AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pointed to myself. “Me?” I scoffed. “I’m just the girl everyone has been lying to through their teeth since she opened her eyes in the hospital.”
His arms tensed, and it reminded me he was still carrying me.
“Put me down.”
“You got your memory back?” he asked, voice quiet.
Saying nothing, I turned my face away from him, momentarily aware of the coffee smell in the room.
Sighing, he settled more firmly into his stance like he was refusing to put me down until I answered.
“Go ahead and hurt your back,” I told him.
His lips twitched. “I carry Wes around.”
“I have a bigger ass than Wes.”
He laughed.
The sound squeezed my heart and reminded me these weren’t really my friends. They were Ben’s.
“Jess.” Max’s voice was stern.
“Yeah. I remember. Everything. Including the part where everyone is lying to me.”
Using his foot, he dragged a chair from beneath the table and sat me in it.
“I need my crutches,” I said, pointing to where they lay.
“No.”
Incredulous, my mouth dropped open. I pushed up to get them myself, but he put a hand on my shoulder, guiding me back into the seat.
“Sit. I’ll get you some coffee.”
“Why do you even care?” I asked. “It’s not like we’re friends anyway.”
He drew back, shock written all over his face. “What?”
“You guys made it out like we’re this big happy family. A bunch of besties. The reality is, yeah, I see you guys at swim meets and we’ve had a few meals together, but you’re Ben’s friends. Not mine.” I sniffed. “If we were a bunch of anything, it would be rotten bananas.”
“I don’t like bananas.”
“Well, you’d be the annoying fruit fly hovering around everything.”
“You’re a brat. Just like Wes.” He decided, almost fondly, and then went into the kitchen to get a mug out of the cupboard.
He poured some coffee into it and turned. “Cream?”
“I’ll drink it black so it matches my soul.”
He carried it over and set it on the table beside me. I glanced at the pitch-black liquid and withheld a grimace. I didn’t think my soul was as black as that tar.
“Did you make that?” I asked, still looking at the drink.
His muffled laughter echoed inside the fridge. “Bratty like Wes and a coffee snob like Lars.” He carried over a bottle of creamer and set it by my elbow.
“I told you I was drinking it black.”
