She stops again. Spins on the heel of her white strappy sandals. “Any place is home if you let it be.”
“Mayhem is in my blood.” This is a new beginning for me but the end of an era for her. “Brighton was always supposed to be a temporary situation.”
“I know.” Kerri cracks a genuine smile for the first time all morning. “This just sucks because I’m going to miss you. You’re my partner in crime.”
Not that we got into much trouble. And not for my lack of trying. I was always trying to get Kerri into some sort of mischief. She always managed to keep me honest.
But my endgame had always been to return to Mayhem directly after graduation. Instead, I found millions of reasons to stay in Brighton—all of which I used as excuses to avoid Luke. I even built a life for myself, turning my bachelor’s in graphic design into a lucrative position with one of the East Coast’s top trading companies. True, the owner’s son was part of my SHU social circle. He may have gotten me in the door, but my talent and work ethic landed me the job and the sizable salary that went with it.
I lasted one year at Davenport Trading Corp. Almost to the day.
“I’m going to miss you, too.” I suck in a deep breath, savoring the familiar scent of clean mountain air. “But freelance work means I set my hours. Total freedom. This is everything I wanted. I can visit you whenever now.”
“It better be often. You hear me?” Kerri and I have been friends for so long, I can read every nuance of her. She’s miserable but hiding it behind her usual composed veneer. “And I want you happy. You deserve it after everything.”
“Iamhappy.” Of course, I want her happy, too, but I doubt she will be unless she also escapes Brighton. “At least I will be once I’m finally settled. I need to find my groove.” But I grimace because Mayhem is less than five square miles. So the likelihood of running into my ex is highly probable. “Luke will make himself a pain in my ass.”
But you know what? I survived him once. I’ll survive that asshole again.
“Your ability to hold a grudge is astounding. I’m glad I never got on your bad side.”
I give her a one-shoulder shrug. “It’s not your style to blow one of my boyfriends.”
“Boyfriend. Singular,” she clarifies. “As if anyone can nail you down.”
My grin is purely mischievous. “They nailed me, just not down.”
“There’s that Mayhem thing again.”
It’s cute how she whispersMayhemlike it’s blasphemy. Which I guess it is to most Pennsylvanians.
“I’ll never apologize for being who I am.”
“That’s why I love you,” Kerri remarks with a wistful sigh.
I untangle myself from her arm. “You love me because your days would be dull as shit without me.”
“This is true,” she singsongs in her lyrical voice. “And you wonder why I’m desperate for you to stay in Brighton.”
“Think of it as me giving you a refuge for when you need to escape that stuffy town.”
Kerri, rail-thin and with legs for days, has Disney princess eyes. They’re big, blue, and framed with long black lashes. Her skin is porcelain. Flawless. Every guy at SHU wanted a piece of her. Too bad for them. She’s the particular type. I always joked about how she’s picky about what she puts in her mouth. She’s even choosier with what she puts in her vagina. When the poor girl finally had sex, it was a disaster. I swear to God if she doesn’t start using her vag properly, her G-spot will abandon her for more active pastures.
“God, okay, enough of this gloom and doom.” Kerri points to a café on the corner of Fifth Avenue. “I need coffee.”
“I need food.” I’m getting shaky. Not good.
It sucked getting diagnosed with type one diabetes at ten. But at this point, I don’t remember life before I had it. It did change everything, though. I have to be mindful of everything. Not just of what I eat, but ofevery single thing. It’s always running in the background. I count every carb I ingest. Limit every granule of sugar I eat. Something as simple as sunburn can throw my body out of whack. Swimming can drop my blood glucose too low. Anxiety can raise it too high. Even sex can be a nightmare if I don’t manage my sugar properly.
I know some diabetics who indulge in alcohol. I don’t. For me, it was more trouble than it was worth. So, I was always the designated driver. Fun times. What’s ironic is that the people who called me Mayhem trash were the same assholes I delivered home safe and sound when they were too drunk to see themselves back to their dorms after a night of partying. Because I was always the sober one—and because Kerri is right, I am nice, even to people who may not always deserve my kindness.
Kerri furrows her brow in concern. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine. Just hungry.” And still sick to my stomach after seeing…what I saw with Luke and Annabelle.
Even furious at him and absolutely disgusted by him, I can’t deny that Luke is too gorgeous for his own good. I can see how a woman would drop to her knees for him. Hell, if I didn’t know him, it might have been me in that alley with him last night instead of Annabelle. But Idoknow him. That rat bastard broke my heart. He made a fucking fool out of me in front of everyone we knew. So you know what? Luke can take his flawless male beauty and mischievous sense of humor and shove them right up his ass.
Nursing my anger, I run to keep up with Kerri’s long strides as we beeline for the Black Bean Coffee Shop. If this place was here the last time I visited, I don’t remember it. Whenever I came, I didn’t venture around town much. Instead, I hunkered down inside my mother’s house, poking my nose out only when necessary. We’d go to Blanche’s Diner for Sunday breakfast. Or to the mall. Or any other place where I wouldn’t run into my nemesis. Then I’d hop in my car and speed my ass out of town and kick myself during the entire drive back to Brighton for giving Luke so much power over me.
