Because of Karson

Chapter 16

I stumbled through my front door, my body feeling weak as I turned on the hallway light. I leaned against the wall for a short second before I heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Dakota?" My brother asked, looking around for me. His gaze landed on me, his eyes widening as he took in my appearance. "Holy shit, are you okay?"

"Mom called. She thought it was so funny to tell me she fucked some random guy at a bar," I gave a dry laugh. "She also thinks I'm a whore because I 'stole' Jason away from her."

"Are you fucking joking?" Jace bellowed, his eyes narrowing into slits. "That bitch!"

He walked down the rest of the steps before stopping in front of me. He reached out his arms and encased me in a hug. He knew how horrible Jason was because when I "escaped" from him, the one place I would go to was Jace's room. He was never able to fully understand at such a young age, but as we got older he was able to put the pieces together.

"I just hope she doesn't bring him home again," I sighed, stepping back from his embrace.

"Dak!" I heard a little voice yell from the top of the stairs. Liv's small footsteps filled the room as she ran towards me. "I missed you!"

I put a fake smile on my face as I easily picked her up, gently tickling her stomach. "I missed you too, Liv."

Her breathless giggles filled the house as her smile showcased her missing teeth. I set her down and she immediately ran to the living room, playing with her dolls on the couch.

"Come play with me!" She giggled as she made airplane noises, pretending her toys were flying.

I looked over at Jace before heading to the living room. He knew I wasn't okay, but I pushed all the negative feelings down for Olivia. She doesn't need to know I'm not happy.

He gave me a disappointed look as he sighed. "Don't worry about me Jace, I'm okay." I reassured him, the lie easily slipping past my teeth.

He let out another frustrated sigh before he gave a hesitant nod. I turned away from him and went to play with Olivia and her dolls even though I was past the point of feeling exhausted.

Be strong for Liv.

~•~•~

"Did you know that snakes have two penises?" Braxton told everyone at our lunch table. He looked around to see our reactions but we just blinked at him. "You guys are no fun."

Nora snorted beside him. "You're just stupid."

He gave an offended look before stealing her sandwich and taking a huge bite from it. "You fatass! You just ate my whole sandwich in one bite," she squealed, pissed off that she no longer had a sandwich.

I chuckled before quickly covering it with a cough when Nora's eyes shot daggers at face. Surprisingly, Karson actually sat with us today. Although he was sitting on the other side of Braxton, he was practically staring at his phone the whole time.

Apparently after I left the guys house, Colton apologized to Karson for taking his fathers side on whatever was going on. Karson being Karson first declined and ignored him for a few hours before finally accepting his apology.

"My bad," Braxton choked, barely being able to get words out because his mouth was stuffed with Nora's turkey sandwich.

"Who let him sit with us?" Nora accused, looking straight at me.

"Hey don't look at me, they are the ones who wanted to sit here in the first place," I responded, my hands feeling slightly sweaty, nervous for some odd reason.