Page 78 of We Thought We Were Invincible
When I walked back, Seth was chatting with Morgan as if they were just two strangers who weren't grieving the same event. I guessed, to them, they were.
“I'm sorry to hear about your brother,” Seth was saying.
I don't know what possessed her to tell him about Troy. Seth was open and had this caring way about him. Maybe that prompted it.
“I recently lost my grandson,” Seth continued. “I'm not sure it ever gets easier. Especially when most people want to remember them for the things they did wrong. All I think about is the sweet child he once was.”
“I treated my brother like the annoying younger sibling for most of my life. He was only two years younger than me. I figured we had plenty of time to be friends when we were older.”
I felt like I'd intruded on some deep conversation, but Seth pinned me with his gaze, preventing me from leaving, when he said his next words.
“Death teaches us more about life than living ever does.” Seth and I both knew he was talking about Matthew, but Morgan nodded along in ignorance.
Seth's food was ready and as I set it in front of him, he gave me a sad smile.
Morgan smiled too when I handed her a piece of pie. An actual smile. My gut clenched when I looked at the two of them side by side. Both destroyed by a single night.
A customer came to the counter to pay his bill. I ran his card, and he was on his way. After taking the check out to the other diner and accepting her payment, I turned on my heel and went into the back room, needing a second to breathe.
Pain gripped my chest as I breathed. In. Out. My teeth clattered as I released the last puff of air and turned, hearing the bell above the door signal a new arrival. Colby and Jamie were walking in when I reappeared.
Jamie came straight to me, pulling me close for a scorching kiss.
“Hi,” I breathed.
A smirk appeared on his face. “Hi yourself.”
Behind him, I saw Colby give Morgan a long hug. When he pulled back, he glanced between Morgan and Seth, a question in his eyes. He shrugged with a nonchalance I envied before pulling on his own apron.
“We've been super busy,” I said.
“I can see that.” Colby laughed, looking around the nearly empty diner. He shook hands with Seth as Jamie plopped himself down on the other side of Morgan and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“So,” he said. “Are you done avoiding us?”
Morgan laughed self-consciously. “You should be used to people avoiding you, Jamie.”
“Ms.Cook, you wound me.” He squeezed her tighter. “We've missed you.”
I watched them with a contented smile on my face. Morgan needed us, but I had the feeling we needed her just as much.
31
Callie
College application deadlines were long past, and I hadn't sent any in. Not a single one. It was a decision that Aunt Kat and Colby wouldn't understand, but I felt like there was something else I was supposed to be doing.
Graduation was only a couple months away, and I didn't know what would happen after that. Before the shooting, I may have done what was expected of me - go to a small school and get a degree in something I didn't particularly care about. That wasn't me anymore. I might not have known what I wanted, but I knew what I didn't want.
Would I stay in Gulf City? That was another question that had no answer. Was there anything for me here?
I looked toward Jamie's sleeping figure. Was he staying? If so, was that enough for me? I wanted something big for my life, but I also wanted him.
He shifted, groaning in his sleep, as the sheet dipped lower, revealing more of his bare skin. Unable to resist the urge, I reached out to touch the soft blond curls on his chest. He groaned again, shifting toward me. One eye cracked open.
“Mmmm, hi.”
I smiled at him, angling closer. We'd gone to his house after school. The intention was not to spend all afternoon making out in bed, but there we were. We'd fallen asleep. The sun was long gone and the moon cast shadows across the room.
