Kiss My Sass [Books 1 & 2]

[book 1] chapter twenty: blast from the past

    "Too bad," I simply answered. I didn't even have to take my eyes off the road to know James was scowling at me. "I really think you should see her, James."

    "Daniella," he started, making me emit a groan. "No means no."

    "I don't care." When the light turned red I turned to face him. "It's obvious how much you love your mom, and you two should patch things up before you leave for college. If you're not going to do it for yourself, then at least do it for me."

    The light turned green and I stepped on the gas pedal and drove. You'd think after pestering James all afternoon he'd budge but nope. He was as hard as steel. Neither of us said a word and the rest of the drive was in silence. I parked in front of his house, too annoyed to say goodbye. James must've sensed my irritation because he quietly got out. Once he was out of earshot, I let out a sigh and parked my car. Instead staying cooped up in my bedroom talking to him through the window, I decided to stay on the main floor today. It served him right for being so damn stubborn. If the idiot just stopped for one second to think about it, he'd realize seeing his mom was a good idea. I really did believe they could patch up whatever went wrong if the two of them were together and able to talk things out. I didn't realize how much time I spent sitting on the couch lost in thought when the door opened.

    "Honey, I'm home," Brenton called out as was his usual greeting.

    "Living room," I replied in a dull voice.

    He plopped down beside me. "What died in your pants?" Too bummed out to even argue with him, I meekly stood up but he grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving. "What's wrong?"

    I sighed. "James."

    Brenton's forehead creased in concern. "Do I need to knock some sense into him?"

    I rolled my eyes and sat down beside him. "No, he's just being really difficult."

    "What happened?" he inquired.

    I narrowed my eyes at him. "When did you become so caring and interested in my life all of a sudden?"

    He looked down in embarrassment. "I may or may not have taken a breather from hanging out with the team." When I raised my eyebrows he continued. "I can't chill near Rollins without wanting to beat the shit out of him for what he did to you."

    Although it warmed my heart that he chose me over his best friend, I couldn't help but feel bad that Brenton didn't really have anyone else since his teammates were his best friends. As much as I did not want to talk about my boy troubles with my twin, I knew he'd appreciate spending time with me so I told him. 

    "James is estranged from his mom and I kind of, sort of, maybe found her address."

    "Dani," he said in a stern voice. "What did you do?"

    "Nothing illegal," I assured him. "Niko's weird roommate helped me find her."

    Hurt flashed across his face. "You went to Niko first?"

    I was about to tell him it was because Niko wasn't a heartless piece of shit, but the look on his face made me feel a little bad. "This was when we were fighting," I lied, mentally giving myself a high-five when I saw the instant relief on his face.

    Brenton grinned at me. "Good, I'd be sad if we lost our twin telepathy."

    I chucked a pillow at him. "For the last time, we do not have goddamn twin telepathy."

    He laughed, completely unfazed by the pillow. "Say what you want, but we both know what I'm thinking."

    "You're so annoying."