That blueberry pie. I took my time eating it to be polite, but I could’ve inhaled it in under two minutes. For one, it was delicious, but also, sitting at the Kaplan’s dinner table after the fight I’d just seen was fucking awkward. It wasn’t as if I’d expected Tiffany’s dad to welcome me into their life after one dinner. Nor did I guess he’d be such a prick.

Lake didn’t see it. Not yet. She’d been embarrassed, ashamed, and tried to take the fall for Tiffany. My sister had been like that, thinking she could help an argument by interfering when she should’ve just kept out of it. You don’t stick your hand in a dogfight—I’d told her before, but a lot of good that’d done. I could tell by the way Lake looked at her dad, she still loved and respected him. I didn’t understand that. Family shouldn’t mean an automatic free pass to treat others like shit. At some point, you had to recognize people for what they were.

Charles stayed in his study. As the clock behind my head ticked on, Tiffany seemed to become more agitated. It was as if she wanted something, was waiting for something. I wanted something, too—a cigarette. I’d eaten a little too much, thankful for real, flavorful food. Between school and work, I didn’t care about learning to cook. I just made what I could.

Unlike Lake, Tiffany knew her dad was an asshole. But I’d met plenty of girls who’d willingly tethered themselves to jerks. Maybe it was worse for Tiffany because it was her dad. I didn’t have a good track record with dads. Hell, I hated my own. I thought I saw some of that in Tiffany’s eyes tonight, but she’d also watched him a lot of the meal, more than anyone else.

Lake only ate half her slice. She hadn’t finished her dinner, either, while I’d cleaned up a salad, two steaks, and dessert. Was she upset or just not hungry? As it was, I worried she was a little too thin. Then again, maybe it was a girl thing. Maddy’d rather have read or explored than come to the dinner table. Or bead. I’d forgotten about her jewelry phase until it’d hit me that day on the wall, when I’d fixed Lake’s bracelet. Maddy’d stay in her room for hours beading stuff like necklaces and anklets. I didn’t even know where those were. At my mom’s, maybe.

“Thanks again for dinner,” I said because they were looking at me. “I’ve never had better pie.”

Cathy smiled. “The crust was a little soggy, but it was a good first effort.”

Tiffany shrugged. “I didn’t think it was soggy at all.”

Cathy covered Tiffany’s hand on the table. “I’ve been trying to tell Tiffany the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. That’s why we’re teaching her to cook.”

I was more uncomfortable now than I’d been with their dad at the table. At least then, I’d known where I stood. Now, all eyes were on me. Why had I come here? Partly to see how Lake and Tiffany fit into this family. I figured the dynamic would help me understand them. Neither Lake nor her sister wanted for anything. I knew the property value of their home, the prestige of their neighborhood. They had a bar and expensive wine and special dishes. I suspected those things were important to Tiffany, but what about Lake?

I wasn’t in the habit of wondering these things about anyone. I went about my life and did what was necessary to put food in my own stomach and a roof over my head. I didn’t need much, not even to be happy or loved. Everyone I knew was killing himself somehow. Drugs, alcohol, work, shitty relationships, boredom. They pretended things mattered that didn’t. They stopped asking questions because they didn’t like the answers.

I’d seen too much and lost the goodness in my life young enough to understand nothing was fair. There were no guarantees. Lake didn’t know that yet, and I wanted her to keep that innocence as long as possible. Maddy? I could’ve protected her better. I did my best as her older brother, but if I’d known what was to come for her, I would’ve done more. I would’ve done whatever it took.

And I wanted to do the same for Lake, except that men in their twenties didn’t just hang around teenage girls they weren’t related to. And that left me only two options, one of which was to walk away. The other was sitting across the table from me, smiling like she had me trapped in a corner.

“Let’s get the dishes,” Cathy said to Lake. “Give these two some privacy.”

I didn’t know what in the hell went through Lake’s mind. Her eyes got huge and sad. At that moment, despite the makeup I was sure she’d stolen from Tiffany, Lake was a kid at the grown-up table. She reminded me of Maddy. Not physically, they were complete opposites, light and dark, but she looked up at me the same trusting way Maddy had. Like I could tell her anything and she’d believe it.

“Are you guys going out?” Lake asked.

“It’s not your business,” Tiffany said. “Mom told you to clear the table.”

I stood. “I’ll help.”

Cathy put her hand on my shoulder. “Absolutely not. Please, sit.”

“I really should take off,” I said. “Maybe you can walk me out, Tiff.”

“Sure.” She got up, exchanging a look with her mom.

I took that moment to check on Lake. She wanted to come outside, I could tell, but Tiffany wouldn’t invite her and I sure as hell wouldn’t, either. Best she stayed away after the fight I’d just witnessed. I nodded goodnight, hoping she’d understand in her own way. Damn if the hurt in her expression didn’t ease up.

Tiffany looped her arm in mine and walked me out front. “Was it awful?” she asked. “You were so good to put up with my dad.”

“It was all right. Don’t worry.”

