“Fake?”
“Yeah. My mom’s healthier than ever, and being home has done wonders for her. It feels like she’s alive, you know? Like she’s finally able to live her life after being unable to for years.”
“I get that,” she responds. “I’ve only known her for a couple of months, but the last time I saw her, she just looked so happy.”
“What can I say? You have that effect on the Harris’s.”
She rolls her eyes, pushing my body away from hers.
“Shut up,” she mumbles. “I mean, she looked free. Relieved. Nothing like she did when I met her in the hospital. Her happiness didn’t seem forced.”
“Remission looks good on her,” I agree. “And I know she’ll be thrilled to see you at the Fourth of July party the guys and I host. She’s been nagging me to introduce you to them since you met her.”
“Please tell me, you told her I was the one hesitating.”
“I just said we were waiting for the right moment.”
“And today is the day.”
Avalon has class right now, but I’ll pick her up and bring her back to my place once she's done. It’ll be the first time she’s been here since Jeremy almost caught us in my bedroom last year.
I haven’t really figured out what to tell them. Do we just walk in, and I saythis is my girlfriend, Avalon, or do I have to explain how I’ve hidden a girlfriend for so long?
I’m just hoping everyone’s home tonight. It wouldn’t feel right to introduce her to some of the guys and the rest find out later.
It’s crazy to think the next time I come home, I’ll be bringing my girlfriend in with me, and no one has a clue except Ember.
I place the Wendy’s bag between my teeth, fish out my house key, and unlock the door. I push it open and see Ember sitting on the couch and Declan staring at her from a few feet away.
“Hey guys,” I say, but when I notice the look on their faces, my eyes go wide. Please tell me I haven’t walked in on them getting ready to have sex… again.
In all fairness, it was my fault for not knocking every time I entered Declan’s room. However, before Ember moved into the house, sexy time wasn’t even something they were considering.
“Oh shit, did I interrupt sexy time again?”
“Zeke,” Declan says, his voice low and anxious.
“What’s going on?” I ask, now concerned that I just walked into Ember and Declan’s second breakup of the year.
But with their eyes burning into me, I feel like something much different is going on.
“Um, it’s your mom.”
I don’t know if there’s more to Declan’s sentence; truthfully, if there is, I don’t care to hear it.
I don’t know how I got to my truck, but I’m out of the driveway before I can even process what I’m about to head into.
The only thing I do know is that my mom’s back at Westlake; they’re the only hospital that has our home phone number in their system.
Which means I have an hour-long drive without knowing what’s going on. I could call the hospital. I should call them, but if I do, I'll get whatever news I’m going to get sooner. Which means it’ll be real.
And I don’t know if I’m ready for it to be real yet.
forty-seven
Zeke
Idon’t know how I made it here. The whole drive’s a blur. I could’ve run every red light on the way down here, but I wouldn’t even know. My heart has been exploding in my chest since the second Declan mentioned my mom, and now that I’m here, I feel like it’s ready to break free.