“What happened?” Grant demanded.
Rachel glared at him. “He doesn’t have to share if he doesn’t want to.”
“That’s literally the whole point of this,” Grant argued.
“It’s alright,” Arnie continued. “She cheated on me. And I took it pretty badly.”
There were some apologetic murmurs and my heart ached for how sad he looked. Then it was down to Eli and me. When I remained silent, he cleared his throat.
“I’m here because I guess my dad is ashamed of me.”
Maybe it was my imagination, but I swore he was looking only at me when he answered.
Now there was no hiding. It was my turn.
“My sister just wants me to be happy too,” I started carefully. “Since my last relationship ended two years ago, she just wants me to move on.”
Trace’s eyes shone with sympathy. “Oh sweetie.”
“What happened?” Grant asked.
My spine stiffened at the completely normal follow-up question. Maybe it was best to treat it like ripping off a Band-Aid.
“My fiancé died,” I blurted out.
Silence fell over the table except for the sound of a piece of silverware clattering against a plate.
I stuck my chin out and made an effort to meet everyone’s eyes, more determined than ever not to appear pathetic.
“Oh my God, Calla, I had no idea. I’m so sorry,” Trace said.
Arnie bumped my arm with his and shot me a smile that made me feel less alone.
“I’m okay,” I lied. “It’s been two years.”
Eli had his gaze fixed on me. Except this time when I met his eyes, he dropped them to his plate instead of continuing to stare. Guess that was enough to scare him off. A quiet girl was only interesting and mysterious until her hefty baggage came to light.
“What happened?” Sofia asked. “Ouch! Did you just kick me?”
“I’ll do it again if you don’t keep your big mouth shut,” Rachel snapped.
The table remained quiet for a few seconds longer than what could be considered comfortable.
It always felt like my job to say something in thesemoments, to absolve people of the discomfort they felt after learning about my grief. I didn’t have it in me today, so I just sat there silently and stared at my plate, my already-minuscule appetite having completely vanished.
“So,” Danny finally said. “Seems like I was right about forced conversation being worse than a pit of snakes.”
Chapter Five
There wasn’ta snake in sight.
Well, there wasn’t anything in sight for me. Arnie stood behind me and pulled the blindfold tight as he tied a knot.
“Is that okay?” he asked.
“It’s fine,” I replied.
While technically it was fine—not too loose or too tight—the thought of being outside, stumbling around in darkness, already had my pulse quickening. I wasn’t a terribly competitive person by nature, but my anxiety always spiked whenever I had to compete physically. It was probably why I’d quit every sport I tried growing up. I couldn’t handle it.
