Page 79 of Crash & Burn

“Fine,” I conclude and sip my drink as I wait for the girls. Everyone knows my brother is overprotective, but Luke didn’t mention him. He mentionedEddiewho, I guess, is protective. I have seen his protectiveness come out with him and now knowing what happened with his mom and dad when he was young, but Luke wasn’t at the concert to see what happened when that guy grabbed me, and Eddie and Luke don’t seem like the type to trade childhood trauma stories.

But what do I know?

I don’t have much time to dwell on it because burgundy hair and black skinny jeans appear in the corner of my eye, and Drew comes into focus next to me. She has on a black, cropped Cross My Heart t-shirt.

She hops up on the chair next to mine, and there is a lime White Claw open and infront of her before she even can say, “Hello,”

I turn to see Luke shrug his shoulders before adding, “Boss’s orders.”

Drew rolls her eyes. “Emmett can calm down. You don’t need to drop everything to get me a drink,” she tells Luke. “But, thank you.”

“Anytime,” he says, giving her one of his signature smiles and going back to chatting with the regulars and flirting with the girls coming up to the bar for drinks.

“Annie should be here any minute,” Drew says to me. “I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

“Not at all, just talking to Luke.” I stir my drink, mixing the grenadine with the orange juice. My face must still have the confusion from what Luke said about Eddie on it because Drew doesn’t hesitate to ask what we talked about.

“It was obviouslysomething,” she says when I try to tell her it was nothing important. “You can tell me, Mia. If it was something rude, Emmett showed me how to punch.”

This makes me giggle because Drew punching someone seems so out of character. “Mateo told me if I punch someone, I have to put a dollar in what he calls the Punching Jar.”

Drew lets out a laugh. “I forgot you punched some guy! That was the first thing I learned about you. I knew you were going to fit right in.”

Tension releases from my shoulders. Drew has a way of making you feel like she would never judge you for something. Like how it is with Eddie, I feel like I can tell her anything.

“Luke said something about Eddie,” I sigh. “And I don’t know how to feel about it.”

I turn to see Drew looking at me, not saying anything but silently telling me to continue when I’m ready.

I tell her how about wanting to go sit at a table, but Luke didn’t want me out of his sight because of Eddie. I’m ready for her to say something along the lines of Luke being way off with thinking Eddie would care, or how weird it is that he would say Eddie instead of Mateo.

Instead, what she says surprises me even more.

“Luke knows Eddie well. Eddie would never want someone he cares about left alone if they didn’t need to be.”

“What do you mean?” I ask. Eddie’s childhood instantly comes to my mind, wanting to protect his mom and little sisters from his dad, and taking matters into his own hands at eighteen.

“Did Eddie tell you what happened with his parents?”

I nod.

“Well, he carries that with him.Everywhere. I’ve only known Eddie less than a year, but I know what trauma does to someone, both first-hand and as a professional.” I know she is talking about the shooting, and I can’t help but admire how candidly she talks about it. It truly does reveal how strong she is. “A perceived lack of control over people and events makes someone like Eddie struggle to stay calm. The underlying belief that if they release control, horrible things may happen.” She sounds like she is talking from experience, and I can whole-heartedly identify with what she says. As someone who struggles with anxiety, I know what it feels like to not have a sense of control. It sends me into a panic attack, and it can have a different effect on others. It isn’t my place to try to diagnose Eddie or project my anxiety onto him, but it might be something worth exploring for him, when he is ready to heal.

“A perceived or real threat to someone he cares about,” Drew continues, “it affects him because of what he went through.”

“I know how that feels,” I say, but it is more of a whisper.

“Me too,” Drew adds, and she grabs my hand resting on my leg. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here.” She squeezes my hand, and my eyes feel prickly.

“Thank you,” I say. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

“I know how hard it can be to do everything alone. Sometimes you need to remember there are people for you to lean on or to lend you strength when you need.”

Her words go straight to my heart. “You’re right. It can be hard to do it all alone.” Not only do I say this for me, but I can’t help but think of a specific drummer with green eyes who would also benefit from this lesson.

Drew pulls me in for a hug, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. It feels so good to have a friend.

I feel another pair of arms wrap around us, so we pull back to see Annie between us.

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