Page 164 of Eight Years Gone

Amanda slid her long hair behind her ear as she peeked her big brown eyes up from under her long lashes. “Um, a group of us are talking about going to the arcade and then to Rafferty’s Friday night. You should join us.”

Colton nodded. “I can probably do that.”

Amanda smiled again. “I usually drive over with Melanie, but she’s going out of town to visit her grandpa. Maybe I could give you directions to my house. You could pick me up.”

He nodded. “Sure.”

She slid more of her hair behind her ear. “I guess I’ll see you in English tomorrow.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Jagger picked up the mop and headed over to wipe up the spray, waiting for the door to close behind Tommy and Amanda, the last family to leave. “Three days at school, and he’s already a hit with the ladies.”

Colton rolled his eyes, but he also smiled as he got back to spraying. “What the hell is Rafferty’s?”

“It’s a pizza joint out by the lake. The sausage and jalapeno slices are out of this world.”

Colton shook his head. “Sausage and onion are where it’s at.”

Jagger paused with the mop, opening his mouth to say that those were Logan’s favorite toppings too, but he got back to cleaning instead.

He glanced in Colton’s direction, forever fascinated that Logan and Colton had never met, yet they were similar in so many ways. They had some of the same mannerisms, liked and disliked many of the same foods, and occasionally his voice sounded identical.

“So, it sounds like you’ve got yourself a date.” Jagger pretended to sniffle as he wiped at his eyes, enjoying the hell out of giving Colton a bit of a hard time. “Grace will be so proud.”

“It’s not a date. We’re going with a group.”

Jagger shrugged. “Semantics.”

“Whatever.” But there was no heat behind the word as Colton moved to the next mat.

For the most part, the kid’s shitty attitude had vanished. It appeared as though Colton had taken to heart the zero-tolerance warning.

“You know, Amanda is Grace’s new hire at Simplicity. She’ll be working Saturday afternoons until the wedding season picks up. This summer, she’ll probably be full-time.”

Colton paused before he continued his work.

Jagger grinned as he turned away to mop the next mat. “I thought Grace mentioned that you’re working Saturday too.”

“Yeah. So?”

“So, I’m glad you’re settling in.” He looked at Colton. “It’s not easy being the new kid, especially when you look like Logan. Especially when the implications are more than clear.”

Colton shrugged. “I see the glances and hear the whispers, but since I’m not looking to get arrested again, I ignore them.”

Jagger nodded, liking his answer. He and Grace had heard a few whispers of their own and assumed the same had to be true for Colton. Since Colton appeared to be handling it well, he and Grace could officially cross that off the to-be-worried-about list. “Good.”

“The cafeteria food’s way better here,” Colton added.

Jagger rolled his eyes. “That’s profound—really important.”

Colton grinned. “They sell those big cookies from Brew. The chocolate chip ones. They’re warm and sort of gooey but crispy all at the same time.”

Jagger nodded as he smiled. “Brew does make a damn good cookie.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Jagger finished wiping up the spray on the last mat. “I’m ready to go home. I’m ready to eat. Grace is making tuna noodle casserole. And even though it sounds disgusting, I assure you it’s insanely good.”

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