty well and I know what I see and I know how your mind works.”
“It’s not like that, Trish. I just fucked her a bunch of times and got tired of it. That’s all.”
She smirked at me and ran her fingers through her hair, which was fading and needed to be re-colored.
“Wow. You are so gone. I knew it. I knew it.”
“You can think whatever you want to think, Trishella, but you’re way off.” I knew using her full name would piss her off and might change the subject.