Page 54 of The Long Way Home
Anderson waves his hands dramatically. “Slone, seriously—is this,” he gestures between Connor and her, “necessary? I’m starting to miss Aaron.”
“Grow up, Anderson. I’m allowed to do what I want. And maybe I miss Aaron too,” Slone fires back, eyes sparkling.
Connor places a hand over his heart. “Now that’s just cruel, Slone. Absolutely cruel.”
I sit back waiting for Rachel to chime in, but she hasn’t made a single sarcastic comment. I can usually count on her for an eye roll or two. At the bare minimum a dry jab. But tonight I’ve seen nothing from her.
Connor elbows me lightly. “You still with us, or you daydreaming about running drills with passed-out rookies?”
I blink, barely smiling. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m listening to you drone on. Don’t worry,Westbrook.” I say mockingly, even though I have no idea what he is talking about.
He rolls his eyes and launches into another station story. This one is along the lines of something about a guy locking himself out barefoot in the middle of a shift. I only half-listen. My eyes drift back to Rachel.
Then, a few moments later, Margo leans forward, glass in hand. “Actually, you know what that reminds me of?”
I glance up, curiosity flickering. Probably should’ve kept my head in the conversation.
She fixes her attention on Rachel. “Remember the state fair? That was so fun—we should go back to one of those.”
Rachel groans, tilting her head back. “How could I forget? You basically forced us to go.”
“I hardly forced you,” Margo protests, hands waving as she shoos away the accusation.
“I was there,” I say, smirking, “and I remember being forced.”
“You guys are so dramatic,” Margo snaps, rolling her eyes. “It’s not like I had a knife to your back or anything.”
Connor perks up, elbows resting on the table. “I’m team Margo. State fairs are fun.”
Rachel crosses her arms, leaning back. “Yeah, but even with all that ‘forcing,’ Margo and Josh only lasted thirty minutes before ditching us. Rhett and I were stuck there with no car, and you know how I feel about clowns. For some reason, the place was full of them.”
I shake my head, laughing. “And we had so much fair food I almost puked.”
“Ididpuke,” Rachel admits, cheeks coloring, “after those spinny things.”
I grin, letting the memory play in my chest. “Oh yeah, I totally forgot.” I let out a content sigh. “We made a good night of it,Sunny.” The nickname slips out before I can stop it.
Beside her, Ben stiffens and looks at her. “Sunny?” His voice cuts, sharp around the edges.
That name doesn’t belong to him. It sounds wrong coming from his mouth, misplaced and exposed. I look to Rachel, but her eyes remain down on the table.
Ben turns toward me, brows lifting as if I owe him an explanation. “Why’d you call her that?”
I straighten slightly, force my shoulders to relax. I am going to stay calm. I am not going to picture my fist connecting with his mouth. “Because I did.”
He lets out a short laugh. “Okay, but what does it mean?”
“It’s a nickname. I assume you’ve heard of those before, Ben.”
Rachel flinches so subtly I almost miss it.
Ben leans forward again, voice lowering. “You think you can just say whatever you want, don’t you?”
“Relax, I said one word,” I reply evenly. “You’re the one turning it into something.”
His jaw tightens. He looks at Rachel, waiting for her to step in to correct me or maybe smooth over the situation. However, she doesn’t. She stays silent in her chair.
So I add, firmer now, “She called me Sweaty Rhetty once, too. Want a full list of our old nicknames? We’ll be here all night,Benny.”
