Page 21 of Meet Me in the Blue

I was sick of it, sick of everyone’s obligatory sympathy. Like Rook had said, the word lost its meaning after a while.

“Yeah… thanks.” I brushed my hair from my forehead, chewing my bottom lip as I searched for something more to say.

I had nothing.

Everyone looked the same, and yet they didn’t. Travis had the same cunning brown eyes, same jock build, but his blond hair had started to thin on top. And Will was the same, too, except his laugh lines were deeper around his blue eyes. Ron gave me a sad smile, running his hand over his buzz cut. Out of all the guys, he’d changed the least. He still looked like a dutiful soldier, built like a brick house, except his stomach had gotten softer over the years. Looking at them was like staring at a high school reunion photo. I searched their faces, but there was only one person I cared about, only one person I wanted to know again.

Rook.

With his nervous laugh as the silence in the kitchen deepened, and his amber eyes that reminded me, no matter what, I’d always belong to him.

ROOK

THE STARS WERE ENDLESS.I wondered how long it would take to count all of them. The treetops reached and reached, but I didn’t think they’d ever truly touch them. A mild breeze moved the blades of grass under my arms. It tickled too much, and goose bumps prickled all the way down to my wrists. It was warm for late September, one last chance to camp, one last time to count the stars.

“How many have you found?” I asked and Luka groaned.

“I lost count at fifty-three.” He rolled his head to the side. “You?”

“Seventy-two.”

His blue eyes looked almost silver in the dark, like one of those cool looking elves from the video game he got a few weeks ago. He reached out and brushed his pinky over mine. I didn’t mind it, even though most people thought it was weird how we both liked to hold hands sometimes. We’d stopped doing it at school. The kids were mean and called us names. Mom told me it was okay to hold hands with my best friend, but that maybe we should keep it between us. I didn’t understand why the kids cared so much. It didn’t hurt anyone. But Mom had said fifth graders were assholes. It was the first time she’d ever used a swear word like that in front of me. I’d heard her swear before, but it was usually by accident.

“Should we try again?” Luka hooked his finger around mine and scooted close enough our arms were pressed together.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to count them all tonight.”

He enclosed my entire hand with his and turned his face toward the sky. “Even if it takes our whole lives, we’ll count them, Rook. I know we will.”

• ••

Luka hadn’t said much over the course of the night. The guys had tried to ask him about California while we’d eaten pizza, but all they’d gotten in return were vague pleasantries. He’d mentioned working as a waiter and how it had been hard to sell his photography because there were already too many artists. He’d said things like,I loved the culture and the clubs, and the beaches were different. But he hadn’t given too much away. For the majority of the game, Luka had sat in silence, his mind somewhere else, his tired eyes, every now and then, found mine. I’d had to remind him it was his turn to play a few times. And after he’d lost all his hit points, he grabbed a beer from the fridge, and sat behind the table on a barstool like an outsider looking in.

I hated it.

“You might as well give up, it’s almost ten and you have less than five HP left on your commander.” Ron smirked when Will scowled. “What’s it going to be?”

“It’s almost ten?” Travis snorted. “We’re not that old.”

“Some of us have work in the morning,” Ron said, grinning even wider when Travis narrowed his eyes.

“Just because I work from home—”

“In your underwear.” Will laughed and Travis punched him in the shoulder.

I couldn’t help but laugh too. Luka’s face paled as he inhaled a shaky breath.

“Are you okay?” I asked and he bit his lip as he nodded.

“Yeah… just tired.” He forced a smile. “You guys are pretty hardcore players, huh?”

“Who knew?” Will set down his cards. “I’ve always been competitive though. Apparently, that’s not just for hockey.”

Luka raised his brows, his tone sardonic as hell. “Apparently.”

Will being Will, he didn’t notice, but I shot Luka a look and he shrugged.

“What’s the plan, Will?” Ron asked again and Will looked around the table, strategizing in vain.

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