Series: Peach State Stepbros Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92311 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Now I feel even worse. I know he needs me there for him, but with Atlas, at least I know he’ll still be there later tonight and tomorrow and the next day. With Brandon, that might not be the case, and I have to take advantage of the opportunity.
Me: This has not been my A’s week. :( I’ll make it all better when I see you later.
Atlas: Looking forward to it. *devil emoji*
And I’m looking forward to it too because I’m hoping that when I see him, I’ll have wonderful news to share.
32
Atlas
There’s an annoying voice in my head that won’t shut up, telling me something is wrong. It’s unlike Troy to change plans and not give me a reason why. My brain tries to do everything it can to sabotage me, telling me he’s already moving on, that he’s done with me, that maybe he’s like Glen and going to find someone else, that he’s kissing someone else the way I saw Glen do, but then I figure that’s more my guilty conscience than anything.
I’m the one with the huge secret. One that’s going to rip the rug out from beneath us. No matter what I tell myself, I know there’s no real excuse for keeping this from him last night. And now my plan to admit today what I saw is derailed by Troy’s mysterious plans, and oh look, I’m thinking about that again.
He didn’t mention the shirt you put in his bag. Why wouldn’t he mention the shirt?
I groan, pounding my fist on the arm of the couch. There are a hundred possibilities why he didn’t mention it—he hasn’t found it yet, he forgot, he’s busy—but then I think about Glen, how he started pulling away from Mom when he met Ellie. Is Glen doing that to Ellie now? Is he distracted and forgetting things that are important to her because he has someone else?
And I know how wrong it is to wonder that about Troy. I know him, down to the marrow of my bones, and he would never cheat on me, but damn, emotions can play tricks on you. Make you think truths are lies and vice versa.
My leg bounces up and down, so I shoot off from my couch. There’s no way I can sit around all afternoon. I’ll make myself nuts, so I grab my keys and head out.
I can’t explain why I drive home—to Ellie and Glen’s place, I mean. My usual MO is to stay away unless I absolutely have to be there, but the guilt of what I know has a viselike grip on me, cranking more and more until it’s hard to move or breathe.
How am I in this situation again?
My body overheats, feeling like steam is coming out of my pores. I hate Glen even more for this, for what he did to Mom and now to Ellie.
What this might do to Troy.
Ellie’s car is the only one in the driveway when I arrive, making a relieved breath whoosh from my lungs. Luckily, she usually gets off work earlier than he does. If Glen were here, I don’t know what I would have done. I still don’t know what I plan to do because it doesn’t feel right to tell her until I talk to Troy. I owe him that truth, the chance for him to talk to his mom about it before I blow her world apart.
I get out of the car and head to the house. I knock, and a moment later Ellie opens the door, looking like a TV sitcom mom. She works too, but somehow she manages to do it all—her job, then being home to clean and cook meals for Glen. I imagine that’s one of the reasons he chose her. She fits exactly what Glen wants in a wife, but clearly, he can never stay with one woman long.
“Atlas! This is a surprise.” She dries her hands on a dishtowel she carried with her. “Is everything okay? Is Troy—”
“He’s fine,” I cut her off. Of course she would assume something is wrong with him. It’s not like I ever stop by just to say hi.
My dad is cheating on you.
He’s going to break your heart like he did Mom’s.
What if I lose the only family I know?
That last question nearly steals the wind out of me. Troy and I are different now, but before that, he and Ellie were my family. The only one I’d known for years, and while I rebelled against that, part of me took comfort in it too.
I don’t want to be left.
It’s not Ellie’s fault that Mom left me.
Glen walked away from me all too easily.
“This was a mistake. I should…go.”
I only make it a few steps before Ellie says, “Atlas?” Something about the soft lilt in how she says my name makes me stop, turn around, and look at her. “Come in. I made brownies.”