He appears as stupidly dumbstruck as I do—his eyes wide, his expression frozen.

Well, at least he remembers me.

Yeah, remembers how he told you to get lost.

Wait. Do I smell smoke?

I peer around, silently demanding my anger and embarrassment to simmer down. Luckily, no flames are anywhere, but I still need to get my emotions under grasps.

“So, what are we moving out first?” A guy around my age suddenly steps through the doorway with a smile on his face. He’s dressed similar to the mysterious stranger—all in black—but instead of short, dark hair, his hair is chin-length and blond. He also has silvery eyes like Gabe. When he enters, he takes one look at me, Nina, and who I’m assuming is his brother, then frowns. “Aw, hell, Foster. Please don’t tell me you’ve already fooled around with our new sister?”

The shock that had swept across the room rapidly thaws.

“I’m not your sister,” I say while the mysterious stranger—Foster—bites out, “I didn’t mess around with her, and you know that, asshole.” Then his gaze zeroes in on me and his jaw ticks. “And even if I could, she’s not might fucking type.”

My jaw nearly drops.

What a fucking asshole.

The blond guy openly checks me out. “Maybe... She’s definitely my type, but I’m not really interested either.”

Now my jaw nearly ninja-kicks the floor.

Great, they’re both assholes. The only difference is Blondie does it with a smile on his face, while Foster just seems irritated. Well, that and I feel more hurt about Foster’s rejection. Who the heck knows why. After yesterday, I should be over him—I need to get over him.

My insides coil as Blondie’s smirk widens. Then the floor quivers, just slightly, but no one appears to notice. If I don’t get my emotions under control, I may start an earthquake. Luckily, Gabe strolls in and deflates the situation with a clap of his hands.

“Have we done introductions yet?” When he notices Nina and Gage, his asks me, “Are these your friends?”

I nod, continuing to glare at Blondie. “Yeah, they stayed over last night to say goodbye.”

Gabe’s attention drops to the whiskey bottle in my hand, and a frown etches into his face. “I see.”

Great. Am I in trouble?

Blondie smirks at me while Foster stares at me with his brows arched.

“Well,” Gabe starts, shaking the frown away. “How about we get this little moving fest going so we can get you home and let you know all the house rules, okay?”

Awesome. My bet? Rule number one is no drinking.

Gabe starts to walk across the room but then pauses, turning toward Foster and Blondie. “Did you guys introduce yourselves yet?” When they shake their heads, seeming bored, he sighs. “Skylin, this is my son Easton”—he gestures at Blondie who has the audacity to wink at me, then motions to Foster—“and this is Foster.”

So, these are the non-identical twins who are my age and who are supposed to show me around my new school. Lovely.

I force a smile. “My name’s Sky. No one really calls me Skylin, except for my mom, and only when she’s really pissed off.”

Gabe smiles at that, Foster continues to look irritated, and Easton, well, he looks amused, but I have a feeling that might not be a good thing.

“Okay, Sky it is,” Gabe interrupts the silence, seeming a bit uneasy as he looks at me. “Why don’t you show me everything that needs to go with you, and then what needs to go in storage. That way, we can load up the storage stuff last so we won’t have to move all your stuff around.

Nodding, I turn for my parents’ bedroom, figuring that’s the best place to start. As I pass by Nina, I hand her the whiskey bottle and tell Gage and her to wait a minute before taking off.

After I get done showing Gabe what goes where, he suggests the strangest thing.

“Why don’t you go have lunch with your friends and say goodbye,” he says. “Foster, Easton, and I can handle getting everything packed and cleaned up.”

I peer around the messy house crammed with furniture. “Are you sure? There’s a lot of stuff.”

He pats me on the shoulder. “With everything you’re going through right now, you deserve to say a proper goodbye to your friends.”

I nod gratefully, but a drop of uneasiness stirs inside of me.

He acts as though I’m saying goodbye forever, as if he knows my parents are never coming back. But even if my parents don’t return—and that’s a huge if—I’ll eventually come back to Nina and Gage. My time with the Everettsons is only temporary. I know this, so why doesn’t Gabe not seem to?