Page 76 of Trick Play
But her tension only ratchets up my concern. If she’s this desperate to find out what’s going on herself, Piper’s roommate told her something. And it’s something not good.
“Ellie,” I say, infusing every ounce of command I can muster into her name. I’m not in the mood to deal with this shit anymore. I want answers. “What did Piper’s roommate say?”
She opens her mouth, looks at Simon, then me, and closes her mouth again. She points at Simon. “He’s your best friend, right?”
I give a grudging, “Yeah,” in response. Where’s she going with this?
“And if something were wrong that he didn’t want you to tell other people, would you?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare down my nose at my little sister. “That’s different.”
She nods. “You’re right. Because I’m the one prying. Dani’s the one who knows something. And her loyalty is to Piper. Not to you. Not to me. Something’s up, which I’m only telling you because you figured out that much on your own. If you want more information, I need to go there and you need to stay here.”
“I’ll drive you, Ellie,” Simon says, already heading back into the hall, presumably to get shoes and a sweatshirt and his keys.
With a sigh, I recognize that I’ve been defeated. Digging into my pocket, I pull out my keys and toss them to her. “You better tell me everything when you get back.”
“I’ve got Cal’s car,” she calls to Simon, and I block out their voices as he tells her goodbye, because I don’t need to hear or see them being all cute and couple-y right now.
Although, at this moment, having my little sister dating my best friend is working out in my favor. Because if they weren’t, I wouldn’t have anyone to ask to check on Piper for me. I’d just be left stewing and frustrated until she finally decided to tell me what’s wrong herself.
* * *
My bedroom door bangs open, and Ellie stands in the doorway, eyes flashing. “You. Complete. Asshole!”
She throws my keys down, and I’m under no illusion that she’d prefer to throw them directly at my face but is holding herself back only because of years of parental instruction that throwing things at your sibling’s face when you’re mad at them is not okay.
I blink at her anger, totally lost. “What’d I do?” I ask, bewildered.
She splutters, her rage making her incoherent.
Simon appears behind her in the hallway, his hands landing on her shoulders. “What happened, Ellie?” he asks in a surprisingly soothing voice.
She points a shaking finger at me and whirls on him. “Did you know?” she demands. “Did you know what he was doing?”
He looks at her face. “When?”
Another splutter of incoherent rage. “When he decided to pursue Piper. Did you know the only reason he wanted her was to get back at her brother?”
Simon lets out a sigh, which is all the confirmation Ellie needs. She yanks herself away from him, taking a step back. “You did. You knew.”
Running a hand over his face, he shakes his head. “I didn’tknow,” he clarifies. “I suspected.” He sends a glare my way. “And I told him it was a terrible idea. Didn’t I, Cal?”
I squeeze the back of my neck with both hands. “It’s not … it’s not like that.”
“Oh?” Ellie’s perfected that expression of profound disbelief, her eyebrow perfectly arched, her face bland and deceptively open, inviting explanation. Inviting me to keep digging my own grave, more like.
Sighing, I drop my hands. “No. It’s not. Not anymore.”
“So itwaslike that.” She purses her lips, looking at me like she expects a response, and how the hell is my little sister managing to make me feel like a chastened kid who’s about to be sent to the naughty step? Except I fear the consequences of this fuckup will be much worse than a ten minute time out. “Just not anymore,” she finishes when I don’t say anything.
“Ellie, comeon.You’ve been here. You’ve seen us together. Did it look like I was using her?”
She softens. Just a smidge. The lines of her face relax, and her shoulders drop a fraction of an inch as she looks at me, thinking through what she’s witnessed of our relationship. “No. It didn’t.” Her face hardens again, like in a movie when you watch someone literally get turned to stone. “Which is what makes it so much worse. And you, what? Bragged about it in front of the whole team?”
I jerk back. “What? What are you talking about?”
Simon lets out a groan, drawing Ellie’s attention. “She’s talking about today in the tape room. Gray must’ve said something to her.”
