At the laser tag place, we got geared up and waited for our numbers to be called. There were a lot of younger kids there. Okay, so freshmen and sophomores weren’t that young, but they were still in the other queue. We’d drawn blue team, and Rachel rolled her eyes at me. The red team we’d be facing was a group of four, three boys and a girl. They were too busy picking on each other to pay attention to us, and some of that nostalgia might have hit me again watching them.
Rachel snorted and shoved me ahead of her into the chute. I hadn’t played laser tag in forever, but thankfully, I’d also played with the ruthlessly competitive snots who were forever trying to take each other out, so I had learned some skills. Rachel, as it turned out, was pretty ruthless herself. She got all three of the boys in the time it took me to stalk and take out the girl.
We went three more times, and each time, they offered to let us add more players to our team, but Rachel and I were having too much fun on our own. As it was, we lost only one of those three games, and I was comforted by the fact that Rachel got taken out almost as fast as I did. Still, by the time we were done and turned in our stuff, we were both ready for a break.
The laser tag place included a bowling alley and the best chips and queso known to man at their food bar. The rest of the food was shit, but their queso was to die for, so we got an order along with some sodas and found a spot. When Rachel side-eyed the bowling lanes, I snorted.
“Talk to me about Europe.”
She gave a little shrug. “Not much to say other than I wish you were going with,” she admitted. “But it’s gonna be fun. I’ll send you postcards from everywhere. I guess I can mail them to Archie’s place here and they can make sure they are forwarded on to you—you know, wherever you might be.”
“Since you know, you’re probably just gonna send them to my supersecret destination.”
“Who says there’s a supersecret destination?” she countered.
“Uh-huh.”
“And even if there was, who says they have mail?”
I rolled my eyes. “Anyway… What are some of the things you’re going to be doing? You are always so careful with the details. I swear you’re a vault.”
“‘I’m going to see the sights, and not just the tourist ones, but actually spend time staying in each of the cities and kind of going about my day. I want to take pictures and walk until I find myself.”
Impulsively, I reached over the table to take her hand. “Promise me that you’re really all right and that you going on this grand adventure is just that—an adventure?”
“Or what? You going to buy a ticket and come with me?”
Studying her, I grinned because… “You know what, I totally can do that.”
Her jaw fell, and she gaped at me. Shocking Rachel did not happen easily, and I was always delighted when I managed to get her.
Eyes narrowed, she stared at me. “You’re serious.”
“Yes, I am,” I confirmed, and I really was. Frighteningly enough… “I can afford it. So, if you really need someone…”
“Girl, I love you,” Rachel said. “But I am not dealing with those four following us everywhere, or worse, mooning over the fact you’re with me instead of them. So no, as much as I adore that you would do that for me, I’ll be fine. I’m really looking forward to being a stranger in a strange land with only my itinerary and myself for company. I need the break from my family, from people…from everything.”
I blew out a breath. “If that changes, for any reason, you call me. I’ll be on the next flight I can book. You know what, Archie owns interest in an airline. We’ll charter a flight. The boys can survive without me for a few days.”
“You sure about that?” But her whole demeanor softened, and her eyes warmed. “I really do adore you.”
“Right back at you,” I confirmed. “I hate the idea that I’m not going to see you every day this summer.”
“You didn’t see me every day this spring,” she pointed out dryly, and I sighed.
“You really just had to go and ruin it.”
“Not ruining anything, just pointing out the logic. Besides, you’re going to be busy with your guys and residence hunting in Manhattan, which I’m going to guess is going to be a lot easier for you than I thought. Especially since my girl is loaded.”
I tried to shrug it off, but she wasn’t wrong. Wrapping my head around that much money still seemed wildly impossible, and yet in that moment of offering to fly to Rachel at a moment’s notice? As crazy as it sounded, it felt good I was in that position.
She squeezed my hand. “How about your dad? Any movement on that front?”
“Actually…I talked to my little sister.”
My little sister.
Yeah, that wasn’t gonna get old anytime soon. Rachel listened to my story about Chloe and her three-part argument about why I should video chat them first. Her smile turned indulgent when I also told her that Hank had texted me every single day since he left, no matter what, he texted. Even if it was just a hi, how are you kind of message.
“This is gonna sound a little strange, but I think that’s the part of him I like the most at the moment. I can count on the exact time he’s gonna text me every single day. Maddy, she disappeared for days at a time, and I never knew when I’d hear from her. I hate that there are days that I still miss her or the idea of her. But at the same time, there’s this guy who really wants to know me just for me. He wants to know
