Page 18 of Calling a Cease-Fire

“See,” Adam said, looking proud of himself. “They’re finally getting along.”

Lyla looked at me skeptically. “Yeah, I see that.”

The waitress appeared, delivering our food and momentarily stopping our conversation, and we all quickly dug in.

After two bites of my egg sandwich, I set it down. My curiosity over something was getting the best of me. “So what’s the full story with the fight over Savannah? I’m assuming you two dated?”

“We were friends.” Zack cleared his throat, but quickly shot me a smirk. “But I didn’t realize I wanted more until Miles hooked up with her. I got pissed, said some shitty things, and he punched me.” He shrugged. “And then, being idiot sixteen-year-olds, we ended up getting suspended for fighting.”

“So did you end up getting the girl then?” I picked my food back up, taking another bite.

He chuckled. “Not until senior year. She dated Miles for a bit, until I finally admitted I liked her.”

With a sardonic grin, I thought about the things Miles said last night. Now it all made a little more sense. Well, kind of. Miles just got the wrong impression of Zack and me. Maybe I should ask for his number. Shoot him a text and apologize too.

“I should probably apologize to him too.”

“Zack or Adam could probably give you his number,” Lyla offered.

I tilted my head, assessing the look on Zack’s face. I couldn’t get a read on it. Best I could tell, it was a mix between a deer in the headlights and about to barf. But it was gone so quickly, I could have imagined or misunderstood it. It was pretty out of character for what I knew of Zack.

Adam cleared his throat. “Zack can give it to you.” He glanced over with an eyebrow raised. “Right?”

“Yup. No problem.” Zack nodded and took an aggressive bite of his food.

“Were the three of you friends, or just went to school together?” Lyla asked.

“We were all pretty close growing up.” Adam shrugged. “But Zack and I got into sports heavily in high school and Miles…well, he didn’t.”

There was obviously something he wasn’t saying. I cocked a brow, waiting for more.

Adam shrugged. “Not our story to tell.”

I nodded and swallowed as I sensed the mood turning a bit somber between Adam and Zack. Quiet fell around us as we finished eating. It was a bit unnerving. These two were never quiet. Although, I probably should have been grateful for the silent reprieve. Who knew when it would ever happen again.

The waitress delivered the check, and Zack handed her a credit card before any of us even had ours out.

“Dude.” Adam narrowed his eyes. “I’ve told you to stop doing that.”

With a nonchalant shrug, Zack looked over at him. “What’s the point of having money if I’m not going to use it?”

I’d noticed that a lot in the last seven months since I’d started hanging out with this crew. Zack would either cover the whole check or throw more cash down than he needed to. It definitely wasn’t my normal experience with guys his age, and I found it interesting. I didn’t know his whole story, but I knew he came from money. And if you didn’t already know that tidbit, you never would’ve guessed it. His affluent behavior seemed to end with him covering the bill. He didn’t dress or live extravagantly. At least not from what I could tell.

We all thanked Zack and made our way outside to our cars, saying goodbye before splitting off to other ends of the parking lot.

I paused at the bumper of Zack’s Jeep, admiring it. I had always wanted one. His wasn’t brand new, maybe a few years old. And while it was in pristine condition, it also looked like it was well-used.

“Is this new?” I’d seen it a few times in the last month or so, but I could have sworn he had some kind of old classic car too. That one reminded me of the car from Supernatural.

“No.” He shook his head, coming to stand next to me. “But I have a ‘68 Impala too. I drive my Jeep primarily in the winter.”

Oh. That made sense. Higher profile with better clearance under the vehicle and four-wheel-drive were definitely better suited for winter weather around here. I side-eyed him, noticing him studying me, and fought the urge to squirm under his scrutiny.

Hesitation swirled in his eyes. “By the way, I stopped by the hospital this morning before coming here.”

I turned toward him, tilting my head, wondering where he was going with this.

“The boy from yesterday is doing well. They’re not seeing any lasting effects as of now, and expect him to make a full recovery.”