Page 8 of Where the Stars Heal

I walk into the kitchen and spot Hunter cooking at the stove. Connor and Madison are sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee while Ace is zooming around the house.

Madison spots me first and pinches her nose. “Asher, you did not just come straight here after going on a run without showering first.”

She sits back like she’s trying to get away from me. Laughing, I go over and wrap an arm around her, making sure my sweaty armpit gets all over her.

“You know full well that when Connor says stat, he meansstat.”

I laugh harder as she tries to push my arm away, only making it worse for herself.

“Plus, I was just down at Falls Creek. It didn’t make sense to go all the way home to shower and come back,” I add as I move away from her.

I lift my armpit to my nose and take a whiff. Shit, I do stink. I look down at Madi sheepishly and say, “Sorry.”

“You were down at Falls Creek? Did you see Halle down there, man?” Hunter asks.

I look over at him, watching him stack pancakes on a plate, and shake my head.

“Nah, didn’t see her.” Shifting my eyes back to the table, I hope Halle kept her mouth shut.

Hunter shrugs. “’kay, I’m worried about her. If you see her around, be nice, dude. She needs people in her corner, not a broody asshole.”

I look at Hunter with innocent eyes, and place my hand over my heart. “I’m not an asshole,” I say.

That, for some reason, makes everyone laugh at me.

I nod to Connor and make a move toward the hallway as I call out, “Gonna take a quick shower. Be right back.”

The best part about Hunter’s house—and how everyone ends up here after nights out, long shifts, or just to hang out—is that he has a spare room for us. Some nights, I don’t want to go home and be alone. The weeks when mynightmares catch up to me and life seems a little harder, I’ll crash here instead. It’s like a second home. I stay here so often that I’ve left clothes and other things in the spare room. It’s convenient for moments like these.

Grabbing some sweats and a black tee, I shower in record time. Leaving the steaming bathroom and walking back to the kitchen, I pass Halle’s room and stop at the door. I think back to our encounter earlier this morning. Is she packing her bags now and giving up on why she’s here because I’ve made it clear that she’s not welcome? I move forward, but I hear her fumbling around in her room. The sound of a bottle shaking reaches my ears, and my mind pulls me back to my past.

The room is dark, the glow of the TV in front of me on the couch the only light around. It smells musty and old. I’m high, my arms feel heavy, and my mind is all over the place. I bring the joint to my mouth and take another drag. I know I need to get up to go with my cousin to make the deal. If we don’t, we risk losing too much money, and then we’ll owe money instead. Money we don’t have. We need this deal. My cousin walks out of the bedroom and tosses a bottle at me. I shake it and hear the pills inside. They better all be there, I think to myself. I look at my cousin, raising an eyebrow at him.

“They’re all there, counted them myself.” He nods to the door. “Let’s do this. I have shit to do later.”

I come back to the present, the memory crashing over me, and I shudder, not wanting to think of what happened next. I haven’t gone back to those memories in a long time. I haven’t been triggered like that in a while. That’s a life I left behind. I’m ashamed of my past and everything that went down, and I try not to think about it. The nightmares I have are enough. Annoyance rips through me at being dragged back to those moments, and all I can think about is catchingher out doing something she shouldn’t. The more I have on her, the easier it’ll be to get her out.

The door swings open before I have a chance to barge through myself and my eyes collide with hers. They’re glassy, sleepy-like, as if she’s a bit spaced out.

I look over her shoulder, trying to catch anything that shouldn’t be there, but she blocks my view. She steps forward, making me step back, and closes her door, looking me up and down with a distant expression on her face.

I get more irritated and ask, “Does Hunter know you’re taking something?”

Her eyes narrow at me, and the air between us crackles with the same wired tension I felt at Falls Creek. Like there’s a current running through the both of us.

“It’s not his business or yours. Stay out of it.”

As she walks past me, I grab her by the hand and pull her back. She isn’t expecting it and crashes into my chest. She’s tall for a girl, five-eight maybe, but since I’m six-three, I’m taller.

Moving my mouth to her ear, I linger there for a second, feeling the tension. “This is my family, our home. If you cause any shit or bring anything here you shouldn’t, then it is my business.”

I let her go and storm off toward the kitchen, conflicted with every fucking feeling that just rushed through me.

4

I NEED A FRIEND

HALLE

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