Page 53 of Runaway Road (Runaway 1)

I wished to see her laugh more, like we had in those early days together.

But whatever she was searching for, she hadn’t found it yet.

Neither had I.

“Her tent was the common area for us.” I smiled, remembering us all sitting cross-legged in the center of her tent as we played poker, bidding with toothpicks instead of chips. “She found these tarps and created different spaces. Katherine stayed in the tent with Gemma. Aria and Clara made their home in the shell of a broken delivery truck.”

It had been bigger than the Cadillac, but Karson and I had teased them relentlessly that our car had style while theirs was a white box.

“Were you and Karson . . .”

“A couple?” I asked and Brooks nodded. “Yes. For a short time.”

Besides Gemma, Karson was the first person I’d truly loved. He was the first person who’d shown me what it felt like to be loved. The memory of that childhood crush was everlasting.

“We ended it when I left with Gemma and Katherine for Montana. We both knew a long-distance relationship at our age wasn’t going to last. I lost touch with him, but I’ve always been curious how his life turned out.”

Brooks hummed. “I guess you’ll find out soon enough.”

“I just hope I find him well.” It would break my heart if Karson had lost the spark of the boy I’d loved. The boy who’d walked through life with charisma and confidence. He’d never looked at our situation with anything but excitement. Maybe that was why I considered those years an adventure. Karson had made that time magical.

He had for us all. He’d been the protector. The joke maker. The shoulder to cry on. Karson was the rock and the reason we’d all survived running away from home relatively unscathed.

“What if you don’t find him?” Brooks asked.

“I’ll find him.” Somehow, I’d track him down. “I really want him to have the Cadillac.”

“Why? You love that car.”

“I do love that car. But I just feel like I’ve had it long enough. That it should belong to him too. Yes, I paid for it. But it doesn’t feel . . . mine. Does that make any sense?”

Brooks was quiet for a long moment, then leaned up and kissed my forehead. “Yeah, honey. It does.”

I pressed my cheek to his heart. It never took much explaining with Brooks. He knew how I felt even if I couldn’t articulate it.

“So you’ll go and find Karson and give him the car. Will you search for the others too?” he asked.

“Maybe.”

I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, my focus so much on first finding Karson.

It would be nice to see what had happened with their lives. When I found Karson, he might know where the others had gone. I’d thought about Katherine and Aria and Clara over the years. Were they happy? Had they battled their own demons and come out as victors?

“Yes,” I whispered. “I think I would like to see them all again.”

“Then I’m sure you will.” Brooks rolled me off his shoulder and onto my back. He came up on top of me, brushing my hair off my face. “Stay. Just a little longer. Before you set off to find these people and I never see you again, stay. Give me two more weeks, not one.”

Yes.

The word was right there. I opened my mouth to say it. But as I gazed into those bright blue eyes, it wouldn’t come. What if I stayed and never left Summers? What if I regretted giving up my shot at freedom? What if I stayed and he broke my heart?

I couldn’t stand to think of Brooks as another mistake. Not him.

Boston had never been my long-term plan. I’d gone there knowing I’d leave. But then I’d met Thomas. He’d asked me to stay too. Look where that had gotten me.

I wanted to say yes. Damn it, I want to say yes. Especially to Brooks. Which was exactly why the answer had to be—

“No.”