Page 106 of Limbo

“Callie, I—”

“Don’t.” I turn my upper body to see the same intensity about him as at his parents’ house. Even if he loves me, I can’t let him say it out loud. Then it’ll become real, and everything will change because I’m pretty sure I love him back.

“Not yet,” I say, “and especially not in Pete’s bed.”

He pauses a beat before his roguish grin shifts the mood. “I guess that means other activities are off-limits in Pete’s bed.”

“What did you have in mind?” I ask, intrigued with where he’s going.

He brings his lips to my ear. “Breakfast,” he whispers.

For the first time, I notice the smell of bacon and the tray of food on the table. When he brings it over, I grab the two open beer bottles, so they don’t topple off. We sit against the headboard to eat Pete’s famous beer and eggs.

“Pete doesn’t just make this breakfast for anyone,” I say, teasing. “He must like you.”

Jordan rolls his eyes and steals my last piece of bacon. “The feeling’s not mutual, I assure you.”

This time, I don’t believe him for a second.

Once we finish eating, we carry the dishes downstairs. Pete scowls when I come through the curtain, so I glare at him. He cracks first, his mouth curving up on one side, and I smile back. It’s as much of an apology as we’ll ever need.

In the parking lot, Jordan kisses me like we won’t see each other in fifteen minutes at Lauren’s house. With everything that happened, I forgot how much I missed him after only a few days.

We park in front of Lauren’s, and Connor jumps up from the steps. I haven’t even shut the door when he locks his arms around me, smashing the air out of my lungs. He lets go when I grunt out a warning that I need oxygen. Dark circles under his red eyes confirm he slept the least of us last night.

The front door flies open, and Cate screeches on her way toward me. Connor and I lunge toward her to make her stop. “Shh,” I say, picking her up. “We have to be quiet.”

She plants a sloppy kiss on my forehead and throws her arms around my neck.

I rub her back and turn to Connor. “She asleep in the basement?”

“She passed out around five after destroying everything in the house that reminded her of Tyler.”

“Everything?” Jordan asks, beating me to it.

“I saved anything of actual value.” Connor grins. “Girls dig that couch too much; I couldn’t let her take a knife to the cushions.” When he checks for a reaction, Jordan holds his hands up and shakes his head, having learned his lesson the last time.

I ignore my younger brother and set my squirming sister on the ground. “Well, let’s go pack up my shit.”

The first thing I do when we go inside is change and track down my phone. I text Trey to let him know that, whether or not he wants one, he has a roommate for half the summer, but he won’t mind.

Jordan begs to take down my photo wall, asking questions about the pictures the entire time Connor and I sort through the rest of my stuff. I bag almost all the clothes up to donate, decimating Lauren’s outfit options for the future. We hide the garment bags with the last of the formal dresses in the back of Connor’s closet. Everything else I want to keep goes in boxes.

As we finish up, Trey finally texts.

Like I’d let you stay anywhere else.

Connor and Jordan move the boxes while I explain to Cate that I won’t be staying there anymore. She sniffs at first, but I promise she and Connor can come see me anytime they want. When that doesn’t work, I promise we’ll make slushie stops a ritual after swim lessons, and all tears vanish. She dashes off and crawls in the back of the Jeep. I leave Jordan and Connor to coax her out and go inside to check for anything left behind.

The Eagles banner is already down from the wall in the living room, the mini fridge missing from next to the couch. All the walls in my room are bare as well. No sheets or pillows on the bed. Dresser drawers open and closet empty. It’s strange how, in such a short time, any evidence of two people has been erased from this house.

Jordan leans against his Jeep, talking to Connor, and I smile at him on my way down the steps.

“You ready to go, beautiful?”

I nod, more than ready to drop everything at Trey’s and head back to campus. With my quiet Sunday shot, I need to make up for the studying time I lost.

Connor swoops down for a hug when I reach them.

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