I stood taller. I wasn’t surprised. I knew it was coming. I’d always assumed the two other guys Tiffany had brought home to dinner had broken up with her right after, but maybe it was the other way around. “Really?” I asked.
“Don’t get me wrong. Manning’s super-hot, and he’s nice to me. But he’s like an old man. He works and has classes and goes to bed early and takes things slow.” She yawned, turning her head to me. “I thought college guys would be different, you know? Fun and cool.”
I nodded as if I understood. In reality, Manning was the coolest person I knew because he didn’t care one bit about being cool. “So you’re going to dump him?” I asked, trying not to sound hopeful.
“No. If I don’t want to see him anymore, I just won’t pick up his calls.” She sat up and fixed her hair in the reflection of her mirrored closet. “You saw Corbin today?”
I was still wondering what it’d be like to have Manning call me in the first place. “Who?”
“Corbin. Hello? Hottest guy in your school? You saw him at the beach?”
I blinked a few times. Had that only been this morning? “Um. Yeah. How’d you know?”
“I talked to him.”
“When?”
“On the phone.”
“He called?” I asked.
“Yep. While I was changing. I told him to call back because we were about to have dinner.”
“Did he ask for me?”
“Why?” she asked. “Do you like him?”
“No.” It came out defensively, a reflex more than an answer. I’d spent the last couple years wanting nothing to do with the boys at my school. Now that I knew Manning, who wasn’t anything like them, I was even less interested. But Corbin seemed different, too, like he was listening when I spoke instead of trying to see down my top. “I mean, I do like him,” I said. “But just as a friend. You?”
“Do I like Corbin? He’s only seventeen. Way too young for me.” She flipped through her address book. “And it’s not really sexy when a guy likes you too much. That’s basically why I could never date someone like Corbin.”
“I thought you said he had a small crush on you a while back.”
“He did, but who knows if it was more? I just think it’s weird that he’s suddenly interested in you.”
I had no idea what to say to that. Corbin hadn’t brought up Tiffany at the beach, but maybe he did still have a thing for her. I didn’t care either way. “I’ve never liked a guy who liked me back.”
Her expression softened. “Don’t worry, it’ll happen. Especially when you get tits.” She giggled. “Sorry. Don’t use that word. It’s gross. My friends always say it, but that doesn’t mean you should.”
Tiffany didn’t get motherly often, but when she did, it was nice. Like she was looking out for me. “Okay. I won’t. And thanks for saying the pie wasn’t soggy earlier.”
“It wasn’t. I ate the whole piece and you know how I am about calories.”
I smiled. Giving me her calories was a compliment. I had the sudden urge to hug my sister. It’d been a weird night. Some bad things had happened, like the fighting and the possible kiss, but it could never truly be bad because time spent with Manning was time getting to know him. It was true even when we didn’t speak.
And now that Tiffany was losing interest, I’d have him back. At least until school started. After that, I wasn’t sure.
I was about to embrace Tiffany when a loud, sudden knock on the door made us both jump.
“Tiffany?” Dad asked.
As when anyone came to her room, Tiffany snapped at him, as if it was her programmed response. “What?” she asked.
He came in, saw me, and pointed to the bathroom door. “Go to your room, Lake.”
He was angry. Again. Normally, I wouldn’t question him, but Tiffany had taken some of the heat tonight that should’ve been aimed at me. And I was feeling defensive of her. “Why?” I asked. “So you can be mean to her some more?”
My dad looked shocked. My first instinct was to apologize, but I didn’t. I stayed where I was, my shoulders square.
“It’s okay, Lake,” Tiffany said. “Just go.”
I looked between the two of them. Clearly, they didn’t think this involved me, but it did. It was about Manning. So I went into the bathroom and pressed my ear to the door.
“What was that tonight?” Dad asked.
Tiffany didn’t answer for a few seconds. “What do you mean?”
“You brought a stranger into my home. Someone who could be dangerous. You made your mother and sister go through the charade of making dinner and buying expensive wine. Why? What are you trying to prove?”
“Nothing—”
“He’s a lowlife, smug construction worker who jumps from job to job. Once he’s done with that house, he doesn’t have to show up for work the next day. What’s to stop him from rounding up his friends to rob us in the middle of the night and leave town?”
I gritted my teeth so hard, my jaw ached. That was completely unfair. Manning had been nothing but respectful tonight. He’d even made an effort to look nice.