Avery gave an unconvincing nod. “Never better.” Carefully standing, she daringly glanced at my stitches. “Make sure you clean that once or twice a day. I can take the stitches out in five days, but it still might leave a scar.”
“I’ve got plenty.” I shrugged once, remembering what my mom had told me. “They’re just our past, leaving marks on us to remind us of the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
Her hand dropped, covering the jagged white line across her hip. “Some people don’t need reminders of the ugly.”
That lump began to form in my throat again. “Is that from the accident?”
“Mmhmm,” she answered, her voice quieter. After a moment of silence, she forced a smile. “It happened a long time ago.”
It didn’t matter how much time had passed; something like that stayed with you forever. As much as Danny had tried to forget with the drugs and alcohol, it still haunted him. I couldn’t imagine what it was like, being there, but maybe the adrenaline and the impact had affected her memory. For her sake, I hoped so.
“Nine years, right?”
Her head swiveled up to meet my stare like she was surprised I remembered. “Almost ten.”
“For the record—since I’m apologizing for all the times I’ve been an asshole—”
“Oh, I don’t know if we have time for that,” she teased.
I leaned against the sink, trying not to show how much she was affecting me. “I’m sorry about what happened at the talent show. I didn’t know you hadn’t had tequila before.” Avery arched an eyebrow at me, and I laughed. “All right. I kind of expected you hadn’t, but I didn’t think you’d toss back as much as you did.”
Her mouth hung open. “It wasn’t like you tried to stop me!”
Now, we were both laughing, and I wondered why that made my heart beat faster. Pushing that irrelevant thought away, I watched as she settled beside me with her back to the mirror.
“Do you remember what you were going to play that night?” I asked.
Her smile dimmed as she looked over her shoulder at me. “‘Vienna.’”
And then it clicked. “Billy Joel.”
She swallowed. “It was the last song I performed for my dad.”
Shit.
She’d nearly died after performing that song the night she and her dad went off that bridge, and then when she had been brave enough to perform it again two years later—
Shit.
It was my turn for all of the color to leave my face.
“Avery, I—” I didn’t have the words. An apology for something like that wasn’t enough, but it was all I could give.
She started to shake her head, waving it off like what I had done was nothing. But that single song had been capable of healing something for her. And instead, I’d split her wide open like a raw nerve.
I grabbed her wrists and pulled her into my chest. “Don’t do that. Don’t pretend it’s okay.”
Her grayish-blue irises danced around my face.
“That must’ve hurt you.”
She wet her bottom lip before she said, “Isn’t that what you wanted? To hurt me?”
Sugared citrus and honey floated under my nose when my forehead fell against hers. I breathed in her sweetness and let out a heavy sigh. Sure, I’d wanted to mess with her back then, like I had a dozen other times. If I’d had any idea the damage I was doing, I wouldn’t have sent that video to everyone. I never would’ve let that bottle touch her lips in the first place.
I was about to start explaining when there was a knock on the door.
My jaw twitched. “Occupied.”
