Page 40 of Come Back to Me

“Guys, we don’t have to do this right now,” I say.

“You’re right. I’ll make this easy. We’re going to head out!” Noah shouts.

“Talk to you guys later.”

“Yeah, you better,” Xander says in my ear.

Giving them two thumbs up, I smile like an idiot.

I can’t have Blake hearing about any of this. Violet trusted me to not tell him anything, and I’m keeping my promise to her. Anyway, it’s not my place to tell him about us. If she wants to tell him, that’s her decision. I will always be on her side, regardless of me being friends with her brother.

After Noah and Xander leave, Blake stares at me until the corner of his lip rises up. “You want to see something cool?”

“Sure.”

He gestures to me to follow him, so I do. We walk over to a group of guys. I’m assuming they’re his other friends.

“Guys, this is Grayson.” He puts his arm around me.

“Hey,” I awkwardly say to them.

At first, none of them say anything. They silently stare at me until they partially lift their heads up in unison.

“Hand it over,” Blake says to one of the guys.

The guy hands Blake a metal flask, and I think I’m goingto pass out.

“Is that what I think that is?”

“Hell yeah, man.” Enthusiasm takes over Blake’s tone.

“I thought you seemed a bit off. You’re more chill than usual,” I say.

“Whatever. Live a little. Have some. It’ll help take the edge off your grumpiness.”

“I’m not grumpy. Dude, we’re not old enough to be drinking. In fact, it’s fucking illegal. The legal age is twenty-one.”

Blake’s friends laugh at me, the sound drowned out by the music blasting from the speakers.

Blake rolls his eyes, and we walk away from the group of guys. We end up on the side of the house, where it’s not as loud.

“Do you know that I’ve been drinking like this since I was thirteen? My parents have no idea, and I don’t think they give a shit. Stop being such a wimp and try it.”

I’ve been friends with Blake Prescott for three years, and he has no idea that my dad is an alcoholic.

From what my mom told me, my dad wasn’t always like this. The first few years of their marriage was pure bliss. It seemed to all go downhill when Mom gave birth to me.

Mom believed Dad was capable of being a good father, but she discovered that he couldn’t handle it. He took out his frustrations on her and turned to alcohol for comfort. He had to work two jobs to keep us afloat, but there was no light at the end of the tunnel. Moving into a neighborhood like Crystal Harbor wasn’t an option, so we had to make do with what we had.

Blake doesn’t know about how he beat the crap out of my mom and I. He doesn’t know anything about my old home life, and I intend to keep it that way.

Unlike Blake, Noah knows everything about me.

He’s like my brother. It’s not just because we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s because his family feels like one Iwish I always had.

His mom, Laura, is the sweetest person ever. She treats me like I’m her own son. She taught me how to cook. Whenever I’m at the Kaplans’, she seeks help from Lizzie and I.

His dad, Ben, is the funniest person I’ve ever met. He always knows how to make everybody around him laugh. Noah, his dad, and I would all gather around the TV to watch the Sunset Cove Stingrays’ basketball games. Ben has always supported my passion for basketball. I’m thankful for his support and Noah’s, too.