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"Because I cared about her too much to lie to her, Teagan," he says, then walks out, closing the door behind him.

I climb onto the bus and literally sigh with relief when Declan hands me my cell phone.

"You've got it that bad, huh?" he says.

I don't really know how to answer that. My entire life is on my phone. My existence in any way beyond surface level is pretty much exclusively in a digital space, so yeah. I guess I have it bad. I hold down the power button, then find a place to sit and wait impatiently for it to load.

"If you stay, you'll get used to it," Declan says. "You'll like it better. Everything is better without them."

"Yeah, I don't know about that," I tell him.

"It's true. People talk more, they learn more, they travel more, and they fuck more without them. Technology has lured us into existing complacently in sort of a half-life, fighting out natural instincts and urges because we can find something else almost good enough on a screen in our living rooms. Look around—everyone got their phones back, and you're the only one who has yours in your hands."

Luca sits beside me and throws his arm around my shoulders. "You should put your phone down. Have a drink instead."

"Let's watch more of Teagan's naked book videos," Brady says.

Everyone laughs but me. "I will jump out of this bus."

"Wait, go back," River says. "Declan, did you just say if she stayed? Is she staying?"

"That's up to her," he says.

"I can't," I say. "I have to go home. I have—"

I have what, exactly? I don't have any friends. I don't have a boyfriend or whatever Hunter was. I won't even have a place to live in a couple of weeks. If you ask my family, I don't have a job, either. I mean, fuck. I probably don't have a car anymore. I'm sure it's been towed from that parking garage by now.

"—my sister."

"Your older sister who's kicking you out and getting married in a few months?" Declan says. "What does she need from you?"

"I don't—how do you know all of that?"

"I make it a point to find out all I can about a person before I bring them to my home, Teagan," he replies flippantly before heading upstairs.

"What do we need to do to convince you to stay?" River asks.

"Maybe a repeat of the other night in the parlor," Hazel says.

"Yeah, maybe," I say.

"Is that all it'll take?" Luca asks. "Really?"

"I'm kidding," I say. "I really can't stay. I mean, what am I going to do?"

"Be with us," River says. "Be a family. That's all you have to do."

"We'll take care of you, Teagan. You won't have to worry about anything," Luca says.

"Tell me the thing you were going to tell me in the woods, and maybe I'll stay."

"Um. I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why is that?" I ask. "I told you my thing."

"Because…I believe in looking forward, not backward."

I raise an eyebrow and bite back a smile while the rest of them laugh.