Page 76 of Good For Me

Jas

Iwake up to sunlight streaming into my room and a completely silent house. I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve experienced anything close to quiet since we arrived. The farmhouse is usually alive with noise—the creaking of the old stairs and floorboards, the voices of River’s parents and siblings drifting through the thin walls.

I stretch under the thick quilt, feeling a few aches and pains from the hours spent on a skateboard last night after so long, and wonder if River’s family has gone somewhere or if they’re all still asleep. A quick peek at my phone shows me it’s after eight. Late for someone who grew up in a breakfast diner—I guess the skateboarding took more out of me than I thought.

Then I notice there’s a new text from River, sent about half an hour ago.

River:Over at the lodge. Come over when you get up for breakfast.

I feel slightly annoyed that he left me alone in his parent’s house, but I can’t say I’m upset that I got to sleep in. Now that he’s put the word breakfast in my head, though, I’m full on starving. So I pull on a pair of leggings, trying not to notice how tight the waistband feels, and go in search of food.

I haven’t spent much time inside the lodge yet, and I’m more than a little intimidated by the size of it. I walk through the front door, wondering if I’ll have trouble finding River in such a monstrous space, but I have nothing to worry about. There’s no missing the dull roar of sound that occurs when so many Ransomes gather in one spot. I head in that direction—then promptly let out a shriek when a dark-haired girl steps in front of me.

“Hi!” she says, voice way too cheerful for my coffee-free morning. “I’m Everly. We didn’t really get a chance to talk last night.”

I open my mouth to say hello but end up merely grunting when she pulls me into a hug. “Um. Hi,” I say into a face full of black curls.

“Let’s chill a little, Lele,” a male voice says from behind her, and she releases me with a slight wince.

“Sorry. I’m a hugger.”

I bite my tongue to refrain from telling her I most definitely am not.

“Hey, Jas!” the guy—Bodhi, I think, who I met briefly last night—says, coming up next to Everly and handing her a cup of coffee. “Where’s River?”

“I’m in search of him myself.”

Everly slips an arm through mine. “I bet he’s in the dining room. I’ll show you.”

“So,” Bodhi says, falling into step on my other side. “You and River, huh?”

“Bodhi,” Everly hisses, leaning around me to glare at him. “Rose said not to snoop.”

He rolls his eyes. “Give me a break. Like you’re not dying to get all the deets.”

“Uh, there aren’t really anydeets,” I say. “River and I are friends.”

Everly makes a scoffing noise, and Bodhi snorts. “Sure,” he says. “River totally brings all his friends to the private family retreat.”

Luckily, we reach the dining room at that moment, saving me from having to respond. It’s crowded and noisy in the room, though not nearly as chaotic as dinner last night had been. Plenty of the Ransomes seem to still be in bed.

I catch sight of River right away, though. He’s hard to miss, being so tall, with that distinctive shock of white blond hair. He also looks better than any person has a right to look so early in the morning. He’s wearing black sweat pants that hit low on his hips. His longish hair is pulled back, which isn’t usually a look I like on a guy, but River makes it work. And his arms— Jesus, tight grey tank tops should be banned on guys who have arms like that. Especially when the sight of them inspires a very vivid memory of the way they’d looked and felt flexing around me while River held me in bed that night. I fan at my face. It’s way too early to be thinking about that.

River heads to a side table, where an industrial size carafe of coffee sits, and pours a cup. I feel the slightest twinge in my chest. He’d mentioned abstaining from the things I can’t have after the doctor’s appointment, and I hadn’t thought he really meant it. But most everyone else was drinking beer last night and River stuck to water and Sprite, so I’d started to wonder if I’d been wrong. Maybe he just forgot about the coffee?

After he’s added cream and sugar, he crosses the room to where his mom is standing with Rose and one of the aunts and passes her the mug. She smiles up at him and he kisses the top of her head, and I get a warm, melty feeling deep in my chest. He wasn’t making himself coffee—he was bringing it to his mom. And that…well, that’s really damn sweet.

Is it weird to develop a crush on someone because of the way they treat their mother? Because I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening here.

Right. Because you didn’t have a crush on him long before you met Daisy Ransome, I think, shaking my head.

“Aw,” Everly says softly, and I look up to see her and Bodhi staring at me. They both look way more excited than the moment calls for, like they’re expecting me to announce our engagement at any second. And then River catches sight of me from across the room, his face lighting up, and their gleeful expressions get even worse.

“Hey,” he calls to me, starting to walk over. “I was wondering if you were ever going to wake up.”

“It’s not that late,” I mumble, embarrassed by the way the others are still looking at us. “Besides, isn’t it kind of your job to make sure your guest is awake for breakfast?”

It comes out snappier than I meant it to but River just laughs. “Seriously, Weaver? I totally tried to wake you up.”