Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,39

have to be far. Just get out of town to take your mind off of it and let this all cool down.”

We look at each other. Can we all just skip town and have fun together? Drama free?

Noah’s the first to speak. “If my mom doesn’t kill me I am so in!”

What seems like a collective sigh of relief escapes us as everyone jumps in, admitting that it’s a good idea. Even Aiden admits it would be good to get away from everything and let the twins have fun, if it doesn’t ruin everything with the social workers checking in with Brian.

Can I go, though? Even if I could convince my mom to let me go, I’d be around everyone 24/7. I’d have to be myself, sleeping pills and closet baseball bats and all. As I glance at Aiden, who looks like his mind is running a mile a minute, a swirl of guilt wraps around my heart and squeezes. I’ll be leaving everyone in just a few weeks. This is my last chance to be with them all, and I don’t think I can pass that up.

Brian claps his hands together once, a huge smile on his face. “Great. Any idea where you’d want to go? Break officially starts tomorrow, so you might be hard-pressed finding a place.”

“Torywood Springs.” Aiden speaks up before anyone can suggest anything else. “It’s a shore town about five hours away. It’ll be too cold to swim, but …”

“Actually, I think a friend from work has a vacation house there,” Brian says. “She’s in Australia right now, so she’s not using it. Let me make a phone call—she’ll probably even let you stay there for free.”

“Wow, that’d be great. Thanks, Dad,” Mason says as Brian stands up.

“It’s not a problem. You kids deserve a break from all of this. I’ll go make a call, and if your parents are all okay with it, you can probably leave as early as tomorrow.”

Brian exits the room, leaving everyone, including his wife, staring after him in admiration. He’s such a great man to have on our side, and it’s moments like these that make me miss my own father.

The oven timer goes off and Natalia runs back up the stairs, leaving everyone to talk excitedly about the trip. Charlotte’s even making a list of stuff we’ll need to bring and calculating how much supplies will cost.

“Actually,” I jump in, “I still have all the money Aiden gave me from winning the race against Ryan. We can use that for food and activities and stuff if we get the house for free.”

“What?” Aiden leans in, speaking in a low voice. “That money is for you to do whatever you want with.”

I meet his steady gaze. “What I want is to spend it on all of us.”

He studies me for a second longer before nodding and leaning back. This can be like a good-bye gift to them; maybe it’ll ease the guilt that’s gnawing at my chest, especially since I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to tell them that I can never see or hear from them again.

“I still can’t believe you gave her four thousand dollars! You never give me anything.” Noah glares at Aiden, then adds in a low tone, “Clearly you gotta be a pretty girl with a nice ass to get anything around here.”

My cheeks turn red but I still burst out laughing with everyone else, while Aiden shoots Noah a glare.

“You have a great ass, Noah,” Annalisa says matter-of-factly while munching on a potato wedge, making Julian look at her quizzically.

“Plus,” adds Mason, “last week Aiden got you an oil change and fixed your exhaust for free.”

“Four grand still would’ve been nice … at least a couple of burgers thrown my way,” Noah mutters while playing with the straw of his now-empty soda.

Charlotte looks up from the list that she’s making. “Hey, he’s technically buying you all kinds of food now for this trip. You can make all the burgers you want when we get there. Hey, do you think I got everything?” She tosses her list to me and I skim it over.

“Probably.” I nod admiringly and hand it back. Thank goodness for her organizational skills, because I didn’t even think about bringing half of the stuff she put on that list. Who thinks about bringing toilet paper? That stuff always just appears in my bathroom.

“Great news,” Brian says as he appears back in the basement. “Michelle said the house is