And Trey loved every single second of it, because he spent almost all of his time with Dominic. They were so in tune with each other that Trey hardly remembered what it was like to be without him.
He touched the glass vial he wore nearly everywhere now. Dominic, too. The necklaces had become a physical symbol of their love.
Too soon the car’s engine shut off.
“Wake up, sunshine, we’re home,” Dominic said.
Trey faked a groan as he sat up. A light blanket of snow coated the yard and lay in piles from where the driveway andwalk had been cleared. Someone, probably Starr, had built a small snowman with pink boots sticking out the front.
Dad came out without a coat to first hug them both, and then help them with their suitcases. Trey had learned the fine art of traveling light, which was why they’d shipped all presents home the week before. The house smelled like coffee and cinnamon, and the warmth curled around Trey like a fuzzy blanket.
Everything became a mass confusion of hugs and greetings. All of the Bounds kids were home, and Trey finally got to meet Percell and Taisha. Her husband was with her, and Trey kind of forgot his name right away. He’d ask Dominic again later. Mom got in on the hugging action, and Trey clung to her a little longer than the rest.
He loved her hugs.
Joshua appeared, the scars on his face less noticeable every time Trey saw him. They’d keep fading over time, without ever truly going away. Trey might have squealed a bit when he finally got to Bobby, Danielle, and Andy, who’d all been invited for the brunch.
Fading Daze hadn’t won nationals or the recording contract, but they’d scored an agent and were keeping busy on the East Coast. When Trey left them to go on tour with Dominic, they’d folded Benji into the band to replace him on vocals. He and Danielle sounded amazing together, and the group was thriving.
The only person noticeably absent was Tyson, and he asked Bobby about it.
“Zelda invited him, but he said he couldn’t,” Bobby replied with a shrug.
Tyson had been pretty quiet since the abrupt dissolution of XYZ, sending the occasional text so they knew he was alive, but avoiding any real interaction. It bothered Trey; he just didn’t know what to do about it.
“Is Linc coming downstairs?” Dominic asked someone.
“Closer to when we eat, I think,” Dad said. “The vertigo is bad today.”
“Can I go see him?”
“Of course.”
Dominic bolted up the stairs to see his best friend.
Trey watched him go, unhappy for the stressful situation that Lincoln’s life had become after the car accident. The Boundses had taken him home and installed him in Taisha’s old room once he was released from the hospital, and all of his follow-up care was transferred to a local neurologist who specialized in traumatic brain injuries.
Lincoln’s recovery was frustrating on every level. Even though he’d retained all of his memories and cognitive functions, his ability to physically move around was hampered by frequent headaches and vertigo so awful he’d simply fall over if he wasn’t careful.
The first time he’d done it around Trey, Trey had barely caught him before his head cracked off the corner of the night table.
His doctors had ruled out inner-ear problems and a host of other things. The ruling opinion was that his head injury had damaged the balance centers of the brain—doctor speak for “We don’t know why, so we’ll blame the car accident.” It didn’t help that Lincoln had a previous head injury from when his father pitched him down the stairs.
Lincoln spent a lot of time in his room, listening to music, and messaging with his friends. Dominic tried to call him every night, no matter where they were, to offer some semblance of normalcy. Something real to hang on to when an action as mundane as going to the bathroom could end in injury. He couldn’t even walk down the stairs to the first floor without an assist.
Last Trey had heard, Lincoln had been prescribed something to help with the dizziness.
Danielle skipped over and slung an arm across his shoulders. “So how’s married life?”
“Ha ha.” He kissed her cheek. “I could ask you the same thing.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve only been involved for a month.”
“Didn’t you say something about the sexual tension being there since day one, and it was like a romance novel, you guys flinging secret smiles back and forth?”
“Whatever.” She glanced across the room at Andy. “You know how people say you can judge a guy’s dick based on his shoe size?”
“Uh-huh.”
