Page 77 of Relentless (The Titans of Founder's Ridge 2)

“It’s going to be weird not having you around next year,” he says after he sends an email. “Have you heard from Yale?”

“Yeah, they’ve accepted me. The apartment is paid for. I figure I’ll let Ives do all the decorating.” I change playlists to something easier to chat over. “We’ll have a guest room, so if you want to come down to Hartford on the weekends, you’d have a place to crash.”

“Oh, you mean I can go from being the third wheel with Con and Lilith to being third wheel with you and Ivy?” He smirks, “no thanks. I’ll probably spend quite a bit of time in New York.”

“Huh,” I scratch my chin, “I didn’t think of you being a third wheel. Sometimes a fifth wheel.”

“Fuck off,” he says with no heat.

“I’ll be doing a lot of that from now on.”

“Breaking news, you’ve always done a lot of that.”

“Ha, truth.” I say with a chuckle. “I’m a reformed man whore now.”

“Good.” He puts his phones in the cup holder. “I’m really glad you guys are back together. Are you both in a good place with everything?”

“I think so. We might hit a few bumps here and there. I was actually thinking about seeing if she wants to do a few couple’s counseling sessions with me. Just to work any remaining tension between us, any buried resentment.”

“That’s actually a really solid plan,” he says sounding a bit surprised.

“I can be deep sometimes.”

“I know, but therapy seems like a pretty big step for you.”

“Did you know how bad things were for her the past few years? The shit she’s been working through?”

“She’s talked about it a bit with Lilith when I’ve been around. I’ve always kept an eye on her for you, even if I didn’t tell you. I knew the type of therapy she was doing was pretty intensive. “

“The things she’s shared with me so far have me all over the place. I’m pissed. At her mom, at her dad, at her brother. I don’t know how they weren’t more aware. I’m pissed at myself for not seeing how Jennifer was tearing her apart inside. She always seemed so strong, so unflappable.”

“I know. I didn’t see it either.”

“She told me that she used to hate looking at herself in the mirror, that she always felt inferior and worthless compared to everyone around her.”

“Seriously?” he furrows his brows.

“Yeah. I feel like I fucking failed my best friend. Letting her feel like that for years.”

“You didn’t know, apparently no one did.”

“Yeah, I don’t even know if she’s shared any of this with Hoodrat.”

I pull off the highway onto the road that will lead us to the camp. Nostalgia clogs my throat as I drive down the road that used to fill me with excitement every summer. Part of that excitement was knowing I was about to spend eight weeks eating, breathing, sleeping sports. Another was the thought of long, warm nights on the dock with Ives.

It didn’t matter if we were skipping rocks, sharing a bag of gummy bears, staring at the stars, talking about anything and everything, or just enjoying the quiet together. She was always my quiet place, the person who held space for me to be me. I could be goofy, serious, sad, or happy. She never cared and was always just present for whatever.

The trees seem taller, but the forest seems smaller. I roll down the window, and as soon as the scent of the pine and maple trees mixed with the wet granite smell hit my nostrils, another wave of nostalgia hits me. I feel the need to rip open a bag of gummy bears and listen to some old school Kings of Leon.

The metal arch that we used to drive under is rusted, and it looks like the gate has been broken for a while. We drive up to the cafeteria and administrative buildings. There’s a Jeep already parked in front, and the man who I assume is the listing agent gets out.

“Levi Marsh?” he asks walking toward us.

“Yes.” I shake his hand. “This is my friend Griffin Potter.”

He introduces himself to Griff as Shane and immediately launches into his sales pitch, going over the specs and history.

“I actually know all this, already,” I hold my hand up to stop him. “I used to come to camp here when I was a kid.”

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