Chapter 12
Mia
Indecision flickered over Derek’s face as soon as I asked. I knew it was none of my business, but curiosity got the better of me. Everything about their relationship intrigued me. Fuck, everything about Derek intrigued me. I hadn’t spent any time alone with a guy in almost four years with the exception of my father, yet tonight after knowing Derek for maybe a couple of hours, I’d willingly driven us out into the middle of nowhere, offered him my hand, and led him into the wilderness. No one knew where I was. Who I was with. When I’d be back. I was entirely too stupid for my own good. But for some reason that was completely foreign to me, I felt safe. I was okay. I trusted him. For me, that was huge. I trusted no one.
“I don’t…I mean…if you don’t want to…”
I felt bad. I had never intended to put him in an awkward position. I wanted to know. I wanted to know if she was okay. If he was okay. If there was anything more to their relationship than protector/protectee. Even though I hadn’t called him out on it, and I never would, I’d seen him stumble at my question.
“It’s not that,” he grimaced, shaking his head and stepping back towards me. “I just…I don’t know if it’s my story to tell. Zoe…she hasn’t had the easiest time.”
“I figured as much.”
As soon as I said it I regretted it. It sounded sarcastic and bitchy. It wasn’t at all what I’d intended, but that’s the way it’d come out. Guilt coiled heavily in my stomach.
Without looking at me, Derek sunk onto the bench beside me and rested his strong forearms on his knees, leaning forward. My fingers itched to touch him, but he looked as though he needed space. And for now…for now, I’d respect that. I just didn’t know how long I’d be able to.
His eyes fixed on a spot on the horizon and his low, deep voice began. “We all grew up together…Zoe, Spencer, Kane, and I. We were as thick as thieves. Zoe might have been the only girl, but that didn’t stop her. Anything we did, she was always right there with us, determined to prove she could do it just as well, if not better. The older we got, the closer we got. I loved Zoe, and no one was ever going to hurt her. Hell, we all did. But no one loved her like Spencer. Zoe and Spencer were something else. I guess they’d always been, but it wasn’t until they were teenagers that even they realized it. And it wasn’t until recently that I saw it had always been them. The moment we graduated though, Zoe left. Something happened, but she left town and didn’t come back for years. No matter who begged or how much. And life went on.”
“You really didn’t know why she left?”
“Not until recently anyway.”
“Weren’t you curious?”
“Sure, I guess. But one thing you learn about Zoe very quickly is she’s a contradiction. In her head her reason for leaving is a great one. I mean, it had to be. It kept her away for years. But in reality, it’s bullshit.”
“To you maybe. But to Zoe, like you said, to Zoe it all makes sense.”
“You’re too wise for your years, Mia.”
“Nah. I’m just female. We see things a little differently.”
“Maybe that’s what it is then.”
“What is?”
“She was a girl. She’d spent her whole life with us three boneheads and needed a break.”
“Turns out, you’re pretty close. Spencer, he loved her and couldn’t see anything else. I don’t think he even wanted to. So much so, he bought a diamond to prove it.”
“He proposed?”
“Yep. She wasn’t yet eighteen.”
“Let me guess. She wasn’t ready, freaked out, and took off.”
“Something like that.”
“Can you blame her?”
Boom! There was the million-dollar question right there. Could I? I mean, I understood it. I didn’t hold it against her.”
“Anyway, she came back. I don’t know why this birthday party was important or what had changed, but Zoe finally came home.”
I saw Derek’s whole body stiffen. This was the part of the story that was hurting him. The part he didn’t want to deal with. Without a word, I closed the distance between us and threaded my arm through his. I needed the closeness and the contact, even if he didn’t.
“Spencer was the one who found her and brought her to the hospital. When he called me, I’d never heard him like that. I’d never been afraid of him before. But I knew. He was angry and scared in the same moment and as soon as I got to the hospital, I knew why. Zoe was lying in the hospital bed and she was a mess.”
