“You didn’t see the look on his face, Boone. He’s going to do something stupid. When José called to tell him about Harvey…” I trail off.
“What?” Boone shifts on his feet nervously.
“It was like he was jealous Harvey had the guts to do it.” I choke back another wave of tears. “I’m scared that he might do something stupid.”
Boone reaches across the hallway, pulling his hoodie off the hook. “There’s pizza in the oven, three more minutes. Take it out, give it two minutes to set, Kaia Keegan.” He points at her like he's trying to get ahead of her impatience. “Sleep here, in the guest room, until I get this figured out.” He looks at me, and I nod as he disappears out the front door.
“What’s he gonna do?” I ask.
“Weird twin shit probably.” She shrugs. Kaia presses her hand to my face. “You’re really brave, Ree,” she whispers. “It’s hard to love people that don’t think they deserve it, and you do it every day.”
“I don’t know if we were in love,” I scoff. “We were still calling each other friends who kiss.”
Kaia tilts her head, “Him, us, yourself. You’ve got the biggest, most selfless heart of us all, and you walk around with it on your sleeve, trusting the world to protect it.” She pinches my cheek.
“You’re being too nice. I’m going to cry. Say something mean,” I give her a half-hearted smile.
“You got your heart broken for some good dick,” she pats my cheek roughly.
“Really good dick,” I pout, and it doesn't make me less sad, but the sting doesn’t feel as bad.
“Let’s burn our tongues on pizza, and you can keep talking.”
I nod and let her pull me off the floor.
Waking up in Boone’s spare room the next morning feels like hell. The faint reminder of Brighton is there, but it feels so far away, and it only makes it all hurt worse. The only thing that helps is that Crosby is curled up at the end of the mattress, keeping my feet warm. I pull back the sheets and force myself to shower, only to spend ten minutes cryingwhile I braid my hair. We have a game in three hours, and I have a shift at the Hollow later, but I’m not even sure if I’m welcome there, so I cry some more.
“Reaper.” A tiny knock taps the door before Boone opens it. “Sorry, he sleeps with Kaia in here… I couldn’t keep him out.” He pats Crosby as the dog hobbles out into the living room.
“It was nice to have company,” I say softly.
“There’s food out here, and I have an update,” he says, and my heart flinches. I grab my bag and follow him out into the delicious smell of cinnamon buns.
“Was he okay?” I ask as Boone slides a mug of coffee in my direction.
“He’s messed up, but he’s alive. It was a long night,” he explains.
“Did he say anything?” I ask, pulling off a piece of the bun. It’s warm and melts on my tongue, and it hits me—Boone came home and baked instead of sleeping. I scowl at him gently, worried about both twins now instead of just one.
“No,” Boone sighs, “avoided the topic. By the time I got there, the bathroom door was in the dumpster downstairs, and the apartment was immaculate. He was in bed like nothing happened, Reaper.”
“Bastard.” I shake my head. “Please believe me,” my voice gets shaky.
“I do.” He assures me, “Bri and I are pretty opposite, but I know my brother down to the blood in his veins, and something is off. I’ll keep my eye on him.”
“Keep both,” I warn, and he nods with a small smile.
“Rhea,” Boone says as I start to clean up to get out the door. I stop at the sound of my name. “He needs you too, you know that, right?”
Doesn’t really feel like he does.
“Questionable,” I say.
“My brother is a creature of habit. He gets up, he makes breakfast, he does admin, he takes Daisy to school and on the days he doesn’t have her, makes her lunch and brings it to her before the bell rings.” Boone explains, rolling his fingers through the air, listing it like it’s engraved into him, “he comes back, cleans the Hollow, opens it for lunch. Closes it,preps for the evening, rugby on a rotating schedule. Then he closes the front doors, goes upstairs, showers, does one load of laundry, and goes to bed.”
I swallow tightly.Not a moment out of place.
“He’s up by six am every morning, and in bed by two thirty. It’s been that way since he returned home; nothing has ever changed.” He stares at me. “Until you. School dances, new drink menus, bowling, sleeping in.”
