Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

JOULES

81 bobas left until my baby sister dies … (the same day)

I’m so upset with my sister that I don’t wake her up to let her know I got back to the hotel safely. Instead, I pace beside her sleeping form as quietly as I can, one hand raking shaky fingers through my hair. I didn’t kiss Kaycee. I didn’t Kaycee, and I should’ve kissed Kaycee. I wanted to, believe me. I wanted her so badly that I can still smell her when I close my eyes, can taste the barest essence of her raw lips, can remember the brush of my inexpensive workout clothes against her absurdly expensive dress.

I look down and find a stray sequin stuck to my shirt, picking it off with a strong exhale.

I went to Kaycee, and then I realized how much she wanted me to kiss her back. I remembered laughing with her over another order of expensive wagyu. I remember the way she smiled at me when I brought her an unsweetened tea to the drama set. She likes me, and I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t kiss her right then and know that I have no plans on dating her once we break Lake’s curse. That’s it. That would be the termination of our relationship, and I won’t do that to her.

But now that I’m here, and I’m staring down at my sister’s adorable face, while I’m remembering how cute and little she was and still is, I hate myself. I prioritized Kaycee over Lake? No. I will die to protect Lake. Kissing a girl—especially a girl that I like—should be easy.

“Why are you staring at me while I sleep?” Lake grumbles, pale green hair spread out across the white pillows. I’m glad Lynn refreshed her roots when we were home; my sister hates it when she’s got dark roots.

“I was remembering how you looked when you were in kindergarten, and I would do your hair for you in the morning. I was remembering how that boy made you made in cry in seventh grade, and I threw his phone in the pond. I was remembering how much I love you, Lake.”

I don’t tell her that I know she told Tam about the curse. Not tonight. Tonight, I just want to hate our situation and love my sister. That’s it.

She might die. Because of all this, she might die. If Kaycee gave Tam an ultimatum, he probably listened to it. He’s so desperate to prove that he isn’t a giant dickhead that he tries to be heroic and upright and forthcoming. He’ll bow down to Kaycee and block my baby sister. He won’t see her again.

He’ll kill her.

He fucking killed her by gossiping about something she told him in confidence.

Lake is smiling as she falls back asleep, and I retreat to the bathroom to sit on the closed lid of the toilet with my head in my hands.

Tam hasn’t messaged her all day. He blocked her for sure. Now what?

I think about that for so long that Lake knocks on the door to use the bathroom. I let her in, ruffle her hair as I pass by, and then sit in a chair by the window. I won’t live more than a few days without my little sister. That’s a lot of motivation for a man to think.

Lake climbs back into bed with a happy grumble and nestles into the pillows. I chew on my thumbnail and plot for over an hour.

Okay.

I’ve got this.

I know the address of the villa.

I will take my sister there, and I will drop her off, and then I will drive away.

Tam likes to play the hero, doesn’t he? There’s no way he’ll leave her standing outside by herself for long. Besides, she’s so innocent and sweet, he’ll take one look at her, and he’ll break.

He better.

Because if he rejects my sister, then I’ll have no reason to hold back.

I will kidnap him and trap him in our basement.

I think some part of Tam already understands that.

Must be why he doesn’t like me.

80 bobas left until my baby sister dies …

“I want to go to the store today,” Lake announces, standing in front of my pajama-clad ass while I curl up like a curmudgeonly gargoyle in one of the hotel’s cheap, ugly chairs. Tam hasn’t texted her yet today, but she’s not worried. He’s busy, she tells me. He’ll get back to her, she swears. And in her eyes, there’s a blind belief and trust that Tam Eyre doesn’t deserve.

“Why? So you can cook for that pig like a cute, little housewife?”

Lake rolls her eyes and smacks me on the shoulder playfully.

“Come on, dickhead. We’re meeting Kaycee and Tam at the house today, and I want to make a good impression. If the two of them are paying—or even if only Tam is paying—we need to put forth some effort. Buying groceries, cooking, cleaning up. I want to do those things.”

I scoff, but I know that if I drop Lake off clutching some grocery bags, duffel at her feet, standing in the wet northwest weather, Tam will collapse at her feet. I know it. I know it. Please, Joe, let me be right. What would you do if you were here?

But I don’t have to ask because I know.

Joe was tender and careful with Marla from the beginning. He never pushed her. He trusted her and loved her and took care of her, and look what happened. I breathed into his mouth as he died. I felt his last breath on my face, and I heard Lake scream his name as his eyes—

“Fine. I’ll get dressed.” I explode out of the chair like a demon, head into the bathroom, jerk some clothes on.

We end up at this overpriced hippie market because Lake wants to buy nice things for Tam and Kaycee. She always says it like that, too. Tam and Kaycee. It should only be Tam, Tam, Tam. Kaycee is not important, no matter what sort of stupid shit went through my head last night.

“Do you think Tam is a corn or flour tortilla guy?” Lake muses, looking from one package to the other. “I texted him to ask, but he hasn’t responded.”

“I think he’s more of a lettuce wrap sort of a guy,” I grumble, staring at the milk in the cooler on the wall to my left. I can’t look at Lake. If I look directly at her, she’ll be able to tell that something is wrong. She’s already following me around and digging through my bags, looking for proof that I’m lying to her. As if I don’t know all of her tricks by now. “I’m surprised he has any muscles at all. He barely eats.”

