Free Spark by Brigid Kemmerer

to face him. “What did you say?”
    Simon grinned and gestured for his phone.
    I said you’d play a lot better if you weren’t staring at my
    sister.
    Gabriel fiddled with the dials when they pulled onto the main road, trying to get some heat going. Layne was curled into the front seat, her backpack on the floor. Her eyes were locked forward, her hands in her lap. Lights from oncoming cars flickered off her glasses.
    “You warm enough?” Gabriel said, just to break the silence.
    “I’m fine.” Her voice seemed very small in the confines of the car.
    “You’ll have to give directions.”
    She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “We live in Compass Pointe. You know where that is?”
    “Yeah.” Compass Pointe was the rich neighborhood at the north end of town, the kind with eight-bedroom houses and servant quarters over the garage though he didn’t know any that actually had servants. Michael did the landscaping for three houses out there, and they were three of his highest-paying cus-tomers.
    “Shouldn’t you be in a private school or something?” he asked.
    “My father says he got by on a public education, and that should be good enough for anybody.” She paused. “He’s a defense attorney. A good one.”
    “I’m surprised you’re not driving a BMW to school.”
    She bristled. “First of all, my parents have the money, not me, and second of all, I don’t have a license yet. I didn’t think you’d be the kind of guy to get all weird about where I live ”
    “Whoa!” God, it was like he couldn’t avoid colliding with the chip on her shoulder. “I’m just saying. Heather Castelline lives out here and no one can get her to shut up about crap like how much her manicure costs.”
    Layne made a face. Her arms were folded across her chest now. “I’m not Heather Castelline.”
    Gabriel snorted. “Obviously.”
    Layne didn’t say anything, just turned her head and looked out the window. Her sudden silence smacked him across the face as effectively as a hand would have.
    He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He couldn’t figure her out at all.
    And it was making him crazy.
    Then he noticed the little sniffing sounds, the way her fingers had a death grip on her biceps.
    “Layne?” He glanced over. “Are you crying? ” Simon was silent, oblivious in the backseat.
    She didn’t turn her head. “Forget it.”
    What had he said? He wished he could pull the car over, but they were in the middle of three lanes of traffic on Ritchie Highway. He didn’t even know how to play this. “I don’t . . . what’s ”
    “I don’t know why you have to be so mean all the time,” she said, turning her head just far enough that he could see there were definitely tears on her cheeks. “Do you have any idea what it feels like, the way you treat people?”
    “What the hell did I say?” he demanded.
    She sniffed. “Obviously.”
    Jesus, this was so infuriating. “Obviously what? ”
    “You said obviously. Obviously I’m not Heather Castelline.
    Well, you know what? Not everyone is a hot blond cheerleader, Gabriel Merrick. I’m sure in your world, every girl should have a perfect rack and great legs and flaunt them for your benefit, but we aren’t all such paragons of perfection.”
    Wow.
    Gabriel stared out the windshield at the traffic. The ridges in the steering wheel were biting into his palms. “I guess you told me.”
    This was worse than fighting with Michael. At least he could haul off and hit his brother and tell him he was being an asshole.
    But Layne was still crying silently, staring out the window, her shoulders shaking almost imperceptibly.
    When he came to a red light, he looked over. “Hey.”
    She didn’t look. “I said, forget it. ”
    “I know what you said. Look at me.”
    “If I look at you, Simon will know I’m crying.”
    The light turned, and he had to look back at the road anyway.
    He spoke into the silence, hearing his voice come out rough.
    “When I said