I think I’ve hit the lottery—to have him in my life.
To me, he’s worth every loud moment, every peaceful silence, the crazy and the sad, the restless and the quiet. I would trade it all to be with him, but I have a feeling there will be no price for my mom. She’ll keep us apart at any cost.
I feel it in my bones like a bad, bad omen.
< 30 >
RYKE MEADOWS
“What the fuck is Rose hiding?” I snap at Lily on the phone. I decided to call her while I wait for Daisy to finish sorting through her belongings.
Daisy looks up at me with a plastic baggy in her hand and then points to a cashier’s window, standing in the line.
I nod to her and listen to Lily’s response. I’m not expecting much.
“Like I told Lo, I’ve made this pact with Rose not to talk about it, like a Ya-Ya Sisterhood thing, and I can’t go back on my word. And just so you know, Rose is scary. She took out a knife and was saying something about blood oaths, and before I knew it, she slit my palm.” Her voice lowers, almost comically that it’s hard to take her serious. But she is. “And this comes from a girl who cannot walk on the hardwood without shoes. You don’t have to say anything, it surprised me too.”
I roll my eyes. “Lily,” I say forcefully. “If it’s something serious, you need to tell my brother.”
“The pact,” Lily hisses. “What if Rose put a curse on me? I can’t say anything.”
“You can’t be that fucking superstitious.”
“Rose might as well be a supernatural force when she’s upset. You haven’t seen her truly angry, so you can’t say anything.”
“I’ve seen her so fucking pissed that she almost tased my brother, how’s that?”
“This is a different kind of upset,” Lily says. “We’re handling this, okay? I think it’s good that Lo is with you, and I’m here with Rose for a little bit.”
I frown, never thinking I’d hear Lily say that. She’s usually glued to my brother’s side and vice versa. “You’re really okay without him?”
Silence stretches before she says, “I mean, I miss him a lot more than I can articulate. It hurts without him here. But I’m better than I was when he first left for rehab. I’m at a better place.”
“I know you are,” I tell her. Back then, she was almost in tears every time I called her. It was kind of fucking pathetic, but I didn’t understand their relationship. I didn’t understand that kind of unconditional love. And then Daisy left, and I felt out of my fucking mind for three days. I yelled at Lily for bitching after only seven days without Lo, so who’s the hypocrite now?
“We’re meeting you in two weeks right?” Lily asks. “It won’t be too long.”
“You sure you want to keep it a fucking surprise from Daisy?” I ask. Rose has been calling me non-fucking-stop, trying to find ways to see Daisy without upsetting her. I told them that they should just meet us on the road, but to wait until her face heals a little. They agreed.
“She likes surprises,” Lily says. “Otherwise, we would have told her.”
She’s right about that. “Just don’t come early. I can’t spend thirty days in a car with all of you. Eighteen is already too fucking much.”
“Weren’t you the one who wanted to start the road trip in New York?”
I groan in agitation. “You’re annoying me, Calloway.”
“All I’m saying is that you could have picked a closer place to California, and then we wouldn’t have to be in a car for so long.”
“That defeats the fucking point of a road trip. If it was up to you and Rose, we would have started in California.”
She pauses and then says, “Now that sounds like a good idea.”
I roll my eyes again. I let out a deep sigh. “Can you promise me something?” I ask her.
“That depends. Does it involve breaking a promise to my sister that will unleash her diabolical wrath?”
“Promise me that whatever it is, you’ll be fucking safe. And be careful on your way out to us. My brother can’t live without you. I’m expendable, you aren’t.”
“You can’t honestly think that about yourself,” she says softly.
“Just promise me, Lily.”
“I promise, but Ryke—he needs you. You’re his brother.”
I shake my head. To Lo, I’m equal to Connor. We met Lo at nearly the same fucking time. In fact, Connor has some months on me. For fuck’s sake, Lo made us flip a coin to determine who would be his best man at his wedding. I didn’t get it by fucking default because I’m related to him. In less than a year, I’ll be standing by his side as he’s about to get married, all because of luck.