We Were Meant to Be

44 | brother

Great. I'm so nervous that my voice sounds like a rasp.

"No, I'm in my room." I quickly compose myself.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

Damn. Now I feel seen.

"Nothing. I just came back from college," I say nonchalantly, trying to sound less nervous.

Why is he suddenly calling me after I lied to my parents about what I would be doing this weekend...and after my friends texted me to get ready for a party? Does he have a sixth sense?

"Why are you calling?" I ask. "Did my dad tell you to?"

Perhaps, Dad has sensed that something is wrong, that it's too good to be true, that I'm hiding something.

He goes silent for a few seconds. "What do you mean? Do you think that I would only call you if your Dad told me to?"

He sounds hurt and annoyed. That makes me want to curse at myself. Stupid me.

"I'm sorry," I say in a small voice, genuinely feeling sorry that he had to hear that.

I wasn't thinking straight.

Max sighs. "How have you been?"

I don't know how to answer that question, so I fake a chuckle. "What do you think? Let me say...I'm having the best time of my life. You do realize that I'm a bird finally flying from its cage, don't you?"

"Really?" He sounds like he doesn't believe me. "It's just..." He sighs again. "I didn't hear from you for quite a while." He suddenly sounds serious.

Silence falls for a moment.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed," he says, and I know what he means. "I thought that you would let me know. Tell me about something else, Nev."

One would think that I should be cautious about him knowing my secret, but this is the conversation we would be having even if nothing went wrong.

I groan. "About what?"

"I don't know," he says. "A road trip, perhaps? A fucking party?"

My heart skips a beat.

Oh God, he's good. He's really good.

But no, he doesn't know. He just wonders why I've been awfully quiet.

He knows about Dad's rules and how I wish I could take a break from them. I still remember that I once asked Max to spend time with me in Paris for a weekend getaway when I was fed up with Dad's ultimatum.

He's the only person that Dad trusts to look out for me, and he's been expecting me to call for help.

But I didn't.

Even Max can't help me right now.

"I did have a trip to LA," I say. "It wasn't a road trip, though." A soft chuckle leaves my lips.

"Yeah. That band sucks, anyway," he retorts.

I almost roll my eyes. He knows about the concert that Ash, Maya and I went to. I don't know how he got that information -- it could be from Dad or Sienna.

I realize all over again that my secrets would never be safe. One word spread about me, and my whole family would know. They would know about the security guard, the incident, Aiden, and this house. And I would be dragged all the way back to Texas in a blink of an eye.

"You know that you still can have fun, right?" Max points out. "I can go there if you feel like going to a party."

"You mean, you would book a flight from New York to Seattle on the weekend just to accompany me to a party?" I ask in disbelief.