Page 113 of The Casualty of Us
Because I’d take her safe and happy with him any day of the week over the current spiral.
Fuck. I’d probably even take it even if she never speaks to me again as long as I know she’s okay.
“Do you think you could talk to her?” I pause, silence on the other end greeting me loudly and forcing another truth out. ”I think…I think she misses you.”
Another beat passes before his voice quiets seriously. “What the fuck happened this summer?”
“I’m sure she’ll—" Lie. “Explain when you get ahold of her.”
Hopefully he’s still sharp enough after a summer away from her to see through at least some of the bullshit too.
A sharp exhale comes through the phone. “Well, that’ll probably be about the time the hangover is hitting.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m on my way to the airport,” he explains, frustration in his voice clear. “She’s not getting away with drunk dialing me, saying a bunch of shit that doesn’t make sense, and then just blowing me off.”
“Uh—" I frown at the mental picture. “Good luck with that.”
“Thanks.” He pauses again before offering. “And thanks for answering.”
“No problem, man,” I toss back quickly. “Later.”
“Later.”
I reach out and end the call, staring at the phone for a few seconds before my mom muses, “The boy is brave, I’ll give him that.”
“Impulsive though,” I snort, lifting my eyes to find a thoughtful look on her face.
“The two often go hand in hand.” She shrugs. “And Ophelia will need someone that gets her out of her own head, you know that.”
“Yeah,” I sigh, something deep in me adrift from how the ground is shifting too fast for me to keep up right now. “Yeah, I do.”
Her lips lift with another small smile, and she leans in again, wrapping her arms around me. “Growth is nearly always painful, my dear, but we only prolong the pain by being unwilling to look within ourselves.” I squeeze her back at that, breaking down a little for a second and feeling like a kid in her arms again. “There’s always a reason for it.”
I just hope whenever I figure out what the reason is for this, it’s a good one.
Because my lists need some serious fucking attention.
Chapter Twenty-Six
OPHELIA - AUGUST 2013
My eyes flutteropen to something lightly feathering over my brow, and I immediately groan. Squinting at the bright light coming in from windows that look out on the water. The room’s all-white scheme magnifying the sunlight and instantly filling my head with a dull ache.
“You rang, Freckles?”
His soft rasp has me flying up and sending the hand that was tracing my features smacking against my forehead. Leaving me blinking dazedly and turning my head to find—
“Holy shit,” I croak, my gaze landing on where Hayes is sitting next to me on the bed and staring at him dumbly. “You’re here.”
My blurted-out words have a quick grin flashing across his face before he leans in. “You hung up on me.” His hazel eyes are practically twinkling, even as they narrow a bit. “So I decided to clear things up personally.”
I blink at him, trying to make my groggy mind work through the pain, when Mia pipes up inquisitively, “Your other two friends downstairs said you’d be okay with this, but I’m just confirming.”
My head whips around to where she’s standing just inside the door, curiosity plain as day as she looks between us.
“Y—yeah.” I give her a quick nod before looking back at Hayes, catching how he’s eyeing her with obvious suspicion and thanking my lucky stars Talan isn’t working this morning. He’d make way too big a deal of this, but still… “Holy shit.”
