Under the Dusty Sky (Holloway Farms)

hurt you.”
    I laugh for real this time.
    “ I am not sure anyone would believe you could accidentally lift, aim, and swing a shovel at Ben’s head…and don’t lie, you didn’t mean to break Jay’s arm, you just meant to hit him a lot harder than you needed to. Plus, you love Lacy. I would have done it if you didn’t.”
    My heart squeezes painfully in my chest at the thought of Lacy. I have to talk to her. I don’t even know if she’ll call, even if it is my birthday. We've fought a lot before, but this is different.
    Asher scratches the back of his neck, and I can swear his cheeks flush slightly in the moonlight.
    “ I love you, Graceland. You’re my baby sister. I would do anything for you. We all would. Even if ninety-nine percent of your pain and injury is caused by us, we’d avenge you to the death for the other one percent of your hurt.”
    I hop off the fence, and Rasp weaves his way between my feet. He’s not happy I teased him with a run and am now bailing.
    “ I’m fine, Ash. Really. We…we’ve been hanging out a little, and I just got upset. He didn’t do anything wrong, I just. I’m just overwhelmed.”
    It’s refreshing to be honest with my brother, but also feels foreign. Asher’s the sensitive one, even when he’s a dick, but I've never confided in him before. That was always Hunter. That was his place in our family. Hunter is the caretaker, Asher is sensitive. Archer is smart. Me? I don’t know what I am anymore. But right now I don't feel good about it. I feel like the evil sister.
    Asher’s also been in love with Lacy forever, and in this moment, I feel guilty. Truly guilty that I’ve always kept them apart. Or would mock her for how she feels. I'm definitely the bad sibling.
    Asher jumps down next to me and wraps his arm around my shoulder.
    “ Aw, does my baby sister have a real crush on a boy?” His teasing tone is back. We are no longer bonding, and it feels good for the emotion to be lifted. It feels good to be back to the light-hearted, keep-everything-at-your-fingertips emotion that my family prides themselves on.
    I smirk.
    “ If a girl can have a real crush on the perfect pair of god-like abs, then totally.”
    Asher makes a gagging noise. “Just remember, if he touches you I’ll kill him. He’s not from around here. No one would even notice he was gone.” He smiles widely, and I punch him in the chest.
    “ You’re a psychopath. Who even thinks of that?”
    “ Guys with beautiful sisters…every one of them.”
    I bump him with my hip, and he curls me into his chest for a hug.
    “ We just want you to be happy, Gracie. And speaking of happy, we better go home so you can sleep, I know how you get.”
    I glare at him and throw a leg over my quad. Rasp practically wiggles out of his skin while my brother and I start our machines. Once we’re both in the ditch heading home, we start to race. Ash revs his engine and pulls ahead of me, then lets off the throttle and slows down.
    “ If you could drive a car like you can drive a quad, sis, you’d be golden. Too bad you kill cars.” His mouth opens wide in a laugh that’s swallowed up by the sound of rumbling engines dispersed into the night sky. He pulls ahead slightly, but I hammer on the throttle and stand up on the foot pads. I fly by him, gaining a good lead. Rasp is between us and thinking this is the best game ever no doubt. Everything is the best thing ever to that dog.
    I laugh as I approach our driveway. I win. But Ash let me win. Tonight I need to win.

CHAPTER 21
    Graceland
    A combination of being sixteen, and the fact that I was up most of the night being confused, or upset means that I sleep through most of my birthday.
    When I finally pad downstairs, my whole family is sitting around the table. My dad is drinking coffee and reading the paper; my brothers are shoveling food into their faces. Asher looks up at me briefly and looks back down.
    “ Nice of you to join us.” My dad’s voice is tight, but he wraps his arm around me and pulls me in for a quick hug. I pat his shoulder and kiss his balding head.
    “ Why didn’t anyone wake me?” I ask.
    “ It’s your birthday. We figured we’d let you sleep in. Especially with that little adventure you decided to take in the middle of the night. We’ll be talking about that later, by the way.”
    I push away from Dad to get a glass of water but mostly to avoid eye contact.
    “ Yeah, that.” I mumble and hop onto the counter to sip at my