Page 106 of Gifted

“What he means is, will you ever remember that you and he were madly in love?” Ben teases, and Connor glares at him.

I force surprise. “Is that true? Were we together?”

“Inseparable,” Laura says.

“Not exactly,” Connor mumbles.

“Right, because Daniel got in the way,” Ben says with a smirk.

“Daniel?” I think I do a good job sounding casual.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s gone. Been gone for a while,” Laura says.

“You had something with Daniel?” Sara asks me.

I shrug. “I don’t know. Who’s that?”

Connor clears his throat. “She said they were only friends.”

“Which room is mine?” I ask before this gets dangerous. They point to the door. “Great. Sara, do you mind helping me for a bit?”

She nods, and I wave to the others.

“Wow. I live here?” I say, once we’re alone.

“Nicer than the hospital room, huh?”

“I’ll miss the call bell though.”

Sara grins and drops on my bed. “I don’t know. Did you see Connor’s face? Bet he’d fulfill that role if you let him.”

“He seems like a nice guy.”

“He is. I’m dating his best friend, Matthew.”

“Ah, that makes sense.”

“What does?”

“Just that you have a vested interested in making sure I end up with Connor.”

She laughs. “No, but it did seem like you and he were headed in that direction. I didn’t know about Daniel, though. I mean, I knew you were nice to him, but I didn’t know there was more than that.”

“Maybe there wasn’t.”

“Maybe not, but I could see it. It’s weird how he just disappeared though.”

“Like, some-kind-of-conspiracy weird?” I joke.

“Ha. Maybe. It’s just strange that after all the years he’d been here, he decided to take off around the same time you fell.”

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.”

“I’m sure.”

I swallow my reaction. “Anyway, tell me all about Madison and what I should know from the last few months.”

“You want all the gossip?” she asks, warming to the challenge.

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