Pivotal Moments (In Time #1) (2 page)

I could feel myself beginning to cave. I turned and reached for the doorknob, half expecting the other shoe to drop. My brother didn’t disappoint.

Thumping his head on the door, I swear I could hear his teeth grinding. “C’mon already! Get out here! Mom won’t serve dinner until you’re at the table.”

And there it was. I unlocked the door and quickly swung it open, catching Connor off balance and smiling as he stumbled into my room. Quickly regaining his footing, he whirled around with a glare and opened his mouth to say something. I held up a hand to head off whatever he was about to say.

“Save it, asshat. You already ratted yourself out.”

A look of confusion crossed his face. “What?”

I rolled my eyes. Seriously? “Your apology meant nothing!” I put my hands on my hips. “You’re not sorry at all!”

“I am too!”

I huffed. “Are not.”

“Are too!” he retorted, running his hand through his hair.

I held my hand up to him, palm out. “Whatever. You’re only thinking about your stomach. As usual.” Yeah, I was angry. I was entitled; he was such an ass.

“Ugh!” I stomped over to him and poked him in the chest, digging my fingernail in more than necessary. “Would it kill you to be a human being for once? You embarrassed me!” Heavy emphasis—just in case he didn’t understand.

He winced and rubbed his chest where I had poked him before looking at me and smirking. “Well, don’t give me an opportunity to embarrass you then.”

“You’re a jerk!”

“I never said I wasn’t.”

We both looked at the door when we heard Mom calling our names. “This is so not over, Connor Munroe!” I pointed my finger at him. “Karma’s a bitch, and she has your name at the top of her list.”

He shrugged. 

“You’re hopeless,” I threw my hands in the air, “and conceited.”

“But I am your big brother, and you adore me. So let’s go. I’m hungry.”

I groaned. “You’re always hungry.”

“I’m a growing boy.” He flexed his biceps. “Gotta keep these guns locked and loaded.”

I pretended to gag and left the room. “Don’t hog my mirror,” I called over my shoulder as I headed down the staircase. He sputtered, and snickering under my breath, I started down the stairs.

Chapter 2

I stomped down the stairs, muttering about the stupidity and insensitivity of the male species as a whole. My brother was decidedly the type to make you rethink getting involved with a guy. He had all the empathy of a freaking rock. I reached the corner of the staircase, rounded the corner to the last flight down, and froze. There it was, the beast. Standing guard at the foot of the stairs, like it was waiting for me.

Going anywhere near him was out of the question, but I had to somehow get past the animal to reach the dining room. It took a step forward, blinked, then sat down. I tensed, waiting to see what its next move would be. I was fully prepared to bolt if necessary. My pride was already in tatters; I had nothing left to lose. And I had no problem hauling ass back up that staircase, screaming like the hounds of hell were after me. Which, they might be.

The dog—Zver, I think its name was—shook its head and sneezed. It was so loud that I jumped. Still watching me, it rolled out its tongue, and I suspected it might be laughing at me. I stiffened indignantly. I did have some pride.

“Zver! Lyezhat!” came a deep voice from the direction of the kitchen. The dog immediately lay down on the floor of the foyer, his head up and cocked toward the sound.

I flushed and peered cautiously around the corner. Mr. Goodness himself was there, looking at Zver with a stern expression. Good Lord, that man was hot! I wondered if Mom had done something with the air conditioning, because it was incredibly warm in the house all of a sudden. I absolutely refused to consider there might be another explanation for the temperature change. No, Mom had definitely fiddled with the thermostat. I let out a deep breath when Teagan turned away and headed back down the hall toward the kitchen.

I eyed the large dog and took a deep breath, steeling myself; then I slowly descended to the main floor. I paused when Zver tensed, like he was going to stand up. From deep in the recesses of my memory, I recalled how you didn’t want to stare dogs in the eye, and that you should use a firm voice when commanding them. I glanced away, refusing to be completely cowed. I took a deep breath and tried reasoning with him.

“Let’s try to come to some sort of truce here, okay?”

Silence. Well, what had I expected?

“I’m not afraid of you, Zver.” I stole a peek through the corner of my eye and saw him looking at me, head cocked as if puzzled. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it couldn’t have been too bad.

Zver settled back down, ears pricked forward still, and his tail thumping. Definitely non-threatening, and definitely a good sign.

“Now, while you’re here, how about I give you half my plate of food at each meal? Sound good? I need to lose weight, and you’ll get yummy people food.” His tail thumped harder and his tongue rolled out again. Was that an agreement? “All you have to do is not jump on me,” I stipulated. “You scared me when you did that.”

