Page 29 of Injustice and Absolution

“The more the merrier,” Drew answers, light dancing in his eyes. As if they’re saying more than his lips.

Desperate to break free of the interaction, I nod to him before grabbing the shirts and retreating to the table at the rear of the store. I’m certain I said what I did to steer clear of my fear of upsetting others.

Even complete strangers, apparently.

There’s no way I’m going to that party, though. And if I'm not there to witness any baseless disappointment my subconscious is conjuring up, then it will be as though it didn’t happen at all.

* * *

Why am I even here?

Oh, right. Maggie all but forced me to come, that’s why.

I never should have told her about the party and especially not about Drew. But she has an uncanny ability to pull information from me that I’m not always necessarily willing to give.

Although she still doesn’t know about what my father put me through, I think she’s intuitive enough to piece together that I didn’t have a stellar childhood.

She also realizes when she shouldn’t pry just as much as she knows when to push me to spill my guts.

But this time, I didn’t even have any guts to spill. At least I didn’t think I did. I wasn’t attracted to Drew when we met at the store a few days ago, but the smile I couldn’t keep from my face as Maggie made me relay the entire interaction we had in the store would say otherwise. Before my mind forces me to reevaluate the entire scene, I spot the very boy I’m thinking of.

“There he is.” I link my arm with Maggie’s and nod toward him. He’s in a circle of people, laughing, on the other side of the large bonfire. “In the gray T-shirt with the sideburns, next to Sienna.”

Sienna who can’t take her lovesick eyes off of him. A snarl forms on my face before I pull my lip between my teeth to force it away again.

“Woah, he’s a lot older than I was picturing. But he’s cute!” Maggie screeches, too loud for my taste.

A few heads of people near us turn at the sound.

“Shut up, would you? Jesus, we don’t need everyone to hear you. Especially not Sienna. After Drew left the store the other day she tried so hard to sway me from coming. I don’t need her giving me even more shit during our shifts together.”

“Oh, please... You don’t even need that job, and you know it. You always have a place at the quarry.”

When I first told Maggie I was looking for a new job, she rolled her eyes. I don’t think she took me seriously until I told her I was hired on the spot at Mathieu and had already told Draven I quit.

The right thing would have been to tell Royce, but I can still barely look him in the eye. There’s no way I could handle the disapproval on his face the way I can with Maggie or even Draven.

“Yes. But like I told you, it’s time that I tried to stand on my own two feet. Don’t you ever want to get out from under Royce’s thumb?” I try to appeal to her hatred of him rather than shine a light on why I can’t and won’t go back there. “As long as you work for him and live in his house, he can control what you do.”

“Delilah, what on earth are you talking about? Royce doesn’t pay any damn attention to what I do, you know this. He hasn’t for years. And I work there because the money is good, the guys are fun to hang out with, and Royce leaves all of us the hell alone… Mostly.”

This is going south fast.

“Let’s just change the subject, okay? No more work talk.” My only defense, as usual, is to falter and conclude that the reasoning behind my feelings isn’t as important as my opponent’s.

“Fine by me,” Maggie answers, annoyed at my sudden amnesia regarding Royce’s disconnection from his daughter’s life.

I’m an idiot and a bad friend for going there just to try to keep the topic off my own hidden truths. It was a dick move, and I feel terrible about it.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I said that.” I should have just let it drop like I wanted, but the need to keep Maggie close and happy with my friendship has always been of the utmost importance to me.

I can’t stand the thought of her getting tired of me or no longer wanting me in her life. Royce or no Royce, I don’t know where I’d be without her.

“It’s okay.” She passes a sympathetic glance my way. “Let’s just drop it like you said.”

When she squeezes my hand reassuringly, it brings me more comfort than she could ever know. She’s not stupid. I know she realizes my insecurities, and I know she sometimes overcompensates to make sure I’m getting the comfort I need.

And I fucking love her for it.

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