Page 129 of The Drummer

I squirm in the seat beside her and brace for the bombshell. The only question is, will we be able to salvage the pieces?

“You pretend-dated Jana, but she wanted to turn it into real dating?”

I chew on the inside of my cheek as I think. “Yeah, I guess that sums it up pretty well.”

“And then because she was acting like you were ‘real’ dating, you broke off the pretend dating with a real breakup.”

I nod.

“And now there’s going to be a huge blowup about the fact that your pretend relationship was fake but your real breakup was real, and the guy who’s going to do all of this is the dude we caught snoring on the couch after Luke’s party?”

“Um… yeah. Right.”

She shakes her head and leans back to face front with a baffled expression. “Wow.”

“I know. Cal, I feel terrible about it all. I just… God, I don’t…”

I have no idea how to finish that sentence. Luke’s silent warning urges me not to. Callie’s going to need time with this. How long, I don’t know. Hours, days, weeks? Whatever it is, I’ll wait. She’s worth a lifetime if it comes to it.

After a long silence, she crosses her arms and blows out a breath. “Well, this is almost as confusing as the time in ninth grade when Abby Hennox and I pretended to be best friends so Josh Sherman would date Amanda Thompson. But it turned out Amanda didn’t evenlikeJosh, we just thought she did because Abby saw them kissing at the football game.” She turns a grave look on me. “Turns out, she was only kissing Josh to make Marlon Torres jealous becausehewas the guy she liked.”

I stare at her.

“Crazy, right?” She lifts a brow. “You don’t even want to know what happened at Homecoming when all of this came out.” She shudders at the memory. “So many balloons.Somany.”

Luke snorts a laugh.

Her grin breaks.

Color explodes back into my world.

I’mexhausted and ready for bed by the time we return to the suite. Callie and Luke appear beat as well, but when the three of us converge on the couch, there’s revelation in the air. Maybe my limo confession opened a vault in all of us, because the way Luke keeps looking at me, I know there’s something he wants to say.

And I will pump my veins with caffeine until he does.

Callie curls up beside me on the couch, her warmth infusing into my tired body and soul. Luke stares into a glass from the couch across from us.

“I told her some things,” he says, casting a fleeting glance at me.

I tense, more surprised at the speed of the unsolicited confession than the words themselves.

“Yeah?” I say to confirm he’s got my attention.

He nods and focuses back on the drink in his hands. “About how we got started, about that time with your father and Molly. Just thought you should know.”

My insides constrict from an involuntary chill. Memories surge back, my teeth clenching at the sting of old pain.

“Fun story,” I manage beneath their probing stares.

Callie slips her hand into mine and entwines our fingers.

“I want to know all the stories,” she says quietly. “Fun or not.”

A hungry silence pulses around us, demanding more information.

I squint at the coffee table. “I don’t talk to him anymore.”

The voice sounds like mine, but I don’t really hear it. All I hear is my sister’s sobs. The sickening thud of flesh on flesh.

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