Page 100 of Trust Me With Forever

Aunt Lori:Probably not. Just play nice. I don’t want any of your celebration pictures to have black eyes.

Me:Understood.

Aunt Lori:Still no on the suit of armor, then?

Me:No, Aunt Lori. But I did get you those new cowboy boots. The ones with hearts on them.

Aunt Lori:I suppose that will be good enough. But just wait until you see my outfit!

Me (typed but deleted):Oh, no. It better not be you in a skintight bodysuit with cat ears, like you joked about.

Me (actual reply instead):It’s my shot at pool. We’ll talk more later.

Waiting to see how people reacted to Abby’s interview had been torture at first. But after a few trolls and videos filled with gaslighting, people started to stand with my wife.

While Abby had refused to show pictures or name any of Travis’s past victims, she’d shared as much detail as possible before mostly discussing her own experience.

Revealing it all had made her nearly break down a few times. But she was strong and had managed to rally, later lightening as we joked with her family and ate far too many brownies and scones and cake.

And on the fourth day after Abby’s interview was posted, one of the other former intern teachers posted her story to social media and later gave an interview. After that, things snowballed.

Two days ago, Travis had disappeared from social media entirely. Not long after, news broke about two other victims coming forward and the San Jose Police Department starting a formal investigation.

While they were a long way from arresting or charging Travis, the news had lifted Abby’s spirits. And since fewer and fewer strangers were coming to Starry Hills now that Travis was being charged, we’d decided to come to The Watering Hole to celebrate a little. And watching her across the room, laughing with her friends over drinks, made me smile.

Then something poked my side. I frowned as West said, “Are you going to take a shot or keep staring and drooling over my sister?”

Beck snorted. “You were doing the same thing a second ago, with Emmy.”

West muttered, “I didn’t think you saw that.”

Zane slapped him on the shoulder. “I didn’t see it, but you know Beck sees everything. I swear he has eyes on the back of his head.”

Beck rolled his eyes. “It’s not my fault you and Zach were never as stealthy as you thought you were.”

Zach jumped in. “Hey, considering we’re eight years younger than you, I thought we did a pretty good job.” He pointed at his brother. “After all, you never knew we took Dad’s motorbike out when we were seven. It’s a good thing you never wanted to be a detective.”

Beck shook his head. “As if you’d be a good one. You’re too impatient.”

Zach shrugged. “Hey, I always had Amber to help me. She’s really good at sneaking around.” He paused and then chalked the tip of his cue. “Not that we needed her help or anything.”

Zane said, “Should we count how many times he’s brought up Amber tonight? I think he’s going to get lonely on this six-month-long trip he’s taking.”

Zach raised his middle finger. “She has a boyfriend, and we’re just friends. Kind of. I think.”

Zane snorted. “You think?”

He tossed his chalk cube, and Zane ducked. Zach said, “As if you can talk. How many years has it been since you dated anyone? You must be getting tired of your hand.”

I jumped in. “You don’t have to date someone to sleep with them.”

Zach smirked. “Ah, but I know something you don’t. You see, Zane wants…”

Zane put his brother in a headlock. “Don’t you fucking dare say anything, or I’ll march over to the BFF Circle and spill some of your secrets, brother.”

I looked at West. “Do we need to break them up? Because I don’t want to be barred from this place now that I’m finally home.”

West replied, “Nah. They both have secrets, and it’ll end in a stalemate.”

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