I hit his shoulder, “Ouch, I have a game. Don’t make me send coach over to talk to you too.” He laughed.
Two people matching the photo walked towards us, waving with excitement. Tyler pulled me back to his side, grinning ear to ear.
They won the game, which made everyone happy. Camryn came too, so that helped with the small talk with the parents. Tyler’s parents were very nice and didn’t seem at all unhappy with how serious we had already gotten. Tyler had no restraint around them, kissing me, holding my hand, even slapping my butt once. I shot him a sharp glare and he laughed.
“They like you,” he said as we walked back to my dorm.
“I don’t know, they don’t know me much.”
“They know you make me happy, and that is the most important thing to them.” He held my face in his hands. “And you do make me so happy.” His lips teased mind and I stretched to reach. He laughed as he read my irritation. “Wait, I didn’t think you liked public displays.”
“I will make an exception,” I said as I wove my fingers into his hair. His hands grasped my hips and I let out a little sigh. “Ok, you’re right, this isn’t the place.”
“You know, we don’t have to get you home yet.” He smiled that smile I couldn’t resist.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The weeks were filled with studies and tests and baseball games and track meets. Spring was officially happening on campus, whether the temperature reflected it or not. Tyler and I did almost everything together, and Camryn had started dating another guy on the track team. I hadn’t allowed Brock to enter my space, so my days were almost normal, or as normal as I wanted them to be.
I made a point to visit Elizabeth at least once a week. She told me more stories, mostly of when she was in Pennsylvania and she had tea parties with her aunt or would play dolls with her neighbor. I wondered how much was true and how much was just the imagination of a four-year-old.
Lab still had the cadaver ghosts, but I hadn’t found they needed anything from me. So, besides laundry girl, it only left Karson. I hadn’t seen Karson for weeks, and I knew if I wanted to talk, I would have to head to the roof.
Honestly, I had been avoiding it. I didn’t really have any desire to climb up there in the cold, alone. I knew the whole excuse was silly. I had been alone for the most part the first time we went, but there was something about Karson being there that made it not as difficult to navigate by myself.
The rest of the story was I didn’t know what I could do for her. I felt terrible that she had her whole future ahead of her and it was ripped away. But I couldn’t do anything. The reality was her killer was dead, her parents were dead, and her brother was apparently beyond reach. It weighed heavily on my heart. A few times, when we would all be sitting around laughing or just hanging out, Karson would come to mind and I would instantly feel guilty that she never got this. She never experienced life after high school. She really barely lived.
Maybe it was because she was so much closer to my age than Elizabeth that it bothered me so much.
Camryn was headed to Vegas with a few friends for Spring Break, Crystel and her girlfriend, who were back together, were headed to Montana to do a hiking trip and Tyler was headed home to spend some time with the parents.
I hadn’t really decided to not go to my grandparents, I just didn’t know what I wanted to do yet.
“Come home with me. We can stay at the ranch; it would be just the two of us,” Tyler pleaded.
“How is that spending time with your family?”
He shrugged, “Because I would rather spend time with you.”
“Nope, your parents don’t hate me yet, I would rather keep it that way,” I laughed.
Camryn was just as bad.
“Dude, we’re driving. It isn’t like there isn’t room for one more. We are staying in a hotel that we can squeeze one more in. It will be practically free.”
“Except for the fake ID I would need to buy to make it any fun at all.”
“Ok, so that’s like $150, but after that, it would be basically free.”
I laughed, “Yeah, because I will eat air and live on water.”
She sighed. She knew a lost cause when she saw one.
“I really appreciate you inviting me however,” I added, shoving her with my shoulder.
“Hey you’re my girl. Always babe.” She winked, and I think she genuinely wished I were going.
People were packing up to leave for vacation. Classes had ended mostly on Thursday and only a few were being held on Friday. By Saturday morning, campus was a ghost town.
Tyler had stayed an extra night with me, since the room mates were all gone.
“Are you sure you won’t just come with me?” He asked as we cuddled in my bed. His fingers made figure eights on my back.
I sighed, the idea of this for a week was so tempting. “No,” I resolved, “as much as I would love to spend the week just like this, you need some time with your parents. It’s important. Especially with everything that happened this year. You guys need to just have some family time.” He kissed the top of my head, and I almost changed my mind.
“Savanah, I don’t know how I am going to survive without you for a whole week” he laughed as
