Tyler’s laughter has subsided by now, and he shrugs at me as Dad barges through the middle of us. “Someone’s mad as hell,” he mutters under his breath. He nudges my arm before turning around, the two of us following close on Dad’s heels and out of the station. Ella doesn’t join us.
It’s dark when we get outside into the station parking lot, and it’s growing late too. As we approach the Range Rover in silence, Jamie peers through the tinted windows at us. I pull open the door to find Chase asleep at the other side.
“What’d you do this time?” Jamie asks, but his eyes are on Tyler, not me.
“Something I shouldn’t have,” Tyler mutters in reply, and he throws me a knowing smile.
I climb inside, Tyler behind me, and we all have to shove Chase farther along until he’s pressed against the door at the other side. Jamie only heaves a tremendous sigh. I look up at Dad to find him gripping the steering wheel in silence, and I’m just about to ask him if he’s okay when Ella comes storming over to the car. She throws open the passenger door, gets in, and slams it shut again.
“Nice going, Mom,” Tyler says. He leans forward and rubs her shoulder. “You’re killing ’em.”
She quickly shakes his hand off her and barely even glances at him in the rearview mirror before opening her mouth to speak. “Don’t even talk to me, Tyler,” she warns, her voice scolding. “One of these days I’m just not going to turn up. I’m so disappointed in you.”
“I’m disappointed in you too, Eden,” Dad chips in gruffly. He shakes his head and starts up the engine, slowly backing out of the parking lot. “What the hell were you doing inside in the first place? I’m pretty sure the event was outside.”
“No,” Tyler quips. “The event was definitely inside.” He runs a finger inconspicuously down my thigh, stopping at my knee. It creates the oddest sensation.
“Cut it out with the attitude,” Ella snaps. She must be livid, because she never snaps. “I just had to sign for both of you to get out of there when I could have easily just left you all night, okay? So here’s an idea, Tyler: just sit there and be quiet for once in your life.”
That shuts him up for the journey back to Santa Monica, but it doesn’t stop him from skimming his thumb over my palm or playfully bumping his knee against mine or staring at me. I’m surprised no one notices. I certainly do, and I try my hardest to ignore him, despite the shivers running through me at his every touch.
It’s almost midnight when we get back to Deidre Avenue. Dad is worn out from the driving, but he still manages to carry Chase into the house and put him to bed without waking him. Jamie disappears into his room too.
“I don’t even know what to say to you, Tyler,” Ella murmurs as she locks the front door. She presses her palm against the glass panel, but she doesn’t turn around to face him. “I’ve just—I’ve had enough.” Her voice is pained, and she sighs as she turns around and walks toward us. “Eden, just go to your room. Get some sleep.”
When she gives me a small smile, I realize she’s really asking for privacy. I nod, glancing between both of them before heading for the stairs. Dad passes me on my way up and we both pause.
“I should call your mom,” he says quietly. It feels odd hearing him mention her. Out of place, even.
“Don’t.” I pull a face and pout. Mom is already stressed enough with her work; she doesn’t need me being arrested piled onto her too. “It’ll only worry her.”
“It’s worrying me, Eden!” he starts to yell, but it fades to a whisper midway through. He glances around to make sure he hasn’t disrupted anything, and then he presses a hand to his forehead. “What the hell is going on with you? I know you’ve been going to parties. I’m forty, not sixty. I don’t care about you enjoying yourself. Hell, it’s summer. What I care about is the impact it’s having on you. You’ve already lied to me a bunch of times, and now this? Who are you even hanging out with?”
Dad’s abruptness takes me aback. I thought he was oblivious to where I was going and what I was doing, but it seems he’s more aware than I thought he was. “Um,” I say. “Rachael from across the street. Tiffani. Um. Tiffani…Parkinson, I think?”
“Tyler’s girlfriend?” Dad asks, but he doesn’t even give me the chance to nod back. “Are you hanging out with the whole group of them? Dean Carter? That Jake guy?”
“And Meghan,” I mumble. I didn’t take him as a dad who paid attention to which people were in which friendship circle. “We’re all friends.”
“Well,” he says slowly, rubbing the back of his neck, “at least they’re nice kids. Look, you know what, just go to bed.” Unbuttoning the top of his shirt, he shakes his head in defeat and continues on downstairs.
I don’t know what the hell that was, but I don’t want to stick around and wait for it to happen again. Darting into my room, I kick off my sneakers and spin around to close my door, but Tyler is standing there. I almost choke.