Page 20 of Riding Jamie

An easy smile spreads over my face at the sound of Bo’s voice. It’s been a few weeks since we've gotten to chat, and I miss him.

I miss home. I miss lazy weekend mornings and my mom's cooking and picking on my big brother.

The exhaustion of today only makes the ache of missing everyone even sharper, but getting to talk to Bo will make it easier. He may be a shithead, but my brother has always been one of my best friends.

“Bo,” I say, my smile probably obvious in my voice. “It's been a minute. How's everything back home?”

“Oh, we're all good,” he says, and I can practically see his carefree shrug. The thought makes me laugh a little. “Just the usual from us.”

I shift slightly, settling in to chat aimlessly with him for a bit. This is just what I need for a pick-me-up, and I don't have anything else to do for tonight, so I can keep him on the phone as long as I want. If Mom and Dad are home, I'll be able to talk to them, too.

“Haven’t heard from you in a while. I wanted to see if you were planning on coming home for the holidays,” he says. “Mom’s already planning a whole big thing, you know how she is.”

“Already?” I ask, laughing. “She’s still got weeks before Thanksgiving, much less Christmas.”

“Trust me, I know,” Bo snorts.

I hum uncertainly, rolling over so I can set my bag on my nightstand.

“I’m not sure. I mean, winter break is coming up soon with school, but I still have work,” I say. “I haven’t talked to anyone about taking time off.”

Right now taking time off sounds heavenly. Maybe a few weeks back home would even be a good reset. I’d be able to come back fresh and forget all about what happened with Shane. If we could go back to our usual easy jokes and teamwork, it would be a flat out miracle.

“Oh, uh, ok,” Bo says, sounding surprised. “I figured you’d have made plans already.”

My brow creases in confusion, and I laugh awkwardly. Bo’s never been good at being subtle, and it’s pretty obvious in his voice thatsomethingmust have happened. Did I miss a text along the line? I haven’t been great at checking my phone the last few weeks, too wrapped up in my own head.

“Oh, come on,” I joke, “I’m not that bad. Why would I have plans made more than a month out?”

He pauses, the silence stretching out between us. Shit,didI miss some big thing that happened? I’m getting ready to pull my phone away from my ear so I can put him on speaker and scroll through my texts when he finally answers me.

“Didn’t you see Jamie?” he asks, shocking me into total stillness. “I guess I just assumed y’all had made plans.”

My vision goes blurry for a long moment, and I blink rapidly at the closet door across from me. I can feel a strange, detached tingling in my fingers, like I’m not quite actually in my body.

Is this some weird, fucked up dream? Why is Bo, ofallpeople, bringing up Jamie Walker?

“Jamie?” I ask, my voice strained.

“Yeah?” he asks, sounding totally confused.

“Why would I have seen Jamie?”

I try to keep my voice steady, but it’s shaking as awfully as my hands are. Just the thought of seeing him is enough to make it feel like my whole world is tilting, and I laugh bitterly. I’m pathetic, aren’t I?

I push up from my bed, annoyance sending a burst of energy through me as I wait for Bo to answer. He’s hesitating, which he never does, and it’s making me jittery.

“He went to see you, Oaks,” Bo says slowly. “I gave him Kathy and Ricky’s address. He went to New York to apologize.”

Shock rocks through me in one sharp burst, and I stop in my tracks. My jaw drops. My brows raise. A bark of disbelieving, furious laughter forces its way from my throat.

What the fuck?

What thefuck?

I don't know what Bo is on, but I'm tempted to ask him if he has some to spare.

Jamie didn't come to see me. The asshole hasn't stepped foot in New York. He doesn'tcare. Not about me, not about us, not about anything but the fucking circuit and keeping his dad happy with him.

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