When his head lowered to his paws and his tail stopped thumping, I won’t lie—I felt like a piece of crap. He almost looked like he felt bad for how he’d acted. He knew how to work a human. Damn dog.

“You don’t need to lose weight, you know.”

I yelped and jumped back, not expecting to hear someone speaking. The bottom step caught me at the ankles, and I fell on my ass on the stairs—self-defense 101. Clutching my chest, I turned and blushed. Again. There, with a front-row view to my gracefulness, stood Mr. Shmexy, better known as Teagan. He had his back propped up against the wall to the right of the entryway into the hall, legs crossed at the ankles. He was casual, cool, and way too delectable for my peace of mind. My display provoked a smirk, and when I met his amused gaze, he leaned forward slightly. Another rush of warmth flushed across my face. We looked at each other in silence for a long moment before it dawned on me that I had no idea how long he had been watching me. He’d walked back to the kitchen—hadn’t he?

Oh, God. Had he watched me the whole time I had been talking to the dog? I scrambled to stand up and stared at the hardwood floor, blushing furiously.

“Ryadom!” Teagan said firmly, patting his thigh. Zver stood up with a groan, shook out his fur, and ambled over the few steps required to reach his master. Then he sat on his haunches, watching his owner expectantly. Teagan grinned at him and reached out to rub behind his ear with a firm hand. The dog tilted his head to the side, leaning into the touch with a canine equivalent of a moan.

I watched, fascinated and more than a little jealous. Yeah, I was kinda wishing it was me. If a dog could show such satisfaction under those hands, I could only imagine how they would feel on my body. Oh, my God, that train of thought really needed to derail. Like, right now. Shaking myself out of the trance, I brought my gaze back to Teagan. He was watching me. I gave him an awkward smile. Now that I had his attention, what was I supposed to do with it? The sound of the dog licking his chops and shuffling closer to his owner gave me an idea.

I pointed to Zver. “Mom claims that is a dog. But I’ve never seen one that big before.”

A small smile quirked Teagan’s lips. “Trust me, he’s a dog,” he said, sinking his hand deeper into the fur around the animal’s ears. “He’s a Caucasian Mountain Shepherd,” he clarified.

I raised my eyebrows. That had told me nothing. He might as well have told me it was a mermaid, for all I knew.

“They’re from the Caucasus Mountains originally. They were used to guard livestock from predators, like wolves and bears. Then Russians started using them as prison guard dogs,” he finished. “Zver here is what is known as a Caucasian Ovcharka.”

I looked at the massive dog next to his equally-massive master, and the thought crossed my mind that animals supposedly reflected their owners.

“If they’re prison guard dogs, why do you have one?” I asked, curious. Just how similar were the master and the canine?

Teagan looked down at the animal currently leaning against his legs, and a brief flash of something reflected on his face. Then he grinned and said, “Caucasians are also great family dogs.”

I eyed him with quite a bit of skepticism, and he let out a low chuckle at my look.

“I’m serious! They view their family as their pack. Children especially—the dogs guard them just like they would a pack’s pups.” He paused and ran a hand through his hair, causing it to messily fall all over his forehead. “The only problem is that the males will take control as alpha unless you establish unyielding dominance with them.”

My concentration tripped and nearly slid into a wall. Unfortunately, given the smile that was on his face, my thoughts were probably showing on my face clear as day. Awesome.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, although Lord only knew what I intended to say, my mother stormed around the corner. Her annoyance radiated off her, and I shrank back under her glare. I had a feeling that no matter how old I got, she’d always be able to control me with the look. Something about her eyes could make a charging bull stop dead in its tracks when they turned that shade of golden-brown, which only happened when she was pissed. It was pretty cool, unless you were on the receiving end of it. Then it was just freaky scary.

“There you are,” she exclaimed. “Are you ready to grace us with your presence now? And where the hell is your brother?”

Connor saved me from having to respond by pounding down the stairs, jumping the last three and landing with a thud. “Sorry, Mom. I’m here,” he apologized and looked over at Teagan. “Hey, Teeg, my buddy Jace called. He said they’re all going out to the lake tomorrow. You game?”

Teagan shrugged. “Sure, man.” A fist bump settled it, and off to the table they went. I trailed behind, alternating between admiring my view of Teagan and glancing at Zver as he kept pace by my side. Just my luck. I got the dog. I’d rather have gotten the owner.

***

We had just settled in at the table and finished dishing up the food when I finally couldn’t take the anxiety any longer. “Mom, I’m sorry about what happened at school today!” I blurted out. I thought about it for a moment and frowned as I reconsidered. “No, actually, I’m not sorry. But I do feel bad that you got a call.” I dropped my eyes down to my plate, waiting for the lecture.

