Free Twisted by Dani Matthews

to follow my brother outside. The
morning is absolutely beautiful, and the patio looks downright cheerful
compared to my brother's expression as we sit down at the table.
    “I don't like him,” Tate says
flatly.
    “Who, Noah?” I ask lightly,
trying to lighten the mood.
    “Don't blow this off, Blayre .  I'm very disappointed in you.”
    “I wasn't watching the time
last night. I'm sorry.”
    “Were you drinking?”
    “A little.” He levels me with
a look. “Okay, so I had a lot. Well, not really since I only had two drinks.”
    Tate snorts. “I bet those two
drinks were fifty percent hard liquor.”
    “I wasn't trying to get
drunk,” I say defensively. “I just wanted to have a little fun.”
    My brother sighs and seems to
choose his words carefully. “I know. I should have expected this,” he says
quietly. “I partied pretty hard after I graduated and moved out. After all the
strict rules, it was nice to let loose and have fun for once. I went a bit
overboard that first year.”
    “It is nice,” I agree. “Julie
and Steve never let me do anything fun.”
    “I want you to enjoy life, Blayre , but do it in moderation and be smart,” he says
seriously. “I get that you want to drink like everyone else, but if one of
those parties gets busted, you could get arrested for underage drinking. You do
not want something like that on your record.”
    “I'll be careful.”
    Tate's eyes narrow. “I'd
prefer you not to drink at all.”
    I fall silent, because I
won't make promises I can't keep.
    “Who was the asshole on the
motorcycle?” Tate suddenly asks, his tone darkening.
    “He's not an asshole,” I
reply with a scowl of my own. Figures. The first guy I ever go out with and my
brother already hates him.
    “He brought you home at
two-thirty in the morning. Apparently, he doesn't care if he gets you in
trouble.”
    “I am eighteen.”
    “And you're still in high
school,” Tate points out.
    There's not much to say to
that, so I find myself studying one of the large pots of flowers on the patio.
I want to argue with him but instead I am going to keep my mouth shut. I just
arrived here and the last thing I need to do is piss off my brother.
    “I can't believe these words
are coming out of my mouth but here goes. If you live under my roof, you follow
my rules.”
    “I hear you,” I mumble, my
eyes lifting to Tate's.
    He nods at me. “Good. Curfew
is eleven during the week and on weekends it's midnight.”
    “Fine.” 
    Tate hesitates briefly. “I
know you don't want to hear this, but you just met this guy. Take things slow,
okay.”
    I can't help but stare at
him. Was he referring to sex?
    My brother clears his throat
awkwardly.
    Yep. “Okay.”
    Tate looks relieved to have
that part over with and we both look up when we see the patio door slide open.
A man I've never seen walks out. “Noah said you were out here. I can go wait
inside though if you want,” he offers.
    Tate looks happy to see him
and grins. “Nah, we're good. Blayre , this is Vince.
Vince, my sister.”
    “Hi,” I say to the good
looking, dark haired man with friendly blue eyes.
    He smiles down at me from
where he stands next to our table. “Hey, there.” He looks at Tate
questioningly. “We heading out?”
    Tate turns his attention on
me. “I'm going out of town with some friends to go see a band. I'll be back
late. Stay out of trouble,” he orders as he rises to his feet.
    Once Tate leaves, I make
myself some breakfast and check my phone one more time. I know I'm being
pathetic, but I can't help it. There are still no messages from Cole and with a
roll of my eyes, I shut the phone off.
    There.
    I am not going to be one of
those girls that waits by the phone until a guy calls.
    A while later, I sit down by
the pool and drop my legs into the water, letting them sway gently back and
forth out of boredom. I'd tried reading a book that I'd checked out from the
school library but after re-reading the same page twice, I'd tossed