No autographs. Not even “just a quick one.”
No, you can’t have my number. This isn’t a meet-cute.
No, Ford isn’t hiding in the bathroom.
Neither is Blue.
Or Liam.
No, we won’t hook you up.
No, we won’t pass along your number.
No, your cousin’s best friend’s dog’s roommate who’s dying of _______ will not be the exception.
No, we are not secretly falling apart behind closed doors.
Yes, we actually like each other. Weird, we know.
Thanks for respecting our night off. We’ll catch you another time.
The Duprees.
“I don’t know.” Bowen smiled. “I kind of like it. Not a single person has approached us yet. This has to be some kind of record.”
“Charlie’s just tired of me getting hit on every timeI go somewhere without her,” Cash said. “You like it, right?” he asked me.
I gave him nothing.
“Griff,” he said low, elbowing me in the side. “It sucks right now. But it’s gonna be okay.”
I grunted, barely processing his words. My head was numb. My heart was numb. Even my lungs felt like they belonged to someone else. Maybe I was actually an avatar. Maybe my real body was back in a link unit somewhere, and this body wasn’t mine at all.
“Yo.” Theo leaned across the table and snapped his fingers in my face.
My gaze shot up, a warning growl low in my chest, daring him to do it again.
He jerked his hand back. “Don’t take off my fingers, okay? But you gotta snap out of it.”
“Leave him alone,” James said from his chair at the head of the table. “He’s hurting. Let him deal with it however he wants.”
“Thank you, James,” I said.
“No.” Theo shook his head defiantly. “I can’t handle one more cousin in mourning. It’s too much. Y’all are gonna have to start taking turns.”
Bowen scratched his jaw. “He’s not wrong. It’s freaking depressing. I mean, here we are having guys’ night and you two—” he pointed from me to James “—are acting like a pair of sad sacks.”
“A pair of sad sacks?” James barked, eyes steely. “My wifedied,lint licker.”
“Whoo, boy,” Cash said with a shake of the head. “Glad I left my wife at home for a night of this.”
Bowen must’ve had a death wish because he matched James’s steel and firmly said, “Yes, James, Sage died, and it sucks. No way around it. But it’s time to start livingagain. Do you think she’d want you wallowing like this?”
“Wallowing?” James seethed, jaw clenched, as he started to come up out of his seat.
“All right!” Cash popped up and shoved James back down by his shoulders. “Everybody chill!”
James did as he was told, but I was pretty sure if he had a match, he’d light Bowen on fire.
