Page 21 of Bones

“No.” I shrugged. “Just missing my folks.”

“I’d say that’s reason enough.” Wyatt lowered his head. “I can’t imagine what this has been like for you.”

“I can’t get that night out of my head.” I could feel my tears building as I told him, “When I walked in, I thought they’d just fallen asleep. It was awful, Wyatt. Just awful. I don’t want to remember them that way.”

“Then don’t. Focus on the good memories, and it won’t be long before they’re the only ones you will remember.”

“But the good ones are harder to remember.”

“Maybe, but they’re there. You just gotta give it time.” Wyatt leaned back as he said, “Why don’t you tell me one of your favorite memories of your mother?”

“Okay, that’s an easy one.” I smiled as I told him, “Whenever I was sick, she would spend the entire day looking after me. We would lay in bed and watch movies for hours, and when I got hungry, she’d make me some chicken noodle soup and one of her famous grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Sounds like she was a pretty awesome mom.”

“She definitely was.”

“Hate I missed out on her famous grilled cheese. They’re one of my favorites.”

“I know her secret. I’ll make you one sometime.”

“I’d like that.”

And just like that, my bad day wasn’t so bad.

The next day, I came home from class and found a small journal on my bed. I picked it up, and tears filled my eyes when I read the note that was taped on the front.

For the good memories.

It was a simple gesture, but it changed things between Wyatt and me. I no longer saw him as just another brother. He was now the man who had stolen my heart, and everyone knew it. I’d tried, but I couldn’t seem to hide how I felt about him—especially from Lacy and the girls.

They were very invested in our story, so I wasn’t exactly surprised when Makayla announced, “I still can’t believe Bones was at the club last night.”

“Yeah, I didn’t even know he went to places like that.” We were in the laundry room, working on the club’s laundry—one of the many tasks Lacy and the others helped with, and it didn’t take us long to start talking about the wild night we’d had. Lacy’s eyes narrowed as she asked, “Why do you think he was there... You think he followed us there?”

“Why would he do that?”

“So he could keep an eye on you?” Lacy pulled the rest of the clothes from the dryer and placed them in the hamper. “It’s not like he hasn’t done it before.”

“Yeah, but this is different. This time he punched a guy.”

“All the more reason for you to talk to him.”

“I’ve tried, but I can’t seem to catch him alone. He’s always busy with the guys.” I walked over and started helping her fold as I told her, “Not that it matters. I doubt he would talk to me about it.”

“Probably not.”

Makayla rolled her eyes. “Men can be so hard-headed sometimes.”

“Yeah, they most definitely can.”

I’d gone over the events of last night a hundred times, and I simply couldn’t understand how everything had gotten so messed up. I was having such a great time with Lacy and the girls—even better than I thought I would. We’d been talking about going all week, and the nightclub we went to was everything they promised it would be and more. The energy of the crowd was positively electric, and it didn’t take long for that energy to rub off on all of us. Reagan ordered us a round of shots, and we’d barely gotten them down before she ordered another.

We were considering having another when one of our favorite songs came on, and we all bolted for the dance floor. We formed our own little circle and started dancing to the beat of the music. It wasn’t long before two guys came over to join us. They were both relatively handsome and seemed like okay guys, but I didn’t think much about it. I wasn’t usually one to draw the attention of men like them, especially when I was with the girls.

I continued dancing, and to my surprise, one of the men stepped up behind me and started dancing. At first, I was flattered and just went with it. Then, everything went south.

I shook my head as I muttered, “He really did a number on that guy.”

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