Page 57 of Montana Falls
The four of us stayed up long into the night, the sun rising and Logan and Price waking back up for a while again, before we passed out together. After sharing secrets, spilling stories.
Just being us. Being together.
Like I hoped we would be forever.
Chapter Eighteen
Greasy bacon, syrupy pancakes, and the scent of freshly brewed coffee mingled with the cool, damp air that had followed us inside the hole in the wall café that the internet had claimed to be good enough for my tastebuds. My head throbbed like a bass drum, and my stomach did somersaults that made me question every life choice leading up to that point. Yeah, I was hungover. Big time. But it was worth every ounce of pain I felt because something was different in the air today.
Something was different with my girl because she was… she was relieved, almost. Happier. A weight had been lifted off her pretty shoulders and I would spend the rest of my life feeling as horrific as I felt now, if it had the same outcome for her.
The waitress came by, placing a plate of pancakes in front of me, and I couldn’t help but let out a little groan of appreciation. The smell of butter and syrup hit me like a wave, and mystomach growled in response. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I dug in, the sweetness of the syrup mixing with the soft, fluffy pancakes in a way that made me forget all about my hangover, at least for the moment.
“God, these are good,” I mumbled through a mouthful of food.
There was a murmur of similar agreements from around the table as we all dug into our breakfasts in a silent and hurried manner as the morning light filtered through the large windows of the wall beside us, the gray lifelessness almost enough to make me sad. With each bite, I squinted harder against the brightness of the LEDs on the ceiling, nursing the massive headache that was pulsing behind my eyes. The place was cozy, filled with the soft clatter of dishes and the low hum of chatter, but all I could think about was the pounding in my skull and the dryness in my mouth.
I took a sip of my coffee—strong enough to wake the dead and beautifully rich—and looked around the spotless wooden table. Price sat across from me, his unusually messy hair defying gravity in a way that would make Einstein question his theories.
“You could have done your hair, bro.” I taunted him for a distraction from my headache.
“Kody, I will get off this chair and beat you,” Price growled. “I feel like I’m dead, but I still look hotter than you.”
“You like you lost a fight with a lawnmower,” I shot back, unable to suppress a grin.
“I’ll kill you with a lawnmower,Koko.” He grumbled, as he stole my cousin’s nickname for me.
He and Misha were huddled together, sharing a family sized plate of pancakes like it was the last meal they’d ever have. Misha, ever the picture of grace, was nibbling on a single pancake with a knife and fork, his eyes half-closed as he savored each bite. Whereas Price was busy building a tower out of sugarpackets with one hand, his tongue poking out in concentration. His other hand held two rolled up pancakes, slathered in syrup, that he was stuffing into his mouth. He was so easy to pick on. Too easy, really.
“You know, Price,” I began, my voice dripping with faux seriousness, “if this whole gangster gig doesn’t pan out for you in a couple years, you could always join the circus.”
He looked up, one eyebrow raised. “And if this whole… whatever it is you do doesn’t work out, you could always be a clown.” He swallowed his mouthful of food. “Without your sniper, what are you? Just a pretty boy who bakes, and what sort of gang needs a muffin maker?”
“A rifle.” I corrected with a snort. “Iam a sniper. The gun isn’t a sniper. I also cook, not bake. Even if Icanbake.” A few more sips of coffee went smoothly down my throat before I opened my mouth to continue my childish fun.
“Enough, children.” Lincoln ordered as he chucked his spoon into the empty bowl of porridge on the table. “It’s too early and wet for you to get into a dick measuring contest – and no, Price. You wouldn’t win, before you say a fucking word.”
The rain splashed against the windows a little lighter than before, but the sky was still very much gray and miserable. It was enough to make me desperate for a bed again.
“How much longer until our plane is ready?” Logan yawned as hard as I wanted to, as he drank his extra large mug of green tea. “I want to nap.”
Sapphire checked her borrowed phone whilst she finished off her double decker sausage, bacon, and egg sandwich. “Should be another twenty minutes or something.”
I looked around the table at the others, all of us slumped in our chairs, barely awake, our hair messy and our eyes half-closed. Logan sat next to me, rubbing his temples like he was trying to push the hangover away through sheer willpower.Misha was staring blankly at his coffee like it held the answers to the universe. Lincoln, ever the morning person like the psychopath he was, was the only one who didn’t look completely miserable, but even he had the faint shadow of exhaustion under his eyes. And then there was Sapphire, sitting at the head of the table with a small smile on her face as she sipped her coffee, looking… lighter. Happier.
Again, it was enough for me to be glad of my hangover.
She caught me looking and raised an eyebrow, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. “What?” she asked, her voice teasing.
I shrugged, grinning despite my pounding headache. “You look suspiciously cheerful for someone who consumed so much tequila.”
She rolled her eyes, but her smile grew. “I feel surprisingly good, considering. Maybe I am magic? Or maybe you are all being dramatic.”
“Speak for yourself,” Logan muttered, his head still in his hands. “I’m pretty sure Iamdead.”
That earned a round of similar agreements from all of us.
Sapphire’s smile softened, and she looked down at her mug, tracing the rim of the cup with her finger. “You know,” she said quietly. “I think that I feel happier now. There is something different in my heart because of all the… the yesterday stuff.” She lowered her voice more. “I feel like my mama is proud of me and for the first time I thought of her today with her laughing and happiness. Not her screaming and death.”
