Because of Karson

Chapter 15

"Why do we have to work on this project at someone's house?" I jokingly whined.

"So we can get it done faster, duh. And it's the perfect time to get to know my pretty girl better." He smirked, playfully nudging my shoulder. I just rolled my eyes.

"I don't think I can do it at my house today," I told them, keeping the answer short.

"Why not?" Braxton questioned.

"My siblings will be home and they can be a little distracting at times, especially my little sister," I smiled, looking over to Colton who was staring at me with curiosity.

"How many siblings do you have?" Colton asked. "I know Jace, but that's it."

"I'm the oldest sibling of three. Jace is 15 years old and I have a younger sister, Olivia, who is 5 years old," I explained as my eyes traveled back and forth between each boy.

"You have a little sister?" Colton asked in shock.

"Yes I do, she's like a mini me," I slightly chuckled. I pulled out my phone and showed them a picture of Jace, Olivia and I sitting together in the living room, playing a board game. Nora captured the picture when she slept over one night.

"Damn, she really does look like you," Braxton exclaimed as he studied the picture of my siblings and I.

"Boys and Dakota! Get off your phone and get to work!" Mr. Johnson yelled, my cheeks turning a shade of red from embarrassment.

"Yeah, yeah," Braxton replied. He looked away from the teacher and inched closer to me. The teacher just rolled his eyes before turning his back to us to write something on the whiteboard.

"Our house, after school," Braxton whispered as he got out a piece of notebook paper. He grabbed a pen from his backpack and wrote down his address. "Here, this is our address."

"Our?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Colton cleared his throat beside me. Braxton gave Colton a look before continuing. "Oh yeah, we all live together. It's just Colton, Karson, and me."

I briefly remembered Nora telling me a few weeks ago that they all moved down to this town together. It all made sense now. Of course they lived together, why would they all just randomly move down here together with no one else?

"Oh damn, I didn't know that," I replied, genuinely not being able to put the pieces together.

"Not many people do. They just know we moved down here together," Braxton explained as he struggled to maintain eye contact. There was obviously more to the story, but I wasn't going to push it.

"I'll text my siblings to let them know I'll be at y'all's house tonight," I told them as I heard a scoff coming from Karson's direction.

I turned to look at him. "Is something bothering you, Ryder?"

"Yes," he grumbled. "I don't want you at my fucking house."

"Well that's too fucking bad, we need to work on the project," Braxton cut in to answer for me.

Karson just rolled his eyes before leaning back in his chair, texting someone on his phone. He stared at the screen, his jaw clenching as he read something the person on the other side of the screen texted. He roughly threw his phone on the desk before turning his head to look outside the window.

I averted my gaze and quickly texted Jace, telling him I'd be working on a project at some friend's house. He eventually replied and told me he found a ride and that they would be able to pick up Liv from her elementary school as well.