Page 52 of A Wreck, You Make Me

Even though I know she can’t possibly be talking about what I think she’s talking about, my heart still pounds fearfully. “Tell you what?”

She points to her glass of piná colada. “The recipe for this.”

I breathe out with relief. “Oh, yeah. Sure, of course.”

I made some for the party when I arrived because it’s my specialty.

She smiles, squeezing my shoulder in gratitude. “I think I’m going to turn it into a cupcake.”

“Yeah?” I smile. “Reed wants a new flavor?”

She chuckles. “He’ll eat whatever I’ll make him, but I think I’ll try something new for his birthday this year. We’ll always do cupcakes because Halo loves them, and even though Flora is only a few months old, I want to bring her into the tradition of baking cupcakes for daddy every year.”

My heart squeezes with happiness. I’m so,sothrilled for her that sometimes it’s hard not to spill the beans and tell her what she is to me. She deserves all the good things in the world, not only because of what she went through but also because she’s really so kind and warm. She has to be the friendliest person I’ve ever met. She always has a smile for everyone and she’s the glue that holds all of us girls together. No wonder Reed dotes on her like a fairy princess and calls her that too. Fae short for fairy.

“I’m also on the hunt for something with strawberry in it.”

“What?”

She sighs heavily before replying, “So I’m kind of worried.”

I frown. “About what?”

Coming closer, she says, “About Shep.”

My heart drops. “What, why?”

“You know, about things that happened six months ago,” she explains, her blue eyes clouded. “It’s not as if something has changed with him. I mean, he’s still the same Shepard, playingaround and being an asshole and driving me crazy because he won’t stop giving Halo candy before bed like he always does, but...”

“But what?”

She sighs again. “But for some reason, I don’t believe it.”

“That he’s okay?”

“Yeah, and I’ve been thinking about it,” she goes on. “And I realize nothing ever gets him down. He’s always fine. He’s always… his usual self, happy and smirk-y. And that’s impossible, right? How can you always be okay? Something has to get you down. And it’s so crazy that I never thought that before. That I never had to worry about him, when I worry about all my brothers.”

My heart is clenching andclenchingbecause she’s right. As in, he’s not okay. He doesn’t talk about it. In fact, he hates talking about it, but I know. I know firsthand he’s not. And I hate that I can’t tell her. That I have to keep this a secret as well, along with so many other things.

“And,” she keeps going, biting her lip, “I overheard something.”

“What?”

“Con and Ledge were talking earlier today and I heard Con saying Shepard is struggling,” she confesses.

“Struggling h-how?”

“At practice. He was saying the team wants to bench him for the season.”

Fear strikes my chest. “Bench him?”

Callie shakes her head, her tone angry now. “Yeah,mybrother.TheWrecking Thorn. Hemadetheir stupid soccer team and now they want to bench him because they say he’s bringing them bad publicity and is having trouble concentrating. And they’re afraid he’ll lose them the championship. I mean, hello? Can we please give him a little break? He just had his heartbroken. And trust me, even if it’s true and he can’t focus, he’s still going to be better than their entire useless team.” Then she amends, “Well, maybe not better than Ledge, but still. So anyway, I just thought I should do something special for him. And given his crazy obsession with strawberries these days, I was thinking of making like a strawberry shortcake, but that would be too plain for him. Maybe I can do a strawberry margarita cake or something…”

She goes on to tell me all about this new recipe she saw, but despite wanting to listen to her, my brain tunes her out. All I can think about is him. His pain. His loss of focus because of it. I thought they were all rumors. In the media, I mean. Aren’t they always exaggerating? Most of the things on there are usually lies. I thought they were making things up, trying to get clicks like with broken bones and a cheating fiancée.

But soccer is everything to him. Soccer is his life. He was born for it. He’s fucking good at it. He’s goddamn fucking phenomenal at it. No one can bench him. No oneshouldbench him.

I won’t let them.