Stepbrother Broken (The Hawthorne Brothers Book 2) (23 page)

Cold
fear runs down my spine as I see that Luke is truly afraid of what his father
is capable of. What must this man have done to his sons to warrant such fear?

“
Look. Maddie
’
s already gone,
”
Luke says firmly,
“
I
’
m sure Anna will be right on her
heels. Just please, say you
’
ll come with me now, Sophie.
”

“
I
…
I
’
m not sure
…”
I stall, shaking my head.

“
Well I am,
”
he says shortly,
“
Trust me to take the lead on this.
”

“
I do trust you, Luke,
”
I say softly.

“
Then prove it,
”
he growls,
“
And get in the damn car.
”

Numb
and exhausted, I follow his orders and clamber clumsily into the passenger's
seat. My final view of the lake house dissolves into a kaleidoscopic blur as
tears rush in to obscure my vision. How such a beautiful place has played host
to such chaos, I
’
ll never understand. But if there
’
s one thing I do understand, it
’
s the rush of relief I feel the second Luke and I hit
the open road. As long as we
’
re in this together, there
’
s still a thread of hope to hang onto.

Though
I can
’
t say I wouldn
’
t prefer something a little stronger than a thread.

Chapter Eleven

Just
a couple hours later, shortly before midnight, Luke turns onto the darkened
Sheridan campus. The place is absolutely deserted on this summer night. And
while I should be comforted by the sight of these familiar lawns and halls, the
eerie, dead quiet of the empty campus ruins the effect.

It
’
s a week earlier than I was meant to return to school
for summer classes. Luckily, I got to keep my dorm room from spring semester,
so I still have the key. At least there
’
s a place for me to rest my head,
in the midst of all the chaos that
’
s erupted tonight. And at least I
get to share that place with Luke for the time being.

He
’
s been nearly silent for the entire drive. I can
’
t even begin to guess at the contents of his mind.
Luke
’
s had to be the responsible, loyal
son among the Hawthorne boys his entire life. For him to have left with me
tonight is a huge departure from that role. I don
’
t
blame him for not wanting to talk about it right away. When he
’
s ready, he
’
ll tell me his thoughts. I hope.

We
roll to a stop in front of my dorm. Not a single light is on in the entire
hall. I glance over at Luke, sitting motionless in the driver
’
s seat.

“
Did we just ditch a family drama
for a horror movie?
”
I joke softly,
“
This place looks creepy as hell, all empty.
”

“
It
’
s
still better than being back at that house,
”
Luke
says, cutting the engine and swinging himself out of the car.

I
push open the passenger side door and step out into the night. Luke falls back
into silence as he grabs my suitcase out of the trunk, leaving his for a second
trip since I can
’
t exactly carry anything. He walks
past me to the front door of the dorm, unlocking it with his Sheridan ID card.

“
You know this dorm?
”
I ask him, stepping into the building in his wake.

“
Yep,
”
Luke
replies, nodding at the security guard,
“
I used to live here, too.
”

“
Small world,
”
I say quietly, as he summons the elevator. But he
doesn
’
t reply as we step inside. My pulse
quickens anxiously. Something feels off, here
…
between
us. He
’
s stonewalling me in a way he hasn
’
t done since I was his smitten student. And I don
’
t like it one bit.

The
elevator doors whisper open, and we walk down the hall toward my room. Our
footsteps echo loudly on the tile, the only sound save for the humming of the
fluorescent bulbs overhead. I catch a glimpse of myself in a darkened study
room window. The harsh light casts dark shadows under my tear-swollen eyes. My
long hair is pulled into a hasty top knot, and the sling glares ominously
against my white tank top. I look like a complete mess. But that stands to
reason, since I feel like one too.

“
Here we are,
”
I say, my voice artificially light as I unlock my dorm
room and step inside. I take a deep breath, savoring the familiar scents of
sage incense and dark coffee. Already, the lake house is starting to feel like
part of another dimension. Some place far removed from my real life
—
the real life where Luke isn
’
t my almost-brother, but a sexy teacher with a nose
for justice. Being back here, I almost believe that we can put the events of
this last week behind us.

…
Almost.

“
Do you have everything you need?
”
Luke asks, setting down my bag,
“
Ice packs for your wrist, Advil, all that?
”

“
I
’
m
a dancer, remember?
”
I remind him,
“
I
’
ve got ice packs and Advil for
days.
”

“
Good,
”
he
says, shoving his hands deep into his pockets,
“
That
’
s
…
good.
”

We
stare at each other across the living room, unspeaking. There
’
s only a few feet of space between us, but I
’
ve never felt farther away from him. His face is
entirely unreadable, that easy understanding we
’
ve
come to share is totally out of my reach. A sense of foreboding hangs over me
like a swollen cloud, ready to burst. But maybe if I don
’
t glance up, it
’
ll disperse on its own.

