AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
One moment, I was lost in dark, rainy streets. It felt like I needed to run from something following me, but my legs were exhausted and my head ached. I stumbled, lost.
And then I heard Carrie’s voice in the distance.
It was just a dream. The streets faded to darkness.
Then I heard deeper voices. The world began to brighten. But I couldn’t pick out any of the voices until I heard Carrie’s cheerful prattle.
“Before Keith, I dated some absolute duds,” she said. “One guy had the most lickable abs—like yours, I’ve heard a lot from Kennedy about your abs—but while he was nice to look at, it wasn’t worth it. The guys with the abs never are, are they? He would try to turn every date into a workout session. He surprised me with a half-marathon registration for my birthday! Running is not a present!”
This felt so familiar. What was happening?
“He always told me how many push-ups I’d need to do, or miles I would need to run to burn off the calories of anything I ate. I even caught him looking in the mirror over my dresser once when we were doing girl-on-top, and then I realized he wasstaring at his biceps while he held me up because it gave him a good flex.”
I had the most powerful sense of deja vu. I’d been in this moment before, right?
I’d been hit by a car, I’d had amnesia, and Carrie had been there, telling me about her bad boyfriends…just like this. A sense of horror pressed into my chest. I couldn’t make myself wake up. It felt like I was stuck in the past.
“I can’t believe some of the men I let myself get involved with!”
“Why are you telling us this?” The deep, masculine voice sent a shock straight up my spine.
“Because I’d rather date the guy who wore socks, not just with sandals, but also for sex. Those bozos still make y’all look bad!”
“Is she smiling?” It was a deep, concerned voice.
Maybe I was, because Carrie wasn’t tellingmeabout her bad boyfriends. She was using them to shame some men who very much deserved it.
“Wake up, sweetheart.” A big hand wrapped around mine, holding my fingers gently. Softly, he added, “Please.”
My eyelashes fluttered open until I could see a concerned, handsome face staring down at me.
Jack.
Carrie pushed him out of the way. “Hey, Kennedy. You just live to terrify me, don’t you? I swear it’s harder to keep you alive than Charlie. And he’s taken to picking up spiders! He thinks he’s Wednesday Addams…I swear he’s going to eat one next. Raw.”
The guys stared at her.
She talked a lot when she was worried. And every other time too, but I could tell this was Worried Carrie in action.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You were almost hit by a car, but from what I gather, this big bozo pushed you out of the way.” She gestured vaguely, which didn’t narrow down which big bozo it was. “Of course, he doesn’t know his own strength and hit you too hard?—”
“None of us said that,” Carter interrupted.
“And you hit your head on the pavement! Like you need more head injuries.” She shook her head. She grabbed my chin and tilted my face, holding my jaw steady. “Keep your head still. Use your eyes to track my pen.”
She moved the pen back and forth. “Pupils look good,” she murmured, mostly to herself.
She continued to check me over. She’d gone from my slightly goofy, upbeat best friend to the serious professional she was.
“Did they ask you to come?”
“Girl, I was on my way.” She shook her head. “You texted me for help, remember? Nothing could’ve stopped me from coming to get you.”
“Thank you,” I told her gratefully.
