Page 146 of Broken Ties (Rixon High 4)

“You do?”

“Yeah, the lake.” It’s where Aaron had taken me to talk the other week. If he was going to be anywhere, it would be there.

“It’s your call,” she said. “We can go home and pretend none of this—”

“We need to go find him.”

“I’m glad you agree.” She backed out of the parking lot and joined the steady stream of cars flowing out of the parking lot. “Come on, come on.” Her hands gripped the steering wheel, an irritated hum vibrating on her lips.

The shrill of her cell phone startled me, and she said, “Grab it for me.”

I snatched it up and hit answer. “Hello?”

“Poppy, it’s Mya. Asher found him. He’s okay. Your dad and Asher are with him.”

“He’s okay?” Relief slammed into me, emotion welling inside of me.

“He’s fine, sweetheart. Upset, but he’ll be okay. Can you please tell Sofia we expect to see you both at Homecoming.”

“Okay.” I hung up and glanced over at Sofia. “They found him.”

“Thank God.” She exhaled a long breath.

“Your mom wants us to go to Homecoming.”

“Of course, she does.”

“I’m not sure I want—”

“She’s right, Poppy. We need to go. If I know Mom and Dad they’ll find a way to make sure Aaron is there. So we need to be there for him.”

“Sofe—”

“We’re going,” she snapped.

“Fine.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be there for him, I did. But I had a bad feeling about it.

A really bad feeling.

Chewing on the end of my thumb, I scanned the gym but there was no sign of Aaron, Cole, or Ezra.

“Sofia, can’t we just—”

“Eli, over here.”

I grabbed her arm and hissed, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Saying hi.” She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “We’re here now. We might as well try to make the most of it. Ezra said they’re coming.”

He had texted her to say they would be here. My dad expected all the players to show up and be on their best behavior. After all, the school supported the football team, so it was only fair they support school events. Especially one that paid homage to its former alumni.

“Hey, you both look… wow.” Eli grinned, rubbing a hand through his hair. “Sofia, this is Pax and Ryan.”

“Hey.”

“You girls want a drink?” Ryan asked. “I brought some of the good stuff.” He flashed open his jacket to reveal a hip flask.

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