“
You up for a movie or something?
”
I ask him, turning into the kitchen,
“
I don
’
t think I can sleep just yet. I
’
ve got some snacks left over here, too. Do you like
popcorn? That
’
s a stupid question. Who doesn
’
t like popcorn?
”

“
Sophie
…”
Luke says from the doorway, his voice harsh. He hasn
’
t taken a step into my room.

“
Maybe we can push the two beds
together for tonight?
”
I go on, purposely not
hearing him,
“
Something tells me you
’
re not gonna fit in a twin with me. Oh! Or we could
just lay out all the couch cushions and
—”

“
Sophie, stop,
”
Luke rasps. I force myself to take a deep breath and
look back at him from the kitchen. He
’
s standing there in front of the
door, his feet rooted in the ground. Pain and frustration grip his sculpted
features.

“
What is it?
”
I ask quietly, not wanting to hear the answer.

“
I just wanted to make sure you got
back here safely,
”
Luke says, his jaw set,
“
But I can
’
t stay here. You know that.
”

“
Oh
…”
I
reply, my voice straining through my throat,
“
That
’
s right. You
’
ve got your own room on campus,
right? Since you
’
re going to be an RA? That
’
s cool, if you want to sleep there
—”

“
No,
”
Luke
growls, his hands clenching into fists,
“
It
’
s
not about the room, Sophie. It
’
s about
…
Everything else. I can
’
t
be here. At Sheridan. Not now.
”

“
Wh-what do you mean?
”
I stammer,
“
That was the plan. We were going to
come back here together and have the rest of our summer.
”

“
You know that
’
s impossible now,
”
Luke says firmly, fixing his
green eyes on me.
“
I can
’
t
stay here with you, Sophie.
”

“
But
…
I
don
’
t understand
…”
I breathe, steadying myself against the kitchen
doorway,
“
You
have
to stay. You
’
re teaching, aren
’
t you?
”

“
I
’
ll
let the school know that something
’
s come up,
”
he says shortly,
“
I
’
m
done with this place. For good.
”

“
And me?
”
I ask tremulously,
“
Are
you done with me, too?
”

Luke
looks at me in silence, and I watch as his green eyes harden into stone. He
’
s pulling away from me. Drawing up his defenses.
Getting ready to lock me out forever.

“
Luke,
”
I
say quickly, moving toward him across the room,
“
I
know that tonight has been hard. With everything going on with our parents, and
—”

“
Hard doesn
’
t begin to cover it, Sophie,
”
he cuts me off, shaking his head.

“
That
’
s
fair,
”
I say, keeping my distance,
“
But isn
’
t that all the more reason we
should try and get through it together? I mean
—”

“
Wake up, Sophie,
”
Luke roars suddenly, striking the wooden door with his
fist,
“
We
can
’
t
be together. Not anymore.
”

“
Luke, calm down,
”
I tell him, backing away from his towering form. He
catches sight of me shrinking back and shoves a hand roughly through his short
brown hair.

“
Look at me, would you?
”
he growls through gritted teeth,
“
Now I
’
ve scared you. Jesus Christ
…
I
’
m just like him.
”

“
Who
…
Your
dad?
”
I breathe, stopping dead in my
tracks,
“
You
’
re
nothing like him, Luke.
”

“
Then how did I get saddled with his
fucking life?
”
Luke demands furiously, blinded by
resentment and rage. I
’
ve never seen him like this, on the
edge of losing control. And I can
’
t lie, it
does
scare me. 

“
If you
’
d just talk to me, Luke, maybe we could figure
something out,
”
I venture.

“
There
’
s
nothing to talk about,
”
he says harshly,
“
You know as well as I do that this thing is impossible
now. They
’
ve ruined it for us. It
’
s over.
”

“
It doesn
’
t have to be,
”
I whisper, willing myself not
to cry,
“
We don
’
t have to give them the final say, Luke.
”

“
No,
”
he
says with grave finality,
“
We don
’
t have to give it to them. They
’
ve had it all along. I
’
m
sorry. I need to get out of here.
”

“
Look, I don
’
t need to be here for summer classes,
”
I cut in,
“
Let me come with you. We can just
go off together, start all over.
”

“
Don
’
t
be crazy,
”
he shoots me down,
“
You need to be here, doing what you love. Getting your
future all squared away.
”