All sound ceased. I lifted my gaze from my plate, and Connor was gaping at me. An expression of glee crept over his face.

I cursed my runaway mouth. My brother looked way too happy about this. Let the taunting begin.

Connor whipped his head toward Mom so fast it was a wonder it remained attached. “Seriously?” He bounced in his seat. Bounced. “You aren’t screwing with me, right? Please don’t mess with me like that, Mom! The school actually called you about Ash?”

Whoop. There it was. I was a bit offended that he was so excited about this. I really shouldn’t have been surprised, though.

“Connor, settle down,” Mom sighed. “She started a fight at school today.”

“That is so not—”

“No fucking way! Holy shit!”

I could feel a headache building.

“Connor!” Mom snapped. “Enough! Let her explain. And watch your language!”

Frowning, Connor sat back in his seat.

Teagan sat through the exchange silently watching. Concern and confusion were clear in his expression, and I didn’t know if I should be happy over the attention or embarrassed.

“It wasn’t like that, butt munch,” I told my brother. He had always been the troublemaker in high school, whereas I was the honor roll student.

Connor sent me a half-hearted glare. “Well, enlighten us then, Miss Goody-Goody.”

I opened my mouth to respond—I had a really good comeback—but Mom’s warning glare stopped me. I sighed, slumping in defeat. I wasn’t ashamed of what I did; I just didn’t feel like listening to Connor’s crap for the rest of his and Teagan’s spring break. But I wouldn’t be permitted to eat until I told them the story. “Okay, all right. So my gym class is year-mixed. We have freshman through seniors in it, right?” I paused, and the three of them nodded. “Well, the younger girls have a hard time. This senior, Tracey Banco, is such a bitch—”

“Aislinn Munroe!” Mom broke in. “Watch your language!”

I huffed. “She is, Mom. If you met her, you’d agree. She’s Miss Popular, tall, stunning, cheerleader, dates the captain of the football team…she’s a living cliché.” I may have sounded a little bitter; I kind of was. Brody Holden was gorgeous. He was my long-time heartthrob; although, Teagan Aldridge was quickly taking his place. Connor cleared his throat, pulling me back to the present.

“Tracey likes to torture the younger girls, tease them about their weight, make fun of their clothes, their hair, their makeup…she’s made I don’t know how many of them cry the four years we’ve been there.”

“Has anyone said something to any of the teachers or anything?” Mom asked, concerned.

I rolled my eyes. “Please. Are you serious? I’ve said something to them—twice. And that’s not counting all the others! The teachers don’t do crap about it, though. It’s like she’s untouchable.” I had to force myself to open my fisted hands. “Anyway, today we were in the locker room after gym. Once our class is over, the boys’ class comes in, just so you know.”

I took a deep breath to settle myself, and sat up straighter. I snuck a glance over at Teagan, and meeting my eye, he nodded for me to continue.

“There’s this girl in our class, Jackie. She’s a freshman, nice to everyone, always laughing…but she’s a little overweight, like me, and really self-conscious about it. When she changes for class, she kind of hides behind the lockers and stuff. Well, today Tracey was feeling bitchier than usual, I guess.” I frowned, swallowing hard. “Jackie was still in her underwear when Tracey and some of her friends grabbed her, tossed her through the door into the gym, and slammed it shut and locked her out.”

“What the fuck?” Connor yelled. Mom gasped, and Teagan’s face turned bright red. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I nodded. “All of the boys were out there, laughing and hooting and clapping…Jackie was screaming, begging Tracey to let her in. Tracey just stood against the door, laughing.”

I paused to wipe away the tears running down my cheeks. “I told her to let Jackie back in, but she flipped me off and told me to get my fat ass out of her business.” I gripped the seat of my chair, gritting my teeth. “That’s when I punched her. Some of the other girls let Jackie in. Tracey was on the floor bleeding, and the coach rushed in…” I stopped to clear my throat.

“Aislinn—” my mom started.

I interrupted. “I’m not sorry. I don’t want Jackie to…to do horrible things to herself or commit suicide because some bitch bullied her. I want her to know someone gives a shit!” I tried to steady my rapid breathing. “I’d do it again,” I said, lowering my voice. “Tracey deserved it.” I sat back in my chair, crossed my arms over my chest, and glared at the table, waiting for the butt-chewing I had coming.

Connor pushed back from the table and stood, coming over to me. His hands gripped my shoulders, encouraging me to stand, and when I did, he wrapped his arms around me. I finally broke down and started sobbing, burying my head in his shoulder. “I’m proud of you, sis,” he said, stroking my hair. Pulling back slightly to look me in the eye, he wiped my tears away and said quietly, “Dad would be proud of you too.”