Page 68 of Fall for Me

“Cass?!” she exclaimed.

“Shh! And hell no.” If there was anyone more like a sister to me than Winona, it was Cassandra. A big sister, somehow, even though we were the same age. “His other sister. Chelsea.”

I hadn’t realized it but my stomach had been clenched tight. Shit, it did feel good, letting someone else know. That is until Winona’s mouth fell open. “The one you were in the—”

“The accident, yeah.”

Winona pressed a hand to her mouth. I realized nobody had mentioned the accident tonight. But I’d seen them since—everyone had all come by to check on me the day after Eli socked me in the face. Even Eli and Eli’s brother Griffin, who played with us once in a blue moon, though I suspected Griffin just wanted proof that his brother had actually hit me. Winona had told me they’d all been sick when they heard about the crash, and I would have been touched if I hadn’t still been so dazed.

And already thinking only of Chelsea.

But that’s when they’d decided to come to mine for this round, even though it was Ben’s turn to host. I remembered, vaguely, them talking about bringing everything to me. That’s why nobody had opened the sad bag of chips I’d left on the counter. It was why Ben had brought the box of food, and Ulrich and Winona the booze. Normally, the host provided all the supplies.

A warmth spread through me. They were better friends than I gave them credit for, even if I didn’t bare my soul to them every month.

“Well, shit,” Winona said.

But I could see the matchmaker wheels in her head turning.

“Winona, nothing’s happened… nothing’s going to happen between us,” I warned. “So don’t even start with your matchmaking shit, okay?”

“Oh come on.”

“I’m serious.”

I said it so tightly she clamped her mouth shut. When she opened it again, I could tell she understood. It was Eli, sure. But it was me, not wanting to be close to anyone. Not being ableto be close to anyone, even if I wanted to.

Winona studied me a moment more, but nodded. Ulrich and Ben were making their way back to the table now anyway, and it was my turn to deal.

Absurdly, as I shuffled, I thought back to Winona’s and my first date, all those years ago. Winona had gone on and on, asking me so many questions. I’d been overwhelmed, giving her one-word answers. I’d always figured she’d been filling the time, making up for the lack of connection. But maybe she’d been trying to get me to talk?

I dealt the cards, and I played a decent hand, still managing to lose to Winona, with a straight. Halfway through the next hand, Eli came in, not bothering to knock. He settled down in the chair next to me, giving me a lighter punch than Winona had, and for a while, I felt like everything might be okay.

Then I felt the buzz in my pocket.

A text message.

Adrenaline shot through me. I’d been waiting all goddamned day for my phone to buzz. Maybe it was Dad, saying he could make it after all. Or some client needing something on a Saturday night—it had been known to happen.

But somehow, I knew it wouldn’t be either of those.

I pulled my phone out but didn’t want to draw attention to it with Eli sitting right next to me, so I waited until the hand was over and he got up to get food.

When I saw her name, my stomach tightened.

CHELSEA: This is what I look like now.

There was a photo: it was of her face in the glow of a lamp. Her whole face, with no bandage. The scar was intense, running from above her eyebrow to her opposite cheek. An angry pink line laying claim to her, front and center. It made me feel the same way I felt every time I saw her with the bandage. That she was as beautiful as ever.

That somehow, it was still my fault.

But now something new. That this was a part of her, and I cared about every part of her as a whole.

SEAMUS: You’re beautiful, Chelsea.

“Who the fuck are you texting?” Eli said, startling the shit out of me.

Thankfully, the photo had closed, so all that was visible were little text bubbles, and hopefully, Eli hadn’t seen. Somehow, I managed not to quickly close the text and hide the phone like contraband.

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