My Sweetest Escape. Chelsea M. Cameron

      Chapter 6

      Sunday was chore day at Yellowfield House. Lovable control freak as always, Darah had added the list of chores and everyone got their fair share, including a rotational schedule so no one had to do the same thing over and over. The funny thing was that they all followed it without question. Like she was their mom and giving out gold stars and higher allowances for each one they completed.

      “I figured you’d need another week to settle in, but next week you’re on the list,” Darah said, as if she was offering me a plate of those amazing snickerdoodles.

      “Great,” I said with a smile that was totally forced. Not that I wanted to be a mooch, but they seemed to have everything in hand. I kept my room and bathroom clean and helped with the dishes. They kept trying to integrate me into the machine of the house, and I didn’t want to be a part of it. I wasn’t a part of it, not really.

      They were all helping pay for the house. I was just an inconvenience that had been pushed on them. The annoying kid sister.

      By late morning all the chores were done, and the already-spotless house was even more spotless. I did my first load of laundry, and everyone settled into their own activities. Renee was having a “Call of Duty” tournament with a few of Hunter and Mase’s friends, Dev and Sean, and Darah was catching up on homework and Taylor was reading some vampire book on her e-reader while Hunter played his guitar.

      Renee had told me he was some kind of musical genius who could play practically any song. At the moment he was playing anything that Taylor yelled out, including Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Seal and Matchbox Twenty.

      I changed my laundry over to the dryer and was about to sit back down and watch the “Call of Duty” battle when we all heard the doorbell ring.

      “Got it,” Hunter said, getting up and rushing to the door as if he was trying to beat everyone else. No one else had even gotten up. Weird.

      “Hey, man, you know you don’t have to ring the bell. It’s always open.” He stepped aside to let the person in, and I glanced at the doorway.

      “I know, but I have this thing for doorbells,” a familiar voice said before a familiar person walked through the door. Dusty.

      I was surprised to see him, but he didn’t seem surprised at all.

      “Red,” he said, giving me a little bow. “Nice to see you again.” I looked at Hunter, who was trying not to look at me. Something clicked in my brain. Dusty had said he’d see Hunter tomorrow. Well, that day was today. Hmm, Hunter hadn’t said anything about Dusty coming over. Wonder why that was?

      “Hey, Sharp!” Mase yelled as something exploded and Dev groaned and threw his controller.

      “Hey,” Dusty said, coming in and sitting down on the couch as if he’d done it a million times before. He was also sitting in my spot. “‘Call of Duty’ again? How bad are you losing?”

      Mase grumbled as I looked at Hunter. He stepped around me and went to sit back on the recliner. I had no choice but to go and lean against the arm of the couch.

      “Oh, Dusty, this is my sister Jos,” Renee said, barely glancing up from the game. She had a one-track mind when she was playing.

      “We’ve met,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at me and then back to the game.

      “When?” Renee said, moving her whole body as she moved the controller, as if that would make some difference. I’d always threatened to video her while she was doing it for future blackmail use.

      “I can’t quite recall. Where was it that we met?” I couldn’t glare at him with everyone watching, so I had to settle for clenching my teeth. He knew very well where we had met. He was totally screwing with me in front of everyone. Oh, two could play that game. I wasn’t a redhead for nothing.

      “That’s right. It was at the hospital, and you needed to know the way to the pharmacy. Has the itching on your junk finally gone away?” I stage-whispered the last part and motioned in the general area.

      Dusty’s eyes went wide for just a second before they narrowed and a grin spread across his face. Everyone else started laughing nervously, wondering if I was being serious or not. They didn’t know me well enough yet. Of course Renee just rolled her eyes.

      “TMI, dude,” Mase said, shaking his head, and Dev tried to slide away from Dusty on the couch.

      “Well played, Red. Well played.” He started a slow clap while he laughed. “Yes, my junk is now itch-free.” He shifted on the couch, adjusting his pants. Seriously, how did his pants stay up? It was one of those mysteries science had yet to solve. Like where your missing socks went when you put them in the dryer. He cleared his throat when he caught me staring at his pants. Jesus, he probably thought I was trying to check out his junk. Not that I could even see it...

      “On that note,” Hunter said, clearing his throat and giving me a look before grabbing his guitar again. “Okay, requests are now open from anyone but Taylor.”

      “Hey!” she protested, glancing up from her book.

      “Sorry, Miss, it’s time for someone else to abuse my musical genius.”

      “Fine,” she said, going back to her e-reader, but she gave him a little wink before she did it. Everyone else seemed too wrapped up in what they were doing, or was busy trying to think of a song.

      “‘Sunday Morning,’” I blurted out. It was the first thing that came to mind.

      Hunter looked up from the guitar. “Maroon 5?”

      “Yeah.” He smiled and looked over at Dusty. “Can you give me a beat on that?” Dusty nodded and sat up. After thinking for a second, he started making sounds with his mouth. Not just sounds. Beat boxing. Hunter listened for a second and then started strumming as Dusty layered on more sounds until it was like he was creating an entire percussion section for the song with only his mouth.

      I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from rising, but no one else seemed surprised. Dusty turned his head, and I made my face neutral, but he still sort of grinned at me anyway. Cocky much? Hunter started singing, and I tried to find a comfortable way to lean on the arm of the couch while also pretending to be interested in the explosions and chaos happening on the television. I would rather set my hair on fire than ask Dusty for his seat, or give him the satisfaction of going to the dining room to get a chair. Should have just stayed in my cave.

      Okay, so Dusty was really good at beat boxing, not that I was an expert, by any means. He made sounds with his mouth that I didn’t know a human could make. So what? There were a million people online who could do the same thing. It wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t anything to swoon over. He wasn’t anything to swoon over.

      They finished the song, and Dusty did a fancy noise that sounded like a cymbal crash and reverberation.

      “Good enough for you?” Dusty said, turning to face me.

      “Meh,” I said, shrugging one shoulder and turning back to the television as Renee screamed and jumped up and down and all the guys groaned and threw their controllers down.

      “Take that, bitches,” Renee said, pointing at them. “In your face.” She started doing a dance that was somewhere between slutty club dancing and a weird touchdown dance hybrid. The guys all booed and threw things at her. I just shook my head. That was my sister.

      “I’m hoping those moves are genetic,” said a voice so close that I slid off my perch on the arm of the couch. Luckily, I was able to catch myself before my butt hit the floor. Everyone else was too distracted by Renee’s