Page 60 of Elusion

“Tyler’s only twenty-two,” she says. “I try not to talk to him, so I didn’t even know he went to State until I ran into him.”

At first, picturing someone my mother’s age dating someone my age throws me, but then I remember Lauren’s only around thirty-four.

“So, why exactly was Johnny going to fight him?”

She chews on her lip, her gaze lowering. “He got a little aggressive with me in a hallway.”

My entire body tenses, a weight hitting the pit of my stomach. “He what?”

The question comes out harsh, and her eyes dart to mine.

“Everything was fine. He was just drunker and more persistent than usual.”

“Than usual?” My voice hits a new octave. “This has happened before?”

“Nothing serious,” she says dismissively. “Until last night, he’s always backed off after a few comments or grabbing my ass. For whatever reason, he pushed it further, but Johnny rode in on his white horse and pulled him off.”

“Jesus, Callie.” It’s all I can say to her.

A man put his hands on her without her consent, and she is sitting next to me, unfazed by it. But why would she be? Apparently, the people in her life act in abhorrent ways without any fear of repercussion.

I let my head fall onto the headrest, my mind in an actual fucking spin. Thoughts run wild with what would have happened to her if not for Johnny. Even him arriving a minute later could have drastically altered everything.

“It’s okay, Jordan,” she says. Then she touches my arm as ifsheneeds to fucking consoleme.

I can’t take it anymore. I throw off my seat belt and fling open the door. When I get around the car, I drag her out and into my arms, wanting to shelter her from all these selfish forces in her life. They hurt her or try to hurt her, and she accepts it as a part of her world, her reality.

We stand on the side of an abandoned highway, grass blowing in the ditch beside us, until she pulls back. She stares up with those wide blue eyes. “Can we maybe listen to NSYNC now?”

I nod. “Absolutely.”

If I have any say about it, nothing but a happy soundtrack will play for her from now on.

Waymore’s population of 1,358 residents redefines my definition of a small town. A flashing red light on top of a stop sign is the closest thing they have to a stoplight. Each person we drive by waves and smiles like they’re greeting an old pal. I find the whole thing either charming or unnerving; the jury continues their deliberations.

We stop in front of a yellow ranch-style home surrounded by trees and an old wooden fence. Callie shuts off the engine and watches me take in our surroundings. “Do you feel like I’ve brought you to the middle of nowhere to kill you?”

“The idea has crossed my mind,” I answer, not joking in the least.

“Just stay out of the woodshed out back.” She winks, climbing out of the car.

And this is how I’ll die.

I follow her up the sidewalk with our bags. For the first time in years, I prepare to meet a girl’s family. She assures me her mother won’t be joining us for the weekend, which is probably in everyone’s best interest. Even though Lauren fails to compare to Graham, neither of them deserves anything other than an ass-beating for their treatment of Callie and her siblings. My parents will receive a lovely edible bouquet, solely for not being her parents.

She leads me through a living room decorated in blue and white. An enormous flat screen is the focal point across from a wraparound sectional much too large for the space. The only artwork on the walls is a giant Eagles banner.

“Tyler likes to watchthe gamewhen he’s here,” she says on our way through.

Another person on the list of people in her life who deserves everything Karma offers. God, if only Johnny had unleashed on him. I’ve seen him fight, and if he knew the dude put his hands on Callie more than once, the guys and I would have bailed him out of jail. Happily.

We go down a short hall to a bedroom that no doubt belongs to Callie. I drop our bags on the floor when a wall covered in pictures draws me in like a moth to a flame. I point to one where she could pass for her little sister.

“Age?”

She examines the picture and takes my coat. “Seven? That’s Trey on the left, and Connor is on the right.”

Only happy moments exist in her collage. Her hair’s dark and her eyes alive. Callie fishes, goes to carnivals, visits the zoo, and lives the life she deserves in each image. A few of her and Trey with a familiar backdrop stand out.

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