Chapter 22

CHAPTER22

“Why are we watching this crap?” came the question as the painfully familiar large, tan hand that had been stealing her food for the past six months reached over and-

“Ow!” Cole snapped, immediately following that up with a pout that wasn’t going to work.

Not on her and definitely not tonight.

“We,” Chloe said, stressing the word before she proceeded with the hope that he would take the hint and leave, “aren’t doing anything. I’m binge-watching crappy eighties movies and wondering what you’re doing here.”

“Why wouldn’t I be here?” Cole, her neighbor, self-appointed best friend, and the completely oblivious teenage boy who lived next door asked, frowning as he reached over and helped himself to a handful of M&Ms.

Blinking, Chloe said, “Besides the fact that you’re banned from coming over? Maybe because you don’t live here?”

“Then, why do I have my own room?” Cole asked around a mouthful of candy as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“It’s not your room, jerk face. It’s mine, but for some reason, you keep leaving all your crap over here,” Chloe snapped with a pointed look at the football gear that he tossed in the corner after school.

“God, you’re spoiled,” Cole said, sighing heavily as he reached over and plucked the bowl out of her hands and commenced devouring the delicious snack that she’d been hoping would help her figure out what she was going to do.

Maybe she should just cut her losses and sell the Jeep? Chloe couldn’t help but wonder as she reached over and-

Found herself sighing when the boy who really needed to stop trying to save them hugged the bowl tightly against his chest as he narrowed emerald eyes on her until she took the hint and dropped her hand away. With a muttered curse, she leaned over and retrieved the bag of Reese’s Pieces that she’d been forced to hide under her bed. Telling herself that Reese’s Pieces were just as good, Chloe sat back against the headboard, ripped open the bag, grabbed a handful of delicious Reese’s Pieces, and wondered how she was going to pull this off. She was going to need a miracle, Chloe mused, biting back another sigh as she shoved a handful of Reese’s Pieces in her mouth.

“Are you going to give me an answer?” Cole asked, reaching over to help himself to her Coke.

“Already did,” Chloe reminded him, knowing that sooner or later he’d grow bored trying to fix everything for them and then…

She really didn’t want to think about what would happen when Cole decided that it was time to move on. He’d only been part of their lives for a few months and-

She was pathetic, Chloe reminded herself, biting back a sigh as she tried losing herself in the movie, hoping that it would help her figure out what she was supposed to do now. She didn’t like owing Cole anything, which meant that she was going to have to figure out how she was going to come up with five thousand dollars when she couldn’t get a job.

There was tutoring, but since that didn’t work out well the last time, mostly because Katie took it upon herself to punish the students that Chloe was supposed to be helping with a wiffle bat whenever they got the answers wrong, she really didn’t think that was going to be an option. Which left…

God, she didn’t know what that left. The only thing that she knew was that she couldn’t ask Cole for one more thing.

“Are you sure?” Cole asked, finishing off her Coke before placing it back on her nightstand.

“Absolutely,” Chloe said, grabbing another handful of Reese’s Pieces and-

Somehow found herself being held upside down above her bedroom floor as the big jerk adjusted his hold around her ankles while he did his best not to fall off the bed and break both their necks.

“Oh, my god! Are you crazy? Let me go!” Chloe snapped, struggling to grab hold of something to help her escape from the demented bastard, only to end up having to shove her glasses back up her nose when they threatened to fall off.

“I will,” Cole said, making her sigh in relief, that is, until he added, “just as soon as you tell me why you won’t let me help you.”

“Because we don’t need your help,” Chloe snapped, grabbing hold of her mattress.

“You’re really going to lie to me?” Cole asked, sighing heavily as he tightened his hold around her ankles and…

Damn it!

Pulled her up higher, forcing her to let go of the mattress and her only chance of survival.

“Put me down, Cole!”

“I would, I really would, but I just can’t do that, not unless you tell me why you’ve been pouting all day,” the big jerk said with a long-suffering sigh while Chloe hung there, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she squeezed her eyes shut so that she wouldn’t have to see the floor rushing up to greet her.

