Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94653 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
A grin flashes across his face. “Just like old times.”
Air leaks painfully from my lungs.
He’s not wrong.
After school, the three of us would end up at a diner just like this. My brother would order a basket of chicken fingers and onion rings, while Wolf and I always had cheeseburgers loaded with all the toppings (minus the onions), fries, and chocolate shakes.
When I fail to respond, he mutters, “Sorry. It’s hard not to bring up the past. I think about it all the time.”
Same.
That’s all it takes for my appetite to pull a vanishing act as I stare at the burger with a thick lump wedged in my throat.
I force my gaze to his and blurt out the one question that has been circling around in the back of my head for years. “Why didn’t you come to see me in the hospital?”
Color drains from his cheeks as he strains forward, hinging at the waist. Somberness fills his eyes as he searches mine.
Our dinner, which had seemed so tempting seconds ago, is now long forgotten.
“I did, Fallyn. I was there every fucking day, but your parents wouldn’t allow me anywhere near you. Or the funeral. They wouldn’t even let me say goodbye.”
I shake my head as my brows pinch together.
No. That can’t be right.
“They told me you didn’t want to see me. That you were upset about what happened and thought it best to cut ties so we could all heal.”
His upper lip curls as he reaches across the table until his hand can settle on mine, engulfing it. “That’s a lie.”
My brain somersaults at this new information. “I don’t believe you. My parents wouldn’t do that. They knew how upset I was. Lost.”
His shoulders hunch as he drags a hand through his short strands and glances away. Bitterness creeps into his tone. “We both know that Hugo and Eleanor never liked me. And they certainly didn’t think I was good enough to be friends with Miles, let alone you. Immediately following the accident, your number was disconnected, and your social media was wiped. When I showed up at your house, your parents slammed the door in my face. Once you recovered enough to go back to school, they pulled you out and sent you to a small private academy.”
He leans closer. It’s as if he’s getting ready to leap across the table. What he’ll do after that, I have no idea.
Or maybe I do.
It’s difficult to believe that he could be telling the truth. Or that my parents would go to such great lengths to keep me away from him. I know that they distanced themselves from the Westervilles after the accident. But before that…I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t aware of the undercurrents between the adults.
Or…maybe Wolf is lying.
Attempting to absolve himself of any responsibility.
The part that unsettles me most is that he’s right—my number was changed. My phone was crushed in the accident, and when they gave me a replacement, it was a different one. Their excuse was that the cell company wasn’t able to transfer it. At the time, I was so devastated and lost that I didn’t give it much thought.
How could I care about a stupid cell number when my brother was dead?
It’s also true that my social media was deleted, but only because everyone was posting about the accident and what happened to Miles.
So, I took a long break from it.
Once I felt strong enough to return to school, I transferred to a smaller one. I had so much anxiety and depression to work through. Fewer people hovering around felt safer.
How could I possibly walk the same halls without Miles by my side?
Or Wolf.
By then it had become obvious that he wasn’t going to reach out.
Maybe a fresh start isn’t what I wanted, but my parents convinced me that it’s what I needed.
And I didn’t have the energy to fight them.
Not after everything we’d been through as a family.
Not after encouraging Miles to sneak out of the house so I could spend time with Wolf. He might have been the one driving, but I harbor my own guilt about that night.
“I go and see him all the time,” he whispers, drawing my attention back to him.
Hot tears prick my eyes. Unwilling to let them fall, I blink them back. “I miss him so much. Even now, there are times when I forget he’s gone. Something will happen, and he’s the first person I want to share the news with.”
It’s only when Wolf’s strong fingers tighten around mine that I realize he’s still holding them. “I feel the same way.”
As gut wrenching as this conversation is, there’s also relief to be found in it. Even though the specter of Miles hangs heavily over all our lives, my parents refuse to talk about him.
All the good times we had as a family.