Page 23 of If You Never Come Back
He looks down at me, still beaming. “Don’t even think about apologizing. This is amazing. Thank you.”
* * *
The playlist Remythrew together hums in the background. It’s the new song from EDM DJ Mari Dash. I nod along to the beat until Wes hugs me from behind, covering the side of my neck in wet kisses. I squeal and kick and laugh as he lifts me off the ground.
Already we played pin the tail on the donkey, twister, beer pong, and managed a sack race. Through it all, Wes has been smiling and laughing.
“I think you cheated at that sack race, babe.” He nuzzles my neck.
I push him away, then spin around. “Such a sore loser.”
He chuckles before planting yet another sloppy wet kiss on me.
“Time to redeem yourself, birthday boy.” I point to the piñata. “Have at it.”
He makes his way over while I head to the bar for some water.
Colin walks up and high fives me, his shaggy hair disheveled after all the falls he endured during the sack race.
“Looks like it was an easy victory for you,” he says. “In a dress, no less.”
I shrug and smile. “When every other competitor is pounding alcohol, it sure is.”
Colin flashes a thumbs up. He’s on the drunk side of tipsy, but holding up well. All of Wes’s friends are, and it’s one of the reasons I’ve grown to like them so much. All fun-loving guys who enjoy a drink, but who never let it get out of control.
Colin looks around the room. “This is really something, Shay. You did an incredible job.”
I down a glass of water, then refill Colin’s vodka tonic. The music from the playlist that Remy put together picks up in the background.
“Thanks again for coming, and for making sure everyone else did, too. It wouldn’t have been such a great surprise if it had been just Remy and me.”
Colin nods, then frowns. From the corner, Wes laughs just before Remy blindfolds him and he takes a swing at the piñata above.
“So he must have told you about it?” Colin says.
“About what?”
Colin sips his drink, then gestures around the room. He wobbles slightly, but he quickly steadies himself. “How he grew up, without all this.”
“Oh. Yeah, he did.”
“It’s sad to even think about.” He points to the games in the corner. “I was almost in tears when he finally opened up to me about all that stuff with his dad. I mean, we were best friends as kids, and I still didn’t know the full story. That guy keeps his past in a vault.”
I frown at him, but bite my tongue. I want to know everything about Wes’s past. Maybe listening to Colin while he’s tipsy and loose-lipped is my best bet at finding out more, as underhanded as it is.
“So it took a while for him to open up to you?” I ask.
He nods. “Years.”
A loud burst of cheers and laughter jerks our attention back to the piñata. The rest of Wes’s friends cheer him on as he lands a hit that rips open the middle of the piñata, which is in the shape of a giant letter “W.” A cascade of candies falls to the floor.
“But I don’t blame him,” Colin says. “If my dad had been an alcoholic, I wouldn’t have wanted people to know either. Never home for more than a week at a time. Poor Wes had to learn to fend for himself ever since he was five. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, homework. Pretty much everything.”
I force myself to keep a neutral face as he speaks, but on the inside, I’m a million question marks. Where were his relatives when his dad was MIA? How did no one notice an elementary schooler doing all that on his own?
“Really?” My voice is soft.
“It wasn’t until he moved in with my family freshman year of high school after his dad landed in prison that we all realized just how bad things were. If my parents hadn’t been able to take in him, it would have been more years in foster care for him.”