“I haven’t been pouting all day,” Chloe lied because she knew better than to confirm any of his suspicions.

“Really? Then, what would you call those sad little sighs that you kept making during dinner?” Cole asked, giving her a pointed shake that had her cracking one eye open so that she could glare on principle alone.

“Because you stole my food and I was starving!” Chloe snapped, which was immediately followed by squeezing her eyes tightly shut when the move caused her to sway ever so slightly, but it was enough.

There was a slight pause, and then…

“I offered to share,” Cole said, making her lips twitch, damn him!

“Just put me down, Cole,” Chloe said, hoping to forget all of her problems and lose herself in crappy movies and an unhealthy amount of sugar for a few hours.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” the stubborn jerk said.

“Nothing’s wrong!”

“Tell me!”

“No!”

“I’m not putting you down until you tell me,” Cole said, sounding bored.

“I’m not telling-” Chloe began to say only to end up screaming, “We’re not a charity case!” when the jerk relaxed his hold on her and made her drop an inch before tightening his hold back around her ankles to make her jerk to a stop.

“What?” he asked, sounding confused.

“We’re not a charity case! Are you happy now?” Chloe snapped as he took a step back and-

Dropped her.

“Jerk,” she mumbled into her comforter.

“So, let me get this straight. You’ve been pouting all day because you think that I’m treating you like a charity case?” Cole asked, sounding thoughtful as Chloe pushed herself up, only to end up sighing when he pulled her down next to him so that he could throw his arm around her as she pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“Yes,” Chloe mumbled sadly, only to glare at him when he followed that up with, “I think of you as a pain in the ass, not a charity case,” sounding confused.

Nodding slowly, Chloe said, “You can leave now.”

Shrugging it off, Cole reached over and grabbed the bowl of M&Ms off her nightstand and placed it on his lap. “You’d miss me.”

“I’m pretty sure that I’d find a way to go on,” Chloe said absently as she glanced around the bed, searching for that bag of Reese’s Pieces that she’d lost when the jerk decided to manhandle her and-

“I already hid them,” Cole said, making her shoulders sag in defeat as she reached over and grabbed a handful of M&M’s.

“You’re a jerk,” Chloe mumbled sadly as she shoved the delicious treat in her mouth.

“And you love me,” Cole said with a satisfied sigh as he finished off another handful of candy.

“I tolerate you,” Chloe said as her gaze shifted to her alarm clock and realized that it had been a few hours since the last time that Katie appeared in her doorway to glare at Cole.

Having a really bad feeling why, Chloe climbed off the bed and-

“Say yes,” Cole said, making her sigh.

“That’s really not an option,” Chloe said, pausing by the door to pull her sneakers back on just in case Katie decided to dig up the backyard again in her desperate search for gold.

“And why is that?” Cole drawled, shifting to get more comfortable on her bed as she considered him, noting just how incredibly handsome he was and-

She was definitely pathetic.

“It just isn’t,” Chloe said as she made her way to the hallway and headed to her little sister’s room only to find Katie fast asleep with a box of Lucky Charms in her arms.

She was definitely a handful, Chloe thought, unable to help but smile as she took in the drawing of a leprechaun that Katie was most likely hoping to lure with the box of Lucky Charms. She was determined to get her hands on a pot of gold so that she could fix the Jeep and the house, but Chloe had a feeling that it had more to do with their uncle than anything.

Uncle Nick was never here anymore and Chloe had no idea why, but she couldn’t tell that to Katie when she asked. So, whenever her little sister asked why Uncle Nick wasn’t here, Chloe told her that he had to work. Katie wanted Uncle Nick around more and so did Chloe.

She had no idea what she was doing, Chloe thought as she gently pulled the box of Lucky Charms away from Katie and headed downstairs. She wanted to go back to the way things used to be. She wanted to be sixteen and have absolutely no idea just how unfair life could be.

But that was never going to happen, Chloe reminded herself as she put the box of cereal back in the cabinet and turned around, only to feel her stomach drop when she spotted her uncle sitting in the dark and-

“We need to talk.”