I couldn’t say a word. I couldn’t tell him to stop or show any reaction at all. If I did, Casey would know I wasn’t alone. But, God, I could feel my whole body turning into a ball of fire. Wesley was laughing against my neck, knowing he was driving me crazy.
“… I just don’t understand what’s up with you.”
I bit my lip to keep from gasping as Wesley’s fingers slipped to places that made my knees shake. I could feel the smirk on his lips as they moved to my ear. Asshole. He was trying to torture me. I couldn’t handle it much longer.
“Bianca, are you there?”
Wesley bit my earlobe and pushed my jeans even lower with his free hand as the other continued to make me shiver.
“Casey, I have to go.”
“What? B, I-”
I snapped the phone shut and dropped it on the floor. I pushed Wesley’s arms away from me and spun around to face him. Sure enough, he was grinning.
“You son of a-”
“Hey,” he said, raising his hands in surrender. “You said not to say anything. You didn’t say I couldn’t-”
I dove for my abandoned video game controller and clicked the button that would restart the match, determined to teach him a lesson for messing with me like that. I’d already gotten in a few good blows before Wesley was able to retrieve his own controller and fight back.
“And you accuse me of being a cheater,” he said, blocking the punch my gladiator girl threw at him.
“Well, you deserve it,” I snapped, furiously tapping attack buttons.
It didn’t matter. Even with my dramatic head start, he still beat me. Damn it.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Duffy.” Wesley turned to grin at me, his gray eyes sparkling with cocky triumph.
Why did he have to say that? I wondered as my thoughts drifted back to my parents. Had Mom broken the news to Dad yet? Were they fighting? Or crying?
“Bianca.”
I realized I’d been biting my lip a little too hard as the metallic taste of blood touched the tip of my tongue. I blinked at Wesley, who was watching me closely. He stared at me for a long moment, but instead of asking me what was wrong or if I’d be okay, he picked up his controller again. “Come on,” he said. “I’ll take it easy on you this time.”
I forced a smile. Everything would work itself out. It had to. “Don’t be stupid,” I told Wesley. “I’m going to kick your ass this time. I’ve just been holding back.”
He laughed, knowing I was full of shit. “We’ll see about that.”
And we started another game.
15
I’d never heard anything so freaking loud in my life. It sounded like a bomb was going off right next to my ear… a bomb that pulsed to the beat of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” Groggily I rolled over and picked my vibrating cell phone up off the nightstand, glancing at the time before I answered.
Five o’clock in the morning.
“Hello?” I groaned.
“Sorry to wake you up, honey,” Mom said through the speaker. “I didn’t wake Casey up too, did I?”
“Mm-mm. You’re fine. What’s up?”
“I left the house about two hours ago,” she said. “Your dad and I had a long talk, but… he didn’t handle it very well, Bianca. I knew he wouldn’t. Anyway, I’ve just been driving around since then, trying to figure out what to do next. I’ve decided to check into a hotel in Oak Hill for a few days so that I can spend more time with you, and this weekend I’m gonna start moving down to Tennessee. Your granddad needs someone to look after him. It’ll be a nice place to settle down. Don’t you think?”
“Sure,” I murmured.
“I’m sorry,” Mom said. “I should have told you all this later. Go back to sleep. Call me when you get out of school, and I’ll tell you which hotel I’m in. Maybe we can go see a movie tonight?”
“Sounds good. Bye, Mom.”
“Bye, baby.”
I put my phone back on the nightstand and stretched my arms over my head, stifling a yawn. This bed, with its cushy mattress and expensive sheets, was way too damn comfortable. I’d never had such a hard time getting up in the morning, but I managed to plant my feet on the carpet eventually.
“Where are you going?” Wesley asked in a semi-sleepy voice.
“Home.” I pulled on my jeans. “I’ve gotta take a shower and get ready for school.”
He pushed himself up on one elbow to look at me. His hair was a mess, brown curls falling into his eyes and sticking up in the back. “You can shower here,” he offered. “I might even join you if you’re lucky.”
“No, thanks.” I grabbed my jacket off the floor and slung it over my shoulders. “Will I wake your parents up if I go out the front door?”
“That would be difficult considering they’re not here.”
“They didn’t come home last night?”
“They won’t be home for a week,” Wesley said. “And God knows how long they’ll stay then. A day. Maybe two.”
Now that I thought about it, I’d never seen another car in the almost-mansion’s driveway. Wesley always seemed to be the only one here when I came over-which was pretty freaking often these days. “Where are they?”
“I don’t remember.” He shrugged and rolled onto his back again. “Business trip. Caribbean vacation. I can never keep up with them.”
“What about your sister?”
“Amy stays with our grandmother when my parents are out of town,” he said. “Which is essentially all the time.”
Slowly I moved back to the bed. “So,” I said quietly, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “Why don’t you stay there, too? I bet your sister would like having you around.”
“She might,” Wesley agreed. “My grandmother, however, is a different story. She detests me. She doesn’t approve of my”-he made air quotes-“lifestyle. Apparently I’m a disgrace to the Rush name, and my father ought to be ashamed of me.” His laugh was hollow and cold. “Because he and my mother are the staple of perfection, you know.”
“How does your grandmother know about your, uh, lifestyle?”
“She hears the gossip from her friends. Old hags hear their granddaughters swooning over me-and who can blame them?-and then they tell my grandmother all about it. She might actually like me if I’d date a girl seriously for a while, but part of me just doesn’t want to give her the satisfaction. I shouldn’t have to change my life to suit her or anyone else.”