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“Yeah, I know.” A smile tugs at my lips as a hundred memories slam into me. “Can you believe we used to start every morning like that when we were on tour? All of us kids in whatever room was available that was big enough to take us all?”
“Hard to believe that was even in this lifetime,” he says, and I hear the same hint of nostalgia in his voice that was in mine just a minute ago. “Once this all comes to an end, do you think we’ll even still see each other?”
“You and me?” I scoff, but I’m still smiling. “We probably won’t make a point of keeping in touch, but I’m sure we’ll still see each other. Who said anything about it ending, though?”
“Ha. Smartass.” He rocks to the side and bumps his arm into my shoulder. “I wasn’t just talking about you and me. I was talking about all of us.”
Realizing he’s being serious underneath the playfulness of his demeanor, I pause to look up into his eyes. “We’re family, Vincent. If the band eventually stops touring, we won’t see each other every day like we do right now, but we’ll still see each other all the time.”
“Even when all of us go our separate ways with careers and marriage and kids of our own?”
I consider his question before answering. “Now there’s a weird thought for you. All of us growing up for real and having kids of our own. I’d like to think we’d raise them the same way we were raised, though. As family. All together, though maybe not with the same lifestyle in terms of traveling together and all that since there won’t be any tours.”
The honest moment between us is broken when Maxim, Emma, Adrian, Jaylinn, Mason, and Ashley arrive, almost all at the same time. Adrian hoots with laughter when he realizes it’s going to be a race for third place, breaking out into a run that Mason and Emma soon give chase to.
That same warmth I felt earlier runs through me when I watch, laughing as Maxim scoops Mason up from behind like he weighs nothing and puts him down behind Emma so they get fourth place instead of last.
This is who we are. This is us. And it’s a beautiful thing to behold. Gratitude toward Vincent for being so adamant that we all get together today sweeps through me, and I wonder if he somehow knew how much we all needed this. And also, since he mentioned that he thought I’d like it when he saw the game advertised online, I can’t help but wonder if he maybe, just a little bit, chose this activity for me.
10
VINCENT
“All aboard!” I yell, grinning as I watch the apprehension mingled with excitement on the faces staring back at me.
They’re all gathered in front of me, and I can’t actually believe that we didn’t lose anyone during the course of the day. I was sure that at least one or two of them were going to be called back for something, but here we are, all still together, standing in front of the black bus that I rented out for our group for the night.
“Come on, guys. Don’t be scared. It’s only a ghost tour of all of Dublin’s most haunted places. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Did you really have to go and ask that?” my sister mutters, her arms crossed tightly over her chest and her face pale in the low light of Trinity College behind her. “I’m not sure I want to get on that thing.”
“It’s just a bus,” Mason says. “The windows are blacked out for effect, right?” He glances at our guide who’s made up to look plagued.
Since she’s in character, she doesn’t give him a straight answer but does tell the “wee one,” Jay, that she’ll be perfectly safe—if she sticks with the tour. Everyone else oohs and laughs, but my sister still looks freaked out.
So far, I’m super impressed by the experience and the show that’s been put on before we’ve even boarded the bus, but Jaylinn doesn’t look happy. Not wanting to lose a troop when we’ve come so far with everyone sticking together, I cross over to her and tuck her in under my arm.
“Just stay with me. It’s just another sightseeing tour with a twist, sis. That’s all,” I whisper, reassuring. “You can sit next to me on the bus, and I swear I won’t leave you alone for a minute when we get off, okay?”
“Okay,” she mumbles, still not looking too happy but walking with me when I lead her into the bus behind all the others.
Olivia catches my eye at the door. “You got space for one more on your bench?”
“You’re afraid of things that go bump in the night?” I smirk. “I thought you were all about being a badass in a girl scout’s body and clothes.”
“Girl scouts are badass, asshole,” she retorts, but then James puts his arm around her shoulders and steals her attention away from me.
“You can sit with me, Liv. I’ll fight the monsters for you.”
“It’s not the monsters I’m worried about,” she mumbles, but I hear her despite how low her voice was when she made the comment.
James smiles, and it’s the exact same way I just looked at Jaylinn. He’s even hugging Olivia’s shoulders in the same way. There’s nothing even remotely romantic about it, but for some reason, it really annoys me that he’s touching her when it was me she asked to sit with.
It’s like I’ve been split in two these days when it comes to her. One side of me is still as annoyed by her as always, but the other is kind of starting to like her. She’s been less patronizing recently. Less judgmental. Not so much of a goody-two-shoes always after a fucking gold star.
Sometimes I even feel like I can talk to her without worrying what she’s going to do with the information. Even as a kid, Olivia was always the killjoy, which meant she was usually the one who ratted us out when we did stuff we shouldn’t have been doing.
One of my earliest memories of realizing that I really didn’t like her was when she told on me and Adrian for stealing some ice cream when both of our mothers had said we couldn’t have any more until after dinner. Olivia walked into my room where we were hiding behind the bed with the tub and saw us eating it, her eyes went wide, and she whirled around, running out of there to tell on us so fast that I was pretty sure she left a fucking scorch mark on the carpet.
