Page 22 of Camera Stays On

“Like what?”

“Anything of mine? Baseball hat, a picture, an old pair of boxers?” He snickered, causing my stomach to twist. “We were each other’s firsts for everything. Kissing, holding hands, sex. All of it.”

Not all of it.

Flashes of the night that changed everything crossed my vision. If I’d been just a hair more confident, she would have been my fiancée, not his, and I wouldn’t have fumbled it.

“We may have messed things up a bit in between. I’ll admit I went kind of pussy crazy after she left, but in the end, Purdy will always be mine. First and last.”

He continued rambling about her, and I pushed him out of my mind and kept digging. Finding nothing too interesting, I stood.

“We should get the truck unloaded so we can come back. I don’t want to be doing this all day.”

I bumped into a plastic tote, causing it to fall and open.

“What’s in that one?” Sawyer asked, coming back to the front of the unit.

“Clothes,” I said, righting the tote and then bending over to scoop up the contents. “Dresses, looks like.”

“Boring. All right, I’m starving now, let’s go.”

Sawyer stepped out and waited for me just outside the door as I finished cleaning up. With one last grab, I paused as my fingers curled around a black sequined piece of fabric.

I knew that dress.

I stood, lifting it with me. A corsage was pinned to the right side. The flowers had dried up, but the maroon band was still bright. It stood out against the other corsage pinned on the left—white and just as boring as it had been the day my brother pinned it to her.

“I remember that dress. Wasn’t it from prom or something?”

Junior year winter formal.

“Probably,” I muttered, swallowing the pit in my stomach. I folded it neatly, suddenly a bit attached to the dress and the night she wore it. I put it back in the tote, exited the unit, and locked up.

“You all right? You look like you’re gonna be sick,” Sawyer said as we walked back to the truck.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” I lied. “Just got tossed back in time for a second. Let’s go eat.”

Chapter 9

Asher

Junior year of high school

“DO YOU REMEMBER the rules, Asher?” My mom gave me a stern look as she straightened the collar of my suit. I brushed her away when she reached for my pocket.

“Yes, Ma. Home by midnight. No speeding, no drinking.”

“And no smoking!” she added, narrowing her eyes. “I know you’ve been smoking joints at your friends’ houses.”

“Ma!” I groaned and batted her away from my hair. “Stop!”

“It’s in your eyes!”

“I don’t care!” I stepped back, continuing to swat as she tried to adjust things on me. “Where’s Sawyer? We’re gonna be late.”

“I’m coming—I had to ride my bike over to the flower shop because someone didn’t pick up my order.” My younger brother bounded down the stairs, his camera in one hand, Purdy’s corsage in the other. He elbowed me as he reached the landing. “Dickweed.”

“Sawyer!” My mom scolded, then turned to me, sighing. “Why didn’t you help your brother? It’s right on the way home.”