Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

were family, and we had each other’s backs.
But that didn’t mean we liked each other, either.
He was the noble one. The voice of reason in our little
group, and while I sometimes envied his happy house, I knew
there would be a time when he’d have two choices—and he
wouldn’t choose me.
Noticing Arion still next to me, I looked up at her. “What
are you waiting for?”
Her lips tightened into a line, knowing I was referring to
Marko Bryson, and finally, she walked off, either to get to
work on him or tell me to piss off and to get back to her
friends. Either way, I didn’t care. I just wanted her gone.
I turned my eyes back on Kai, watching as he approached
Winter and the girls around her parting to let him in.
Winter’s smile faltered as he leaned in and she listened to
whatever he was saying. She pulled back a little, her spine
straightening and her head bowing in embarrassment.
My fingers closed into a fist.
Then he took her hand and held the sweatshirt up to it, so
she could take it and put it on.
But much to my surprise, she shook her head and waved
him off, adding a small smile for good measure. Instead, she
reached out to touch the brick column of the pool house, using
it to feel her way as she left.
He watched after her, threw a look at me, and I just shook
my head at him. She wouldn’t cover up, but now she was
leaving the party good and humiliated. Great job, asshole.
He threw the sweatshirt back over to the table, and I turned
my eyes over to her, watching her trail the perimeter with her
hand grazing the hedge line. How long did it take her to map
out a new place in her head? She seemed pretty self-sufficient.
Even at school already. Of course, she’d be familiar with her
home the most. If she followed the hedges around the corner,
they would take her all the way back up to the house.