“What days will you be staying overnight?” I ask him.
“I’m not 100% sure of that yet. I’ll probably stay Thursday night since my day will start at 4:30am on Friday. Depending on how competent the soldiers are will determine how many early days we’ll have. Jensen has a family too, so we’ll split up the early mornings if we end up needing a lot of them. They’ve booked a 2 bedroom apartment for me and Jensen on base for the duration of training.”
“Okay. I’ll have someone stay here Thursday then.”
“I will,” Seb offers, raising his hand, like we’re in class.
“Alright, Hurry,” I chuckle. Zander is going to email the schedule to the rest of the guys and then shower. I also need to shower and soak. We invite the guys to stay for dinner.
“Do you guys mind picking up some dinner?” Zander asks Seb and Nick. “I was thinking about the diner?” They agree, so Zander gives them some cash, and we both go to get cleaned up while they’re gone.
By the time I’m out of the tub and dressed, the guys are unpacking the food on the table. We fill Zander in on our day, including Alex confronting Cara at some function he attended with Reesa. “Good. You all need less drama in your lives,” Zander comments.
The boys go home after dinner. I thank them for the lesson, then get my homework out on the couch while Zander gets an update from Troy on the phone.
Chapter 45
I get into a routine over the next few days with early mornings at the office, track practice, and self-defense with Nick.
Coach hands out our track uniforms at practice on Wednesday, and I run all three of my races. I get to see Olivia after school when Bay picks her up at a friend’s house. She’s excited to see Bay dive on Friday.
Cara has been smiling smugly at me for a few days now. It’s creepy, but she hasn’t attempted to talk to Seb or me, so that’s something.
Everyone comes to my house after school on Thursday. I call Sarah while in the tub, and we discuss Ben, Cara, and the lilies. Nick teaches me more self-defense with the help of Seb and Bay. E and I make dinner for everyone, then we all work on our homework. The guys leave around 9pm, and then Seb and I watch some tv after I talk to Zander.
I wake up to the scent of tea on Friday morning. Rolling over and opening my eyes, I see a steaming mug on my nightstand. Seb must be up already. Smiling, I get up, grab my tea, and pad to the kitchen. “Morning, Sunshine,” Seb sings, giving me a big hug.
“Good morning, Hurry. Thanks for the tea,” I smile.
“You’re welcome. I enjoy getting a hug from you first thing in the morning,” he says.
Chuckling at him, I set my tea on the island. “Did you make breakfast too?”
“Yup, chocolate chip pancakes. Take a seat, and I’ll get you a plate.”
“Wow, thank you. You didn’t need to do all this. You’re the guest here, Seb.”
“Gotta make a good impression so I get invited over again,” he winks.
“You’re always welcome here, Hurry,” I smile. I take a bite of the pancakes Seb slides over to me. “Yum, these are so good,” I tell him.
“It's E’s recipe. Glad you like them,” he smiles, sitting beside me with his own stack. I offer to clean up while Seb showers.
He drives my Jeep to school when we’re ready. E meets us at the door with hugs before we walk to my locker. The rest of the guys have grim expressions on their faces when we get there. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
Alex and Bay step aside. Nick is glaring at my locker, which has a bouquet of sweet peas hanging from it. Soft pink sweet peas that I always buy for my mother. I inhale sharply. This isn’t a coincidence. I tried to make myself believe the lilies were nothing, but not these. My vision gets spotty as I sway to the side.
“Sunshine!” Seb calls, grabbing me around the waist. “Breathe for me. You’ve got to breathe,” he says. He turns me around to face him, placing my hand over his chest. “Breathe with me, Sunshine,” he repeats.
I follow his exaggerated breaths in and out until I’m focused again. This is not happening. Are the flowers even from Ben? Maybe they’re from someone else. “What are they doing here?” I mutter. “What game is he playing?”
Alex comes into my line of sight. “Nick, get rid of them,” he orders. “Summer, we are going outside,” he tells me. Seb puts an arm around my waist as we follow everyone outside. “Summer, can you explain the significance of the flowers to us?” Alex asks.
I nod. “Those are my mom’s favorite flowers. I buy those specific colored sweet peas for her on special occasions. The last time I bought them was for her birthday in February. It’s too much of a coincidence that those flowers are here after the lilies. Someone, or Ben, knows information only a person from Virginia can. A person who visited their gravesite or knows an employee from the florist. Sue is the only person I know who has seen those flowers.”
“I suspect it is Ben since the roses were from him,” Alex says. “The question is, why give you flowers from Virginia?”
“I don’t know,” I say, shaking my head.
