Page 61 of Memories with Fire

“You’re right,” Liam says with a nod. “They definitely did.”

Lifting a hand, palm up, in front of Liam, a sly smile crosses Quinn’s pouty lips. “You owe me twenty bucks.”

For a second, I just stand there, trying to understand what I’m observing. Then my jaw drops in disbelief. “Excuse me? You guys had a bet going whether we’d sleep together?”

I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s Quinn and Liam. But I am.

While Liam pulls his wallet out, Quinn waves her hand dismissively. “It wasn’t a bet onifyou’d sleep together, it was a bet onwhen.”

Beside me, Luke can’t contain his laughter anymore. I’ve been feeling his body gradually grow in shakiness while he tries to hold it in, but now the rich sound expels from him, and would probably warm me from the inside out if I wasn’t so outraged over this conversation. I can’t believe they bet on my sex life, especially with Luke, given how they knew I felt about him.

“Who bet what?” Luke asks curiously.

I turn my glare on him, incredulous he’d feed into this.

“I took you for plus three months to seal the deal,” Liam explains, slapping a twenty in Quinn’s hand. “Quinn took you for less.”

I want to stomp my foot like a child throwing a temper tantrum at the absurdity of it all. When Luke holds his fist out for a bump with Quinn, I have thoughts that may border on murderous. I thought they were hard on Nate before he and Savanna got together, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got it worse than he did. He should thank his lucky stars Luke wasn’t around for that, given that he seems quite pleased and okay with our sex life being the subject of a bet.

“Now do you think it was angry, hateful sex?” Liam asks Quinn, glancing at her. “Or the mushy, I love you kind?”

Quinn turns her attention to Liam with a smirk. “You really think Hailey is capable of the angry, hateful sex? Annoyed, maybe. But the angry, hateful stuff?”

They’re acting like we’re not standing a few feet away. Liam’s eyes are still directed at Quinn while he nods emphatically. “Before Luke got here, I didn’t think she had it in her. But I’ve learned she’s mean.”

“I’m gonna show you m?—”

The alarm tones interrupt me, signaling a call. We all pause, listening carefully to the announcement. It’s for a car accident on Hillsboro. Both fire and EMS are being requested which means we’re all out of here.

The second we’re in the ambulance with the doors shut, Quinn’s eyes dart towards me. “I want all the details! Is he good?”

“Quinn!” I admonish, my eyes rounding in exasperation at her. First she bets on my sex life, now she wants the details of it? It isn’t happening.

“Oh Hails, don’t be such a prude. If he’s not good, then he’s bad. Is he bad?” she questions, eyebrows furrowing in concern as she glances at me. It’s just like Quinn to want these kinds of details, and to be completely worried that sex isn’t good between Luke and me.

“No!” I exclaim, immediately slapping my hands over my face. I can feel my cheeks burning. A little more quietly I add, “He’s an absolute dream. But that’s all I’m telling you about our sex life.”

“I knew it,” Quinn says in triumph, giving a small fist pump in the air. “He has that look. Okay, start from the beginning. Leave out any details I already know.”

There aren’t many details she does know. Everyone knew about my car going over the mountain thanks to the group text, but besides that, she only knew about me staying with him. Not the why. Not what my mom did. Not our history.

I don’t get very far into the story before we’re on scene. The call is for a two vehicle collision with possible serious injuries in one of the vehicles. Dispatch communicated that the caller didn’t know how bad it was because they couldn’t get the car door open, but when I lay my eyes on the vehicles after jumping out of the ambulance, experience tells me it looks bad.

A wave of nausea hits me out of nowhere. The vehicle that took the brunt of the damage looks eerily similar to mine. I know it isn’t my hatchback because mine was just pulled up from the bottom of the mountain yesterday, and isn’t drivable, but it’s the same make, model, and color. There’s a ton of them around.

Nate asked me yesterday if I was okay. We had a long talk about it because he wanted to ensure I was good to go. Physically I felt good after a week off. Mentally, I didn’t think there was any problem. The accident was over and done with. I was alive. End of story.

Except looking at the car that looks so close to mine brings up every memory from the other day. How close I was to dying. It makes me think of my first accident. The one that changed my life forever in so many ways. Ways that I’m only starting to discover.

I need to turn this off. Logically, I know that. I need to stop the reel that’s playing in my head, shut the emotion down, go to work. People in the car need me. Other victims at the scene may need me. I can’t make my feet work, though. They’re rooted in place like they’re cemented into the asphalt.

Quinn calls my name, but I can’t seem to look at her. All I can do is stare at the damn car. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced. All these things going on around me, but I can’t refocus my attention on any of them. It makes me lightheaded.

Hands grab my head and tilt it up. For half a second I’m sure I’ll find Luke staring back at me, but when I concentrate on the man in front of me, I realize it’s Nate.

“Talk to me.”

I blink at him, unsure what I’m supposed to say or talk about. It probably wouldn’t matter because my tongue feels like it’s made of lead. I’m not sure it would work even if I could figure out what to tell him.

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