Page 11 of Drown in You

For the first time since the incident, rage boils in my veins at Marcus for putting us in this position.

“I can’t go, Mom.” I squeeze her tighter. “You need me.”

She shakes her head. “What I need is for my daughter to be safe, and you aren’t here.”

“But who will wake you up when you forget to set your alarm? Who will make sure the electric bill gets paid? Who?—”

“Me.” She pulls back, brown eyes resolute. “It’s not your job to take care of me—it’s my job to take care of you. I’ll be fine.” She swipes at the tear on my cheek before nodding at my phone. “Let your father know you’re coming.”

Chapter 4

Luke

My breath clouds in front of me when I hit the ice, dawn barely cracking over the horizon.

Coach would be pissed if he knew I was out here. There’s a time for training and a time for recovery. That’s what this break is supposed to be. Rest and recovery. But the only time I can clear the thoughts and memories from my mind is when I’m pushing my body to the brink.

My skates cut through the ice, the lone pair until the ghost of another soars across.

The ghost of the girl I once thought of as a dream. Now my nightmare.

Chloe deserved to be more than a dream. She deserved to be a whole person. A girl with flaws and quirks and annoying habits. A girl who chewed too loud or talked too much or never got anywhere on time. If she was still here, I could’ve learned those things about her. Maybe we would’ve discovered we weren’t a good fit at all. Maybe we would’ve realized we were better as friends.

“Luke!”

My head whips to the other side of the ice, convinced I heard Chloe calling out to me.

But when the shout comes again, it’s from the opposite direction. No ghosts in sight.

A mother shouts at her son racing for the frozen pond until she wrangles him into submission.

My heart pounds in my ears, from chasing the puck for the past hour and my mind convincing me for the briefest moment that Chloe had been resurrected from the dead.

Or that I was truly losing my fucking mind.

With the sun reflecting off the ice and families bringing their kids to skate, I pack up and head home, limbs drained and heart struggling to pump the blood in my veins.

But at least I didn’t think about Chloe until the end, my mind too consumed by the burn and strain. Too bad the peace never lasts. She always comes back to me with a vengeance—long, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a huge smile to match her bigger-than-life personality. Now the corpse in the casket.

By the time I trudge through the front door, I want to claw my brain out of my head. My hand itches to reach for my phone and text Sienna. My favorite distraction.

Bud barks and races up to me, tail wagging.

“Luke?” Ma calls. “Can you join us in the family room?”

I ditch my bag on the floor, scratch Bud’s head, and sigh. The family room is where Ma delivers bad news. When our last dog died, when the Novaks announced the date for Chloe’s funeral, when she told me Mike would be moving in. All the shit guaranteed to upset me, she reserves for this room.

Ma and Mike are seated together on one couch, and I take the other across from them, Bud flopping at my feet. The family room is stiff and formal, decorated and organized like a staged room in a house up for sale.

I clasp my hands between my knees, foot bouncing. Already eager to get the hell out of this room and soak in the shower for an hour. “What’s up?”

Ma glances at Mike. This has to be some shit about the wedding. Ma’s going to insist on my attendance and Mike’s about to ask me to be his best man, which was obviously her idea.

He grins. “Sienna is coming to stay with us!”

To stay.

Sienna is going to be fucking living here.

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