out in public, he gives me the cold shoulder. And because I’m an idiot who enjoys pain, his brashness toward me only makes me want him more.
We always want the things we can’t have, don’t we?
I heave a deep sigh. “Crap. Sorry, Rosie. I was daydreaming, and I must’ve tuned you out.”
Rosalind crosses her room with a roll of her eyes, perching next to me on her reading nook in front of the window. She looks down pointedly at her shirtless brother, who is still playing basketball.
“Mm-hmm. You were daydreaming, all right.”
I nudge her on the arm, feigning disgust. “Gross. Stop it. I wasn’t even looking at him.”
Rose laughs, a gut belly laugh that prompts her to toss her head back. “Oh, Daisy. I don’t know why you try to lie about your feelings for my brother when they’re so obvious.”
I narrow my eyes. “The only feeling I have toward your brother is indifference. I can’t stand him.”
She purses her lips, trying to hide her smile. “That’s not indifference.”
“Okay, fine. I hate him. Happy now?”
Her smirk spreads. “You know what they say about love and hate, don’t you?”
I shoot her a glare. “Please stop it. I feel nothing for him. And he feels nothing for me. End of story.”
She shakes her head, obviously not believing a word coming out of my mouth. Damn her. She knows me too well. “I can’t stand the two of you sometimes,” she mumbles as she pushes to her feet. She props her hands on her hips. “How about this, we get pizza somewhere far, far away from my fugly sibling, and then you finally listen to my damn story?”
I smile, despite myself. “You mean, I’m going to have to relisten to this story all over again?” I tease.
“Don’t push it, Casillas. You’re on thin ice.”
She yanks me up by my arm, and I follow her as my laughter echoes around us. The lightness dissipates the second we step outside, not because Callan is out here; it’s because she is.
My entire body stiffens when I spot my cousin, Skylar, practically dry-humping Callan. I’m being dramatic, but she might as well be. I know my cousin, and I know how vindictive she can be. She’s one of those girls that thrives on everyone else’s misery.
“Cal!” she whines in her annoying voice as she tries to dribble, rubbing against him in the process. “I need more help. Come show me.”
With his hands on his hips, Cal watches Sky pretend she doesn’t know how to dribble a damn basketball. It’s not that fucking hard. His chest is still glistening with sweat, and if I’m not mistaken, he looks bored by her antics. But then again, he always has that look on his face. He adopted it a few years back, and it hasn’t changed since. This new version of Callan? I can’t stand him. He’s cold and mean. Gone are his beautiful smiles and the soft twinkle in his gray eyes. Instead, they’ve been replaced by a hardness I can’t comprehend.
As if noticing our presence, Sky glances at me, and I watch as the flare of evil lights in her eyes. It’s like watching the gates of hell open and seeing the flames eat up her irises. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She doesn’t care about learning how to dribble. Hell, just a few days ago, she said she thought all sports were stupid. She’s doing this because of me. Because she knows how I feel about Callan. I just wish it wasn’t so obvious to her. But that’s just what Skylar does. She seeks out your weakness, and she always finds a way to exploit it. She’s been doing it for the past two years, ever since she moved in with us.
I didn’t know much about her, other than that she was my mom’s half-sister’s daughter. I never met my aunt. Her relationship with my mother was strained because of drugs. She was an addict, and that eventually killed her.
My mom tells me to try to understand where my cousin is coming from, and believe me, I have. I know Skylar hasn’t had an easy life. Hell, I even get why she does half the stuff she does, but does it hurt any less?
Nope.
I don’t know what it’s like to go your entire life without the love of a father because my father is quite literally the best dad on this earth. I don’t know what it’s like to have a mother who loves drugs more