Love Untrusted by Tressie Lockwood

Author:Tressie Lockwood [Lockwood, Tressie]
Language: eng
Format: epub

* * *

The shower felt good after a long day, and Jasmeka let the water run over her skin until it cooled. She scrubbed her aching muscles, rinsed, and hopped out to find a change of clothes.

Something rustled, and she glanced around to find a note sliding beneath the door. Her heartbeat kicked up a few notches as she strolled over to pick up the note.

Meet me down at the river near the hollow tree.

Don’t keep me waiting.

She rolled her eyes. Bossy much? She wondered how he knew about the hollow tree with all the running around he’d done since he arrived in town.

“Oh, yeah, he grew up here.” She shook her head at her forgetful mind. Maybe he didn’t know his brothers liked hanging out down there. Who didn’t, especially at night? With silver light from the moon, a peaceful song from the crickets, and warm weather with a slight breeze coming off the river, it was the perfect spot.

Jasmeka slipped into a sundress and flip-flops instead of her usual shorts and T-shirt. She puttered about the house, pretending to clean up some more. The truth was, she had taken care of everything earlier. They were all pretty good about considering her workload and straightening up after themselves.

The boys had gone out right after dinner, and Thiago shut himself in his study as he often did. When Aunt Rosa retired to her private room on the first floor, Jasmeka wiped her hands on a dishtowel, and took off the apron she’d been wearing. She poured herself a glass of ice tea and took it to the porch. Slipping her feet out of her flip-flops, she sat down on the swing and began to rock.

“Jas.”

She jumped and peered into the shadows. Two figures dislodged themselves from the darkness and walked toward her. She’d known they were waiting until no one was around and was glad her eagerness hadn’t driven her straight to the meeting spot.

“You scared me, Tony.” She rested a hand on her chest. “Don’t do that.”

“Sorry.” He sounded annoyed, always so angry, just like his big brother. She found it funny that they would probably both deny it. Neither was very honest with themselves or others when it came to their emotions.

“Jas,” Angel began, but Antonio bumped him aside. Antonio would never let his twin get ahead of him. He almost forced Angel to follow no matter what. She dreamed of seeing Angel step out and be the man she knew he could be someday.

“Let me do it,” Antonio demanded. “We’re sorry, okay? There!”

She chuckled under breath. Pretty defensive.

He went on. “You have to admit we kind of saved you, right? I mean he’s a loser. We don’t need him around here. We’re fine without him.”

“He’s your big brother.”

Antonio growled in disgust.

“He abandoned us,” Angel said, and her heart broke.

“He’s not your dad, Angel, and to be fair, he was just your age when he moved away. He wasn’t a legal adult yet, so he had to go where his mother took him.

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