“My mom likes you a lot. I can tell. Plus, I’m sure she loved that you had a second helping, and complimented her cooking . . .”

I stopped listening. The food and a ten-hour work day and two glasses of wine hit me all at once. I just wanted to lie down. There was a small grassy hill down to the curb, and when we reached the bottom, I cut her off. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“I’m glad you came.”

She leaned back against the driver’s side door. “You want to do something?”

“I worked all day, Tiffany. I’m exhausted.”

“We don’t have to go out. We can stay in.”

“Where?” I nodded behind me. “Here? At your parents’?”

She wiggled her foot out of her shoe and ran her toes along the inside of my ankle. “No, silly. We can drive around a little. Or go back to your place.”

Ah, fuck. I inhaled deeply to give myself a few seconds to think. I was tired, but the prospect of sex always gave me a second wind. It’d been a few months, which didn’t bother me until it did. Like now. She tugged on my shirt a little, pulling me closer. Her breath smelled like blueberry, like the ones Lake had used to make a pie.

For someone special. For me.

“Your heart’s racing,” Tiffany whispered, her lips suddenly near my chin.

I felt like I was doing something wrong, and not in a good way. I didn’t want to be thinking about Lake when I was this close to her sister. I took a step back.

“What’s wrong?” Tiffany asked.

“Nothing.”

She was quiet a moment. “I want this, Manning.”

“It’s not that.”

“I’m not a virgin. If you’re worried I’ll get attached—”

“It’s not that,” I repeated.

“I’m on birth control.”

My heartbeat hadn’t calmed any, and that comment didn’t help. It just reminded me of the terrifying conversation inside about the girl who got pregnant. “Who’s Regina Lee?”

“A girl at my high school who had sex with a teacher. All the parents got worked up, but he was only like twenty-four or something.”

“How old was she?”

“Seventeen. Regina says she’ll wait for him to get out.”

The way Charles had threatened to throw his power around scared me. Who knew if it was true what he’d said about bringing more charges against the teacher? But a man like that definitely had connections, and it was clear he didn’t want me anywhere near Lake. He’d been angry enough that I hadn’t mentioned my work next door, but it was Lake being over there, me being around her, that’d really set him off. I hoped we’d be done with this house soon and get out of his proximity. Anything in the neighborhood went wrong, and he’d surely find one of us to blame.

Tiffany cocked a hip. “So is that the problem?” she asked. “You’re worried I’ll get pregnant like Regina Lee?”

“No.”

“What then? Not pretty enough? Too fat?”

Nobody in the Kaplan family could be considered fat. “Definitely not.”

“You already told me you don’t have a girlfriend. Were you lying?”

She asked it casually, as if it were nothing to lie about that. I urged myself to say yes. It’d be easier to be a cheater than admit I felt protective enough of Lake that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Tiffany yet. Then I could wash my hands of this and drive off. Tiffany would go inside and tell her dad. He’d be thrilled.

And Lake would think I’d lied to her.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” I said.

Tiffany pushed off the truck. “Then you must be, like, gay. Or mentally unstable. I’m here offering you sex. If you’re not just going to come out and tell me why you don’t want it, then bye. Don’t call me again.”

She turned and walked up the grass. I couldn’t breathe—it was an unwelcome and unfamiliar feeling. I didn’t let shit like this get to me. Where girls were concerned, I’d generally not found them worth the trouble. But as Tiffany got farther away, so did Lake. I wouldn’t be invited back. How would that look, a grown man trying to hang around her? If I saw it, I’d put a stop to it.

Without Tiffany, there was no Lake. No monster sandwiches, no blueberry pie. But what’d I done to deserve that sweetness in my life? Nothing. And who’s to say I wouldn’t spoil it? I might. So probably, I should just walk away.

But it wasn’t just Lake I’d been watching tonight. Tiffany was right when she’d said she was a disappointment to her dad. He put her in a box, then got mad she was in it. Not that Tiffany didn’t provoke him. She did. But she was just looking for someone to pay attention to her.

“Wait.”

Tiffany turned around. “What?”

“It’s none of that,” I said. “I’m just old-fashioned.”

“What do you mean?”

I climbed the grassy incline until I stood in front of her. I took her shoulders as if bracing us both. Maybe I didn’t deserve sweetness, but Tiffany, yes. She was a decent match for me. She could use someone on her side. And she came with Lake. I leaned in and kissed Tiffany on the lips. “It means I like to take things slow,” I said. “I’m old-fashioned.”

Tiffany blinked up at me. “Well, that’s a first.”

Yeah, it was. “I gotta go. But I’ll call you.”

She nodded at the ground. For a minute, I wondered if she even wanted me to. “Okay,” she said. “Goodnight.”

She turned and went back inside. I would’ve expected any girl to swoon after that. Maybe Tiffany wasn’t fast because she was desperate to be loved. Maybe she was fast because she liked it that way. She might actually leave me in the dust if I didn’t make my move. I could lose my chance with her.

I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to fight to hold on to Tiffany.

But I did know, that was the only way to remain a part of Lake’s life.