like a Minerva.”
“Sure I do. With a name like that, I can understand why she goes by Minnie.”
“I bet you can, Delilah.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Ew, don’t call me that.”
“Why not? I think it’s cool.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mmhmm. She was a biblical temptress.”
“Samson’s downfall.”
“You’d better not cut your hair,” she said.
“You’d better not cut it while I’m asleep.”
“Tempting.”
“Wouldn’t put it past you.”
She laughed and I kissed her again. And again. And again.
I blinked up at my mom as she entered my room and sat up, rolling out my shoulder that was stiff from sleeping on the hard floor. By the look on my mom’s face, I could guess why she was here.
“Oh honey. Was she with you all night?” my mom whispered.
I sat up and roughed my hand through my hair and nodded, my gaze seeking out Lila. She was still asleep in my bed and I got the feeling it had been a long time since she’d slept so soundly. Which was why I’d suggested it last night—or rather, in the early hours of the morning. As soon as she’d toed off her sneakers and her head had hit my pillow, she’d fallen sound asleep. I’d debated whether to climb in bed and sleep with her but had opted for my sleeping bag on the floor instead. Not that I was being noble. I was seventeen and I was a guy and she gave me a raging hard-on that was impossible to hide. If I’d crawled into bed behind her, I couldn’t trust myself not to dry hump her in her sleep.
“Don’t wake her,” I said, my tone hushed.
My mom nodded, her smile sad and for a few seconds we both watched Lila sleeping before I followed my mom out of the room. I’d gotten as far as the door when Lila’s sleep-groggy voice stopped me.
“Jude?”
My mom paused in the hallway. Reluctantly, I returned to my bedroom, hating that I would be the first face she saw when her entire world was destroyed. On the other hand, I was glad I could be here for her. My mom and I didn’t have to say the words. Lila sat up in bed, her wavy hair wild, and the look on her face… the devastation on it was something I’d hope to never see again in this lifetime.
“Lila, honey.” My mom’s voice was soft. “Derek’s here, sweetie. I’m so sorry.” My mom’s voice cracked on the words and I could see that she was barely holding it together.
Lila didn’t cry. She didn’t shed one single tear. She shot out of bed and jammed her feet in her sneakers. “I should have been there. I should have been there for her.”
I reached for her, trying to pull her into a hug but she shoved me away and darted out of my room. I chased after her and collided with my dad in the hallway.
“Let her go. Derek’s here for her.”
Physically, he was here but from what I’d seen, he hadn’t been there for Lila or for Caroline. He wasn’t even Lila’s dad but now he was all she had for a parent. A shitty excuse, if you asked me.
Downstairs, I heard the door close then stillness settled on the house and it was so quiet.
Brody’s door opened, and he joined us in the hallway in his boxer briefs, scrubbing his hand over his face. His dirty-blond hair was matted down on one side where he’d slept on it. “What’s going on?” he asked and in the next breath he said, “Oh shit,” reading the situation without having to be told. “Lila’s mom.”
“Watch your language,” my mom told him, more out of habit than anything.
“What happened to Lila’s mom?” Jesse asked, his panicked voice rising a few octaves higher.
I shouldered past my dad, leaving him to deal with my brother. Lila needed me.
In my bare feet, running shorts and T-shirt that I’d slept in, I jogged to her house, the fallen leaves crunching under my feet and walked through the front door that was left wide open.
“Where is she?” Lila screamed from upstairs.
“Calm down.”
“Where is my mom?” Upstairs, a door slammed shut and I heard the sound of something crashing.
“Lila. Stop it!” Derek shouted.
“How could you let them take her?” she shrieked. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Get. Off. Me. Let me go.”
That son of a bitch.
My hands balled into fists and I took the stairs two at a time. Without even stopping to think, I ripped Derek away from her, spun