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It’s close to ten, but I head straight for the kitchen when I enter the house. I didn’t have time to eat dinner after my last exam, and I’m starving now.
I pull out my phone to call Colt as I eat the turkey sandwich I hastily threw together.
“Winters! Wassup?” he answers.
“You free tonight? I just got back.”
“Wait, back as inhere? You’re in Landry?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “Are you free, or what?”
“Uh, yeah, sure. I’m at Jake’s. Come on over.” There’s a strange, almost uncomfortable note in Colt’s voice. Someone starts talking in the background before he hangs up.
I change into clothes that don’t smell like fast food and recycled air, then head back out to my truck.
I’m not surprised to see there are at least five cars in the driveway when I reach Jake’s. His house was always the de facto gathering place in high school. Mainly due to the fact he’s the kind of guy who’s universally liked with the added benefit of his house being only a couple of blocks from the high school.
Unlike me, Jake doesn’t live on a massive estate. His parents’ house is part of a gated community of residents who appreciate the elite status of Landry’s zip code but aren’t interested in dealing with the hassle of participating in the horse industry.
I park and walk up the front path.
The front door’s unlocked, so I don’t bother knocking, just stroll inside like I’ve done many times before.
“Winters!” Jake calls when I enter the kitchen, drawing the attention of the dozen or so other people huddled around the kitchen island. “What are you doing here?”
“Great to see you too, Barnes,” I say dryly, walking over to the fridge and helping myself to a bottle of beer.
Friendships shift in college, I guess. I’ve spent the last several months making new friends and practicing with new teammates. But I didn’t think things would be weird with Colt, Luke, and Jake. They were my best friends basically from my first day in Landry.
Jake ambles over to my side. “You said you wouldn’t be back for a couple more days.”
I open the beer and take a long pull. “You sound like Colt. Didn’t know you guys were so interested in my travel plans. I’ll send you both an updated itinerary next time.”
I look past Jake at the rest of the kitchen. There are more people here than I initially realized. Far more than the number of cars out front indicated.
“You’re the one who showed up at my house out of nowhere.” Jake’s trademark easygoing grin appears, but there’s that same undercurrent ofsomethingin his voice that was in Colt’s on the phone earlier.
I return my attention to Jake and narrow my eyes at him as I take a sip of the cold beer. “I called Colt and told him I was coming.”
“Hey, you made it.” Colt appears in the kitchen and gives my shoulder a punch in greeting.
“Hey,” I reply. “Jake was just about to tell me why the two of you are acting so weird.” I raise my eyebrows and glance between the two of them.
Jake rolls his eyes. “Luke!”
The fourth member of our crew pokes his head into the kitchen. “Wassup?” Then his gaze lands on me. “Winters!” He bounds over to bump fists.
I would be much more pleased to see my three best friends for the first time since August if I wasn’t becoming increasingly aware there seems to be something they were all keeping from me. “Hey, man. Are you going to explain why these two are acting so strange?”
Luke glances between Colt and Jake, looking lost.
“We were thinking Winters might like a heads-up about the guest you invited,” Colt finally prompts.
Luke sucks in an audible breath. “Oh shit, yeah.” He turns to me. “Uh, yeah, so I ran into Cassie Belmont over Thanksgiving break,” he says.
The words are innocuous enough, but then he glances at Colt, then Jake, making me think they actually aren’t.
“Cassie Belmont,” I repeat, trying to figure out why that name sounds so familiar. And then it clicks. “Cassie. She moved here senior year.”
