spread that spoke of someone’s need for my help. There was no indication it was Ocean. I just felt it in my gut.
“That’s okay,” Ev says as Cassie returns with our coffees and plonks herself in the seat next to her. “I decided I’d rather wait and be pleasantly surprised when Micah and I take the next step. I’d rather not think it was fated, you know? But that it’s something we’ve worked on together.”
She sounds so sure. So content and safe in her love for Micah. In his love for her. How is she doing that? How can she just wait and not want to sneak a peek into the future?
“So… studio? Double bed?” Cassie turns to Amber. “Moving in together, and…? When? What next?”
“I don’t know yet. Soonish, I guess. Jesse’s so excited about it.”
“Like you’re not.” Cassie winks. “I can’t imagine not living with Shane, and it’s only been a couple of months.”
“How is he doing?”
“Fine. Better. Sometimes he loses his footing a little. A trigger, a nightmare. But he recovers.”
“Because you’re there for him,” Amber says, her eyes shining.
It’s so weird, watching the two of them interact—Amber and Cassie. After the awful fight over Jesse Lee, it’s hard to believe they’re fast becoming friends, but there you go. After Cassie apologized and got together with Shane, everything seemed to smooth out.
“Jesse likes the studio,” Amber says, sipping at her Latte. “And he was glad to leave his apartment, even though he’s getting along much better with his roommates nowadays. But it’s chaos in there, and now with Travis’ friend crashing in their living room it’s impossible to have any quiet and privacy.”
“Privacy, huh?” Manon waggles her fine brows, and laughter bursts out of me.
She’s a quiet one, but she can be funny when she’s relaxed.
“What about you?” Manon turns to me, a gleam in her eye, and my laughter dies. “I heard a certain blue-haired someone drove you home and stayed the night last week.”
“Yeah, well.” I swallow hard. “That’s all that happened, sadly.”
“That boy wants you,” Ev declares.
She’s said that before. But the evidence points to the contrary. “I don’t think so.”
“He so does. He’s waiting for the right moment to make his move.”
“He never needed a right moment to make his move in the past.” I’ve watched him hit on girls week after week in Halo, leaving with them, my heart feeling all twisty and unsettled. “Can we just change the subject?”
I’m thinking of the lines in his palm. The head line, broken and crosshatched over and over—important decisions he’s had to make in his life. The forked life line indicating interruptions and changes. A fate line, also cracked and marked with obstacles.
The only straight, consistent line is that of the heart. So long and deep. Like a wound.
The fact he let me see? It feels like a much greater gift than my stupid muffin.
“I like Ocean,” Amber says quietly. “He’s a good guy. He’s helping one of Jesse’s friends out, even though he doesn’t know him. Heart of gold.”
Helping out a friend of Jesse’s? I open my mouth to ask more about this, but Ev leans forward.
“Do you girls know anything about his brother? Micah was telling me the other day that he overheard Ocean talking to him, and it sounded bad.”
“Grim?” I lean forward, too, forgetting all about my other question. I’m not even trying to pretend I’m not interested. “Why, what did he say?”
“Well, Ocean kept asking if the brother was okay. Raine is his name, apparently. If he could see him. And that he was sorry.”
“Sorry about what?” The edge of the table is digging into my stomach. “Did he say?”
“Something about an accident. And about their parents.”
“His parents are alive?”
“I know, right?” Ev sighs. “He never talks about any family, so I assumed he was an orphan, like Micah and Jesse. But Micah says they’re alive. Ocean
“That’s okay,” Ev says as Cassie returns with our coffees and plonks herself in the seat next to her. “I decided I’d rather wait and be pleasantly surprised when Micah and I take the next step. I’d rather not think it was fated, you know? But that it’s something we’ve worked on together.”
She sounds so sure. So content and safe in her love for Micah. In his love for her. How is she doing that? How can she just wait and not want to sneak a peek into the future?
“So… studio? Double bed?” Cassie turns to Amber. “Moving in together, and…? When? What next?”
“I don’t know yet. Soonish, I guess. Jesse’s so excited about it.”
“Like you’re not.” Cassie winks. “I can’t imagine not living with Shane, and it’s only been a couple of months.”
“How is he doing?”
“Fine. Better. Sometimes he loses his footing a little. A trigger, a nightmare. But he recovers.”
“Because you’re there for him,” Amber says, her eyes shining.
It’s so weird, watching the two of them interact—Amber and Cassie. After the awful fight over Jesse Lee, it’s hard to believe they’re fast becoming friends, but there you go. After Cassie apologized and got together with Shane, everything seemed to smooth out.
“Jesse likes the studio,” Amber says, sipping at her Latte. “And he was glad to leave his apartment, even though he’s getting along much better with his roommates nowadays. But it’s chaos in there, and now with Travis’ friend crashing in their living room it’s impossible to have any quiet and privacy.”
“Privacy, huh?” Manon waggles her fine brows, and laughter bursts out of me.
She’s a quiet one, but she can be funny when she’s relaxed.
“What about you?” Manon turns to me, a gleam in her eye, and my laughter dies. “I heard a certain blue-haired someone drove you home and stayed the night last week.”
“Yeah, well.” I swallow hard. “That’s all that happened, sadly.”
“That boy wants you,” Ev declares.
She’s said that before. But the evidence points to the contrary. “I don’t think so.”
“He so does. He’s waiting for the right moment to make his move.”
“He never needed a right moment to make his move in the past.” I’ve watched him hit on girls week after week in Halo, leaving with them, my heart feeling all twisty and unsettled. “Can we just change the subject?”
I’m thinking of the lines in his palm. The head line, broken and crosshatched over and over—important decisions he’s had to make in his life. The forked life line indicating interruptions and changes. A fate line, also cracked and marked with obstacles.
The only straight, consistent line is that of the heart. So long and deep. Like a wound.
The fact he let me see? It feels like a much greater gift than my stupid muffin.
“I like Ocean,” Amber says quietly. “He’s a good guy. He’s helping one of Jesse’s friends out, even though he doesn’t know him. Heart of gold.”
Helping out a friend of Jesse’s? I open my mouth to ask more about this, but Ev leans forward.
“Do you girls know anything about his brother? Micah was telling me the other day that he overheard Ocean talking to him, and it sounded bad.”
“Grim?” I lean forward, too, forgetting all about my other question. I’m not even trying to pretend I’m not interested. “Why, what did he say?”
“Well, Ocean kept asking if the brother was okay. Raine is his name, apparently. If he could see him. And that he was sorry.”
“Sorry about what?” The edge of the table is digging into my stomach. “Did he say?”
“Something about an accident. And about their parents.”
“His parents are alive?”
“I know, right?” Ev sighs. “He never talks about any family, so I assumed he was an orphan, like Micah and Jesse. But Micah says they’re alive. Ocean
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