“I’m fine.”
Standing beside her now, I nod. “I know that’s what you need everyone else to see, Tessa, but it’s me. Don’t push me away. I’ll keep it all between us. I swear, Tessa, but you have to promise, when you need to freak out—”
“Freak out?” She stomps her foot, and I hold back a smile.
“Fine, not freak out. Let your feelings out. Is that better?”
She shakes her head.
I shrug. “Okay.”
“I won’t burden everyone.”
“Friends are not a burden.”
“I’ll be fine now.”
She continues walking, and I stay put.
She looks back and throws her arms in the air. “Fine.”
I jog to catch up with her, and when I do, she looks over at me and rolls her eyes.
“Your family needs you, Lucas. I’m a big girl.”
“They got me. And I have plenty of time for you, too.”
She laughs.
“What?”
“Why? Why do you like to—”
“Shh … You’ll ruin the bonding moment if you start getting pissy.”
She stops abruptly and looks as if she’s trying to form some sort of comeback, and then she laughs. “You sure you’re up for the job, Lucas?”
“More than up for it.”
She looks away then continues walking as she asks, “How are you and Ashley?”
Wow, not ready for that one.
“The same as we have been.”
She starts to say something, but I cut her off. “This is about you needing to let people support you when you’re dealing with—”
“I can’t. Harper’s getting married in two weeks.”
“Two weeks?” I ask, knowing that’s not what Ava said.
“She doesn’t want to wait for the summer. I don’t blame her. You know she and Maddox are going to have a baby, and they just need—”
I grab her bicep to slow her down and get a look at her. Harper’s baby died when she was kidnapped and beaten, when Collin died. God, she was handling this worse than I thought.
“You okay?”
“Yes. I just have a lot on my mind.” She starts to pull away.