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She winces, and part of me feels badly, but she needs to hear this. Maybe we’re not just here for Luke. Maybe we all have scattered pieces that need to be assembled.

“No. That’s not what I meant. Of course not.”

Her placating response just pisses me off more. I think back over the course of our time together. All the jokes, all the debates. They were all in good fun, but clearly there was an undertone I didn’t truly pick up on until now.

This woman actually has no clue how incredible she is.

“No, I know what you meant,” I say in a firm voice. “I know exactly what you meant. Your face isn’t slapped all over the internet and some stupid magazine so therefore you don’t count as a person in my life just because mine is.”

I scrub at my face. “God, Callie, we basically met two days ago and I can’t even imagine not having you in my life at this point. Luke didn’t know you existed a month ago and now you’re his best chance at survival. You’re doing what no one else could! You write poetry that cut into me, and have made me laugh so much these last couple days it’s actually starting to get painful.”

I take a breath as the words sink in. I’m hearing them for the first time as well. The magnitude of what’s happening in this suite. Three broken souls coming together to fill the cracks in each other.

And right at the center? This person who thinks she doesn’t even belong here.

“So stop with the ‘I’m a nobody’ bullshit and tell me who you really are!”

I quiet and stare her down. My heart beats wildly as I wait to see what she does with this ultimatum. I could lose her, but I’ve already lost her if I can’t get this message through.

She bites her lip and squirms in her seat. Seconds tick by. Quiet looks and awkward stillness.

She pivots away from me.

It hurts like hell when she hides her face, but maybe this is the hard truth she needed to hear. I command myself to stand strong. To wait for her to sort through her own demons insteadof taking them on myself like I always do. I didn’t allow Luke to fight his battles and look where it got us. I’m not about to make the same mistake with Callie.

After a torturous pause, she finally straightens, still facing the wall.

“I’m Callie Roland, twenty-three, born and raised in Shelteron, Pennsylvania.”

She swivels slowly on her stool, as if afraid of my reaction.

All I feel is colossal relief.

I drop to the seat beside her and hold out my hand.

“Casey Barrett, twenty-five, born and raised in Houston, Texas.”

She takes my hand with a weak smile.

Then stops cold.

Her eyes go wide.

“Houston?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

Her strange reaction shatters the air around us.

She didn’t know I was from Houston, but she must know the significance based on her shock. And if she didn’t know that, then she probably doesn’t know the rest. How would she unless Luke told her. There’s zero chance of that.

I force a nod and offer a stiff smile to soften the blow. “Elena Barrett Craven was my sister.”

Her stunned expression confirms my theory.

“I’m sorry to just dump that on you,” I continue, breaking the heavy silence. “I thought you should know. Maybe that matters, maybe it doesn’t.”

“Of course it matters!” She looks rattled, and I wonder what’s going through her head. Knowing her, it’s more than the average person.

I study the windows in the distance. “More pieces of the puzzle, huh?”