Page 49 of More For Me

Everly

So maybe showing up at Bodhi’s parents wasn’t exactly cool of me. But I couldn’t think of what else to do. I’ve never seen him as upset as he was in the kitchen, and it scared me.

Actually, upset isn’t the right word. Bodhi looked…I don’t even know. He didn’t look like himself. He looked like all the life and joy and warmth—all those signature Bodhi things—had been sucked right out of him. His smiles weren’t coming anywhere near his eyes. It feltwrong.

At first, I assumed it was me. I haven’t been the best friend over the past week. That weird moment before the fireworks really threw me. For the first time since I met him, I found myself uncomfortable around Bodhi. So I avoided him. And I’m sure he noticed.

Then Leo called me after Bodhi went upstairs to rest. He said the two of them had plans tonight after Bodhi’s family dinner but Leo was stuck in San Francisco, so he wondered if I might be around later to keep Bodhi company.

That shouldn’t have seemed weird to me. Of course Leo would be bummed out about disappointing his friend. But there was something off in his voice, too. And I wondered why in the hell Bodhi hadn’t just asked me to hang out later if he was disappointed?

Something is definitely going on.

So when Bodhi left the house—without even saying goodbye—shortly before six, I debated for about twenty minutes before grabbing my keys. He must have stopped somewhere on the way, because I get to his parent’s street before him. Or maybe he was lying about coming in the first place? But why would he do that? I sit in my car, feeling more and more stupid for coming here. I should definitely drive away.

But then Bodhi’s car appears at the end of the street. I watch from a few houses down while he parks, feeling like the world’s biggest creep.What are you doing here, Everly?

But still I sit there. For some reason I want to see his face before I drive off. Maybe if he looks happy to being going into his parents’, I’ll feel better. So I sit in my car and I wait. And wait some more.

I can see his profile from here and he’s just sitting there. He doesn’t seem to be on his phone or anything. He’s staring up at the house, completely still. And then his head lowers to rest on the steering wheel.

I’m removing the keys from the ignition before I’ve even consciously decided to do it. Something is pulling me toward the man in that car, and I can’t ignore it.

His head snaps up when I knock on his window and I watch the emotions pass over his face. Surprise. Relief? And, finally, annoyance. No—anger. Bodhi ispissed.

He pulls open the door and glares up at me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I step back at the venom in his voice. Bodhi has never—and I mean never—used that tone with me before. I didn’t even know Bodhi wascapableof that tone.

“I…you seemed upset…” I stammer, completely out of my depth. I’ve dealt with grumpy people before. My cousin Will can out-grump the grumpiest grumps. But to see this kind of anger from Bodhi feels really wrong.

“I seemed upset so you decided to crash my family dinner?”

A little bit of annoyance rises up to meet my shock. “Are you serious right now? Crash your dinner? Since when do we require personalized invitations to hang out with each other’s family?”

He blinks, expression turning sheepish. Bodhi is the kind of guy people just can’t help being friends with. So it didn’t surprise me at all when he quickly became friends with basically every person I’m related to. I can’t count the number of times I showed up at the home of one of my cousins—or even my parents—and found Bodhi already there hanging out.

He’s been accepted by everyone I care about. At this point, he’s just one of the gang. I thought he felt the same about me. I don’t talk to his mom or sister as often as he does mine, but they always seem happy to see me. And I always thought he was happy to have me around, too. But maybe I was wrong.

“I’m sorry,” he says, his voice losing that fiery tinge. Now he just sounds tired. And really sad. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. And you’re totally right—you’re always welcome wherever I am.” He sighs and looks back toward the house. “But this isn’t just a regular family dinner. Tonight is…” His shoulders slump. “Tonight is going to be really shitty.”

“Then I’m coming in with you,” I say automatically.

His jaw tightens, eyes still on the house. “You really don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. If it’s going to be a hard night for you, don’t you want some support?” I suddenly think of Leo’s phone call. “Leo was going to come, wasn’t he?”

Annoyance flashes in his eyes again. “Did he tell you to come here?”

I shake my head. “No. But he asked if I would be around to keep you company later tonight.”

His expression looks like he can’t decide if he’s touched or pissed off. “He didn’t need to do that.”

“Bodhi.” He’s still sitting in the car so I reach out to put my hand on his shoulder. At the last second, something stops me, and I press my palm against his cheek, instead. He closes his eyes, leaning his face into the contact. “What’s going on?”

“There are some things about my family I haven’t told you,” he says, eyes still squeezed tightly shut. I want nothing more than to pull him against me, to cradle his face and soothe away whatever pain is causing him to act so unlike himself.

“What kind of things?” He doesn’t answer. “Bodhi?”