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I shook my head. “Some people no doubt judge me for it. And look, I understand why there are those who find comfort in visiting graves; why they believe and feel it’s the ‘right’ thing to do—it’s certainly not the wrong thing to do. But I also feel that it doesn’t helpeverybody. It wouldn’t help me. It’d be a one-sided visit—Lake isn’t there. What made himwhohe is, his soul or spirit or whatever you want to call it, is gone.”
Dax nodded in understanding.
“You know, Lake actually told me not to go—said I could have a mental conversation with him anywhere; that there was no need to do that in front of his grave. ‘I won’t be there,Addie,’ he said to me.‘All that’ll be left is the spacesuit that my soul needed in order to walk and breathe on this Earth,and that fucking thing has let me down—don’t pay it a tribute.’”
Dax reached out and linked his fingers with mine, making my pulse skip. “Makes sense to me.” He gave my hand a quick squeeze, and he held onto it the entire walk home.
Chapter Thirty-Four
As we walked out of the large building a week later, Harri gave a disappointed shake of her head. “I really didn’t think we’d be so bad at that.”
“Me neither,” said Alicia, appearing somewhat shellshocked. “I mean, we’re intelligent women. We all perform well under pressure.”
Fucking A. “We’ve each worked our way through bigger battles than that,” I said, gesturing at the building behind us with my thumb. “We should have easily been able to tackle them as a team.”
Harri pulled a face. “Fuck escape rooms. They suck.”
“More likewesucked,” I mumbled.
Alicia notched up her chin. “I blame the clues—they weren’t clear.”
“Dad will be so disappointed in us,” said Harri with a sigh as we began walking across the parking lot. “And Ollie will laugh his ass off.”
“Only if they learn of it.” Alicia touched her chest. “I personally think there’d be no harm in us, uh, keeping it to ourselves.”
Harri twisted her mouth, pensive, and then gave a slow nod. “There’s no reason for anyone to know. The truth wouldn’t in any way contribute positively to the lives of those around us.”
“Exactly.” Alicia loosely shrugged one shoulder. “We could let them think we kicked ass in there. Right, Addie?”
“Oh, agreed.” I was in no rush at all to confess how horrifically we’d performed.
“Then it’s settled,” proclaimed Alicia as we slowed our pace on nearing our vehicles. “You sure you don’t want to eat out with us?” she asked me. “Harri and I are thinking Italian.”
I gave them a grateful smile but shook my head. “I had a late night last night, so I’m wiped.”
Alicia’s eyes twinkled. “A late night, huh?”
“Notthatkind—I swear you have sex on the brain.” Dipping my hand into my purse, I fished out my keys. “It was Dax’s turn to play host again for a guys’ night. They didn’t leave until the early hours of the morning.”
“Did you take pictures of them sitting around shirtless?”
I felt my brows knit. “They didn’t remove their shirts.”
“They did in my head. I can so easily picture them lounging around with their chests bare, muscles rippling, abs showing …”
I rolled my eyes at the little perve. “You two enjoy your meal, I’ll call you both during the week.” They gave me quick hugs as we exchanged goodbyes, and then we all hopped into our respective cars.
As I drove home, I could admit to myself that, though I was wiped, I wasn’tthatwiped. I didn’t feel a need to go straight home because I was tired. The truth was, I’d missed Dax.
Having made arrangements to head out early with his brothers for a game of paintballing they’d booked at a place just outside of Redwater, I’d only spoken briefly with him this morning. He’d caught a quick breakfast and left way before I’d finished my own food. I had been invited to join them, but I had plans of my own.
Dax and I had texted each other a few times during the day but, oddly enough, that had only made me want to see him more. I loved going out with my sisters. Loved our daytrips and girls’ nights and all that jazz. But right now, all I wanted was to go home, have dinner with Dax, and then maybe spend a little time with him.
As such, when I finally drove past the “Welcome to Oakengrove” sign, I inwardly smiled.
It hadn’t come as a surprise that he’d asked to choose my outfit again that morning, considering he often did that when we would be spending most of the day apart. The teasing motherfucker still hadn’t explained why, but I wasn’t giving up on trying to squeeze the answer out of him.
Having come up with various theories, I’d questioned him on each of them …
