Page 72 of You're the Reason

Seth pushed a little harder, bringing a grunt from Gabe. “I owe you nothing. Grace owes you nothing. Stay away from me and stay away from Grace.”

Seth backed up and dropped his arm. Gabe straightened his shoulders and took a step toward his car. “And here I was gonna invite you to a party.”

“Let me think about it. No.” Seth just shook his head and walked in the door, securing the lock behind him.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. Hannah Taylor?

He gave a quick look out the window to see if Gabe was up to anything, but he was gone. Seth accepted the call. “Hello.”

“Hey, Seth, I hope this isn’t a bad time.” Was it him or did she sound nervous?

“No, just got home from a meeting.” He searched his mind for what this could be about but came up empty. “I sent the photo for the brochure for the bachelor auction, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but . . .”

Maybe it was the wrong size. Maybe he’d get out of doing this town event after all. Jon’s words about it being a rite of passage rang in his ears. Even if it was embarrassing, at least maybe it would make him feel like a true Heritagite... Heritagonian... Heritager? Whatever it was called. “I can send a new one if you need?—”

“No, it’s not... I want you to know I don’t agree with this decision. But there have been some complaints when your name was released on the auction list...”

Oh.

“Got it.” Of course. Had he expected anything different? “That works out perfectly anyway. Jon was going to clear it with you, but I am going to be running a small ninja course in the warehouse on Teft.”

Out of sight.

“Oh, that’s great. It’s supposed to be quite warm, and you’ll no doubt draw quite a crowd.” Her voice lifted as if she was relieved he wasn’t upset.

“Talk to you later.” Seth ended the call. He wasn’t upset because this was what he’d expected.

thirteen

On June third she’d practically thrown a fit about sharing the studio with Seth and all his equipment. So how was it, that today, July third, Grace hated his absence. Even with a full class of girls right now, the place felt empty.

Grace tapped her meter stick against the ground as the girls leaped over it, each one giggling as they landed. Somehow her class had grown from Susie and a couple friends to almost a dozen girls ranging in age from four to fourteen. Their skills were quite varied, but they were her girls. “You come alive when you teach.” Seth’s words came back to her. Maybe she did.

Grace walked over to her phone and selected “Dancing Queen” from her playlist. “You can use the last few minutes to free dance.”

The girls squealed and began skipping and dancing around the room, using every inch of space now that they had it. No more weights. No more pegboard and chin-up bar. No more white box where they couldn’t dance.

A week ago, Seth had moved all his stuff out of her dance hall. She should be thrilled, but the truth was, she didn’t like it. Not one little bit. Maybe it wasn’t the weights themselves.

It was Seth. Because when all that left, so did he. He had a way of filling up the room, and she missed that. She missed him. She’d barely seen him since that day because now he spent all his time at the ninja-warehouse-rec-center-building place. Whatever they called it, he was there and not here.

Maybe he was giving her space. After all, his revelation about Gregory had shaken her. How could it not?

But as angry as she was, she couldn’t find it in herself to blame him for Gregory’s death. Seth had been a lost kid, nothing more sinister than that. He’d had no one to protect him. He had been alone and basically homeless. He was no more at fault than Gabe. Definitely no more at fault than her parents and their impossible expectations, the same expectations that had been suffocating her own life for as long as she could remember.

Ultimately, Gregory had made his own choice, and they’d all paid for it. Gregory, Gabe, and Seth. Those awful drugs had taken all three of them from her in different ways. The part she couldn’t let go of was everyone who had known and hadn’t told her. She had a right to know. It was her brother after all, and at least Seth had been going to tell her.

So, after all of the soul-searching, she was right back where she had started. She missed Seth. The question was, was he avoiding her or was he just busy doing his job?

Grace stepped over to the music and selected the cooldown mix she’d made on Spotify. “Okay, ladies. Find your spots.”

Grace waited for them to find their number on the floor and assume first position. “Good. And lift through your core.”

Grace walked them though the five positions, then again, and one more time. “That was a great class today, girls. Remember, even though tomorrow is Thursday, there’s no class tomorrow because tomorrow is the?—”

“Fourth of July festival,” they all yelled in unison.

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