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“No,” I answer a little too quickly.
They leave the topic alone afterwards and continue to tell me about their trip. I listen, but I’m too busy thinking about Jaxon to pay attention. Our getaway was amazing. So amazing that I told all my hookups to never call me again. There’s no way I can share myself with anyone else after what Jaxon and I shared in Atlantic City. I check my phone. I haven’t heard from him since we got back two days ago. I know I shouldn’t care. After all, I’m the one who made the rules. I’m the one who said we’re doing things my way. With no strings attached. Our weekend together should be an afterthought. It was a good time between two consenting adults. But I can’t get it out of my mind. I can’t get him out of my mind. The way he kissed me. The way he touched me. The way he…
“Kai, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, Mom. I’m fine.”
“Your sister’s right. You do seem distracted.”
“Told you,” Peyton jumps in.
I roll my eyes at Peyton. “You guys know this is a busy time of the year for me at work.”
They couldn’t possibly know this. Because I literally just made it up. This isn’t a busy time for me at work. But I needed to come up with something to get them to back off. My mom nods. Peyton looks down at her phone. My dad smiles. “Yeah, I forgot about that.” I laugh to myself at his attempt to save face. As long as it gets them off my back, that’s all that matters.
Mom turns the stove off. “Dinner is ready.”
We take our seats at the table and pass the food around to each other. I drop a heaping portion of chicken on my plate. “Jesus, Kai.”
“Don’t start, Peyton. I skipped lunch today.”
My mother smiles. “Kai can eat as much as she wants. There’s plenty of food.”
We all dig in and make small talk, and I try to enjoy quality time with my family. I laugh when I’m supposed to. I make small talk to keep the conversation going. And when my phone vibrates with an incoming text, I don’t rush to grab it. I casually pick it up and read the message, unfazed. When I see that it’s not Jaxon, I laugh at one of my father’s jokes as I place it back beside me on the table. It’s after eight when I leave my parents’ home. I’m sitting in their driveway, deciding if I should make the first move and call Jaxon. I decide I should. I pull his name up and hit the call button. It goes straight to voicemail.
JAXON
I hated sending Kai to voicemail. It’s not something I would do, but she happened to call while I was in the middle of something important. “Did you see the lawyer?” Adrian asks.
“Yeah.”
He slams the hood down on the car he’s working on. “What did he say?”
I shrug. “Not much. There’s going to be a preliminary hearing soon.”
“How the fuck did they get things moving so fast? It usually takes months for shit like this to see the inside of a courtroom.”
“They’re wealthy.”
“Then why aren’t they helping with Summer’s medical costs?”
“Because they don’t want her there. It’s their way of getting what they want.”
The day I arrived home from our trip to Atlantic City, I received notice that I was being sued. By Summer’s parents. They’re asking the court to rule in their favor and remove her from life support. Citing inadequate quality of life. “It’s late. What are you still doing here?”
“I had work to finish. And I was waiting to see what happened with you.”
I take a seat on a nearby crate, not caring about the dirt. “I can’t believe they’re doing this.”
“Yeah, me neither. What kind of parents want to see their child die?”
“They’re so fucking religious they can’t see straight. They keep talking about letting her go in peace. Don’t they know that if God wanted Summer dead, she would have died that night?”
He takes a step forward. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I want to fight this. But I’m up to my neck in medical costs. I don’t know if I’ll have the money for lawyer’s fees.”
“Hey, you know I’m here if you need my help.”
