Breaking The Rules: Book 2

Chapter 6: No More Excuses

𝙼𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟷𝟹𝚝𝚑
Parker POV

"What's up, people?"

The front door of my aunt and uncle's house shuts behind me, vacuuming out the heat and punctuating the question mark in my sentence.

Rose and Forrest are standing next to each other at the kitchen island, each of them cutting up a different fruit. Rose is the first one to look up, her smile brightening. "Parker! You made it!"

"Shocker," Griffin grumbles under his breath. He's standing over by the stove, stirring a pot of what smells like mac and cheese with his back to me. I can hardly hear the word from his mouth, though it rubs me wrong all the same.

Actually, I need to give him some slack.

When Rose texted me an invitation to come over and hang out the other day, no bone in my body felt like seeing my family. I came up with every excuse in the book not to be able to come over, and it was my mistake to bring it up to Miles that night on the phone.

The problem is Miles has been working extra hard recently to push me back out of my comfort zone, all the way from a different country. He sweet-talked me into coming over here.

Just for me were his exact words. Try going over for a little bit, and we can talk about it later.

So, here I am. Just for him.

"How are you, man?" Forrest asks cautiously, looking up from under his eyelashes as he finishes dicing strawberries.

I make a sound that's something between a scoff and a snort. "Still breathing, I guess. Are you guys making a fruit bowl?"

Kicking my sandals off, the socks on my feet scuff against the hardwood floors as I walk over to my friends. I'm uber-aware of Griffin in my peripheral vision like a hiker might be aware of a bear in the trees. His presence feels like a threat more than usual.

Since Miles left, it seems like that last little bit of decency in Griffin's soul shriveled up and died, leaving behind nothing except an empty shell made of anger. What's worse is that I have no idea what I did to be on the constant receiving end of that wrath.

"We are! Here, have some." Rose scoots the clear bowl towards me. It looks like the type of bowl that should be filled with fruit punch. Instead, they filled it with blackberries, mangos, grapes, kiwis, blueberries, and strawberries. I wait for my mouth to water but instead, it goes drier.

I wish I could politely say no and turn the offer away, but Rose gives me puppy eyes. Letting out a sigh, I pick up a blackberry and toss it in my mouth to humor her.

"How does it taste? Hollie picked up the fruit this morning. All of it should be fresh still," Forrest says as he picks up the cutting board and uses the side of his knife to dump in the rest of the strawberries.

There's something about how everyone speaks to me that makes my fingers twitch in annoyance. I can see the way that Rose and Forrest glance at me from the corners of their eyes each time I look away. Almost as if they're preparing for me to dissolve in a puddle of tears or like they want to make sure that they're not stepping on my toes. It's obvious that they're skating this entire conversation around the bigger issue that's present with me here.