“He ate two whole crabs by himself at the pop-up restaurant,” Lake explains, and then she sighs. “Whatever. I’ll buy both tortilla types and extra lettuce. Happy?” She throws a sassy smile my way, and I break a little.

Because I’m scared for her.

“Hey.” I leave the cart and walk around it to put my hands on her shoulders. She looks up at me with parted lips and confusion in her big, brown eyes. Like Mom’s eyes. She looks just like our mom, and I smile, brushing hair back from her face. “Lakelynn, listen to me.”

“You’re freaking me out, Joules,” she snaps, shoving one of my hands off. She leaves the other where it is because she can hear how serious I am right now.

“I know that you told Tam about the curse,” I tell her, and I watch as all the blood drains from her face. She even sways on her feet, and I hold her still.

“Please don’t be angry,” she whispers, but oh God, how could I be? How could I punish her for doing the best she can with a shitty situation? Joe didn’t tell Marla about the curse, and they’re both dead. Joe is a bunch of dirt with a redbud tree stuck in it, and Marla is ash inside of a cement box.

I swallow hard. I can’t bear to tell Lake that Tam blocked her. She’s into him, even if she isn’t aware of it. She has a crush on that undeserving, self-aggrandizing Pop-Tart, and I can’t break the hope in her eyes.

I sigh instead and then lean into her, putting my forehead on her shoulder. I’m so tired. Ever since Joe got matched, I’ve been tired. I tried to save my best friend in the whole world, and I failed. Now I’m failing my sister. I’m failing myself.

“We can rally here,” Joe would say if he were standing beside the pair of us. He’d clap his hands together, wet his lips, and look around with a sly glimmer in his green gaze. “I’ve got it. We can bake our way out of this. Well, I can bake my way out of this. You two can sit by and watch.”

He’d bake Tam a massive multilayer cake with fondant decorations like he did for our cousin Isla’s Match (the bagel guy). Like he did for Marla. Joe was an incredible baker. His dream was to own a coffee shop where students could sit with their laptops all day, and nobody would bother them. He wanted to serve his own homemade desserts, and really nice espresso.

Now, Joe is dirt, and if I don’t work a little harder, Lake will be dirt, too. I’ll be dirt. We will all be dirt. And I know that’s everyone’s fate eventually, but early-twenties is a hard sell. I need my sister to become a centenarian. This world needs her. I need her. My family needs her.

“Why did you tell him, Lake? Make me understand,” I murmur, still resting against her. She gives me a nice back rub, like she did when I broke up with my first girlfriend.

“Because I wanted to be honest, Joules. As soon as I met Tam, I knew. He’s curious, above all things. And he hates being pandered to or lied to.” Lake gently pushes me back until I’m standing on my own, crossing my arms and waiting for her to continue. She’s a little hesitant at first, but as she talks, I can see that she believes in the choice she made. “It’s working, isn’t it? We’ve gotten this far, and Tam has known all along. From moment one.”

“You’re not pissed that he ran to Kaycee and told her everything?” I ask dryly. I am. I’m pissed. I want to wring the neck of that stupid, dancing monkey. That’s all he is, like a pet who performs tricks for treats. A show dog. I can’t stand the guy.

Lake hesitates. She didn’t know that Tam told Kaycee. I shouldn’t have broken the news like that, but I’m mad enough that I’m not thinking clearly. She shakes out her hands.

“Ah,” she breathes, lifting her eyes back to mine. “That’s why you’re cranky. Kaycee didn’t take it well?” I shake my head, and Lake nods, as if she figured as much. “Well, Tam’s known all along, so him telling Kaycee shouldn’t change much.” My sister puts her hand on my arm. “The curse was never a secret, Joules. My friends know. Your friends know. What does it matter?”

I snort, and I don’t respond. Still feels like Tam betrayed my sister for Kaycee Quinn.

“Kaycee is his girlfriend, Joules. If he didn’t tell her, I’d be more pissed. I want him to pick her over me until they break up. If he can’t be loyal to her then he won’t be loyal to me.”

“Weird logic, but okay.” I know that what Lake is saying makes sense in a normal relationship. This isn’t that. She has months left to convince the guy to fall in love with her or she dies. That’s it. Game over. We don’t date and flirt with Matches the same way that we’d date and flirt with some random person we’re interested in.

Oh no. Not at all.

I’m worried as fuck about my sister, but I have a plan.

I pat her on the head again, help her shop for groceries for dinners she might never get to make, and then I drive her straight to the address Kaycee gave me.

The house is way out of town, like almost an hour past the nearest gas station. I wind through thick trees and find a glass-walled mansion hiding in the forests of Oregon. Huh.

We park in the wet gravel outside the front door—I don’t see any other cars—and I wave to the security guards positioned outside the house. None of them wave back.

I help Lake unload her grocery bags, and when she’s got the last two in in her hands, I take out her duffel bag, dump it on the driveway, and climb back in the SUV.

“Where are you going?” Lake calls out, but the sound of her voice is breaking my heart. I slam the door, and then I leave.

I look up once to see my sister, small and vulnerable in a skater dress and mussy hair, all alone on a driveway with groceries clutched in her hands.

I hit the gas, and I leave before Tam or his driver have any hope of catching up to me.

Leaving my sister like that kills me.

I will never forgive Tam for this.