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“Don’t worry about when I get it on,” Grey replied, unamused. “I’m asking if you wanna get dinner. If not, just say no, and we’ll go our separate ways.”
I wasn’t going to be the one to ruin a good time, but secretly, I hoped someone else would. I loved these guys as my chosen family, but all I wanted was the comfort of a dark room and a warm bed. Unfortunately, Dave and Simon thought it would be a great idea to grab some grub, and after locking the door behind us, we were on our way to Dick’s Diner.
River Canyon was a small town, one of the smallest I'd stayed in that wasn't completely isolated from the rest of civilization. But as little as it was and as close as Dick's Diner was to Devin's house, using the cane for that long was grueling. It had been a long day of sitting and standing, tacked on to an exhausting week, and other than sleeping, I hadn't taken a single break from the prosthetic. The other guys led the way, seemingly oblivious to how far I was trailing behind. But then Simon glanced over his shoulder and saw I was now half a block away.
“Hey, hey, guys,” he told the others, stopping abruptly. “Dylan, you okay?”
“I'm fine,” I insisted. “You guys go ahead. I'll catch up.”
“No, no, man,” Simon said, shaking his head. “We'll wait for you. It's all good.”
All their eyes were on me now along with those of a cop and the woman he was talking to. With teeth gritted and jaw locked, I hurried my pace, forcing my good and bad legs to move faster than they wanted to. My lungs puffed, and my cheeks burned, but I was determined to keep up. Just to keep them from staring. To keep my friends from pitying me, to keep these strangers from wondering what was wrong.
In my haste and determination, I wasn't watching anything but the tired, concerned expressions of my friends and bystanders when the tip of the cane caught in a crack in the sidewalk. In the blink of an eye, I was on my knees with one hand still gripping the cane and the other on the ground. Cursing through gritted teeth, I squeezed my eyes shut to the pain already searing through my good knee while the impact against the prosthetic sent an ache up through my thigh and into my hip.
But more excruciating than the pain was the humiliation, setting my skin aflame.
“Are you okay?!” Simon cried, dropping to his knees beside me. “Are you hurt, man? Let's … let's get you up, okay? Can you—can you get up? Do you—”
“I'mfine,” I repeated again through gritted teeth, but I was even more of a liar now than I’d been before.
Iwashurt, both my body and pride. My palm was scraped and stung, and as bad as both of my legs hurt in this moment, I knew, in just a little while, there'd be no hope for me to stand. I'd be stuck in the wheelchair for the next week at least while the bruises healed.
But the cop was at my side, making a fuss and realizing one of my legs wasn't real, and the last thing I needed was for him to insist I needed a trip to the hospital, just in case. Because I didn't. I needed food and a long, hot shower. And after being fed and bathed, I needed just enough sleep to keep me on this side of the dirt.
And I needed them to leave me alone.
“Are ya okay, sir?” the cop asked, revealing just a hint of an accent. His hands were tight around my bicep as he and Simon helped me to my feet. “Should I call for an ambulance?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head and keeping my eyes from meeting any of those staring at me. The embarrassment was building higher, nursing an anger that nibbled and gnawed until I finally snapped. “But you can tell whoever the hell is in charge of these sidewalks that they're a fucking hazard.”
“I'll mention it to the mayor,” he promised, brushing his hand against my shoulder, as if that was where I'd fallen instead of my busted knees. “Ya sure I can't do—”
“No,” I practically growled, tightening my grip around the cane's curved leather handle.
“We're good here, Officer,” Dave said, always the peacekeeper. “Thanks for your help.”
The cop narrowed his eyes, emphasizing his concern, but nodded. “All right. Let me know if ya need anything.”
“We will,” Greyson replied, clapping a hand on my back.
With the cop now gone and the woman he had originally been assisting walking away, the guys bombarded me with a thousand questions at once. Asking if I was truly okay, if I wanted to head back to the inn for my chair, if we should just grab some food to go. Simon—the freakin' idiot that he was—even offered to carry me, and I knew he would, if I asked. That was the kind of friend he was, but I was the type to turn down whatever help was offered. So, I shook my head and told them all I wanted was to sit down and eat a mediocre burger and some decent fries.
So, we trudged along, a little slower this time. Pretending like nothing had happened. But the fire never quite left my cheeks.
***
I was from Long Island, so it was hard to take any other diner seriously when some of the best diners in the world were within a ten-mile radius of my parents’ house. But over the last several weeks, I’d learned that Dick’s was pretty okay. It wasn’t the best by a long shot, but it was a fair substitute.
We were seated at a circular table by a bay window, overlooking the picturesque River Canyon Main Street. Dave and Simon sat on either side of me while Greyson and Zach were seated across the table. The two lovebirds had initially laughed at how the table was too small for five tall guys with healthy appetites. But they didn't seem to mind now with their hands clasped against the table and their shoulders bumping with every movement.
I found my eyes drifting toward them every now and then to catch snippets of their intense eye contact or enamored grins. It was something I hadn't seen from anybody other than my parents.
True love.
Simon and Dave had always been like me, uninterested in long-term relationships and ironclad commitment. But after our former drummer—a guy named Travis—had ditched the group for his own happily ever after, Greyson had stepped in as a replacement, and he had come with Zach.
I had liked them both from the get-go. They were good guys with a great house and even better talent behind the drums—both of them. And now, for the first time ever, I was experiencing something toward them that I'd only recently understood.
