Before I can get myself up, my phone rings with a call from Cole. I pick up immediately.
“Nice of you to call! I haven’t heard from you in ages!” I tell Cole.
“Sorry little sis, I’ve been busy,” Cole says.
“Yeah, me too,” Adam says chiming in.
“Adam? You’re on the call too?” I ask.
“Yeah you’re on speaker phone,” Adam says.
“Am I in trouble?” I ask teasing.
“No, but we’ve got some news,” Cole says.
My stomach drops. What could it possibly be?
“Dad’s been in a motorcycle accident. He’s in critical condition and we think you should come down here to see him,” Adam says quickly.
No. No. No.
Not him. Not now.
I already buried him in my head. I don’t know if I have the strength to resurrect him. Especially after what just happened with Aspen.
My mind is racing a million miles a minute. Dad. Cocaine. Motorcycle. Cheater. Cocaine. Liar. Cocaine. Cocaine. Cocaine!
“He doesn’t need me there. I’m sure he will be fine all on his own. The accident was probably his fault anyway. He was most likely drugged up,” I say.
“Evie,” Cole starts. “Dad’s been sober for nearly two years now.”
I’m not sure I heard him correctly.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Dad’s sober,” is all Cole says.
“How? When? Why?”
When you caught him that night, he was in a bad place. He’s gotten better since then. When he moved out, he went to rehab and got better. Now he’s been sober ever since,” Adam says.
“And you guys never told me?” I ask.
“You never asked. Plus, you were very clear about never wanting to speak to him again. But this may be your last chance,” Cole says. “I think you should come.”
One thing about me, is when my brother’s tell me to do something, I do it.
I open up my laptop and book myself the next flight to Los Angeles. I send my flight info to Cole and Adam in our sibling group chat and begin to pack my bag. I don’t need much. I plan on just going there tonight and coming back tomorrow.
Once my bag is packed, I do a double take of my room to make sure I’ve got everything I need and head out the door.
I hit the elevator button and when the doors open, I get inside and press G.
I begin to check in for my flight on my phone when the doors to the elevator open again.
“Genevieve, isn’t this a nice surprise?” Bryce Munson says in a teasing way that just comes off dickish. This is actually the opposite of a nice surprise.
“Do you ever stop talking?” I say to him, he smiles. He acts like he’s not fazed by my words at all. How did I ever let myself sleep with him? It was probably just because I was drunk, and he was cute in a ‘discount rack’ kind of way.
