Page 16 of The Air He Breathes (Elements 1)

Me: I’m fine.

Faye: Interested in company?

Me: Not tonight. Tired.

Faye: Interested in company?

Me: Sleeping…

Faye: Interested in company?

Me: Tomorrow.

Faye: Love you, tits.

Me: Love you, boobs.

The pounding on the front door that followed after our last message wasn’t that surprising. I figured there was no way Faye wouldn’t stop by, because she knew when I said I was okay, I was normally far from being okay. What was surprising was when I opened the front door to see a slew of people. Friends. The leader of the pack was Faye, holding the biggest bottle of tequila known to mankind.

“Interested in company?” She smirked.

I stared down at my pajamas, and then glanced once more at the tequila. “Absolutely.”

“I really thought you would’ve slammed the door in all of our faces,” a familiar voice said from behind me as I stood in the kitchen, pouring out four shots. I turned to see Tanner staring my way, tossing the coin he always seemed to have in his grip, and I leaped into his arms for a tight hug. “Hey, Liz,” he whispered, pulling me into a tighter grip.

Tanner was Steven’s best friend, and for a long time they’d had the kind of bromance that made me think my husband might leave me for a man. Tanner was a built guy with dark, dark eyes and blond hair. He worked at the auto shop he’d taken over after his dad became sick. He and Steven became best buddies when they were paired as roommates their freshman year of college. Even though Tanner stopped going to school after the first year in order to work for his dad, he and Steven stayed close.

Tanner gave me his friendly smirk and let me go. He lifted two of the shots I poured. He handed one to me, and we downed them together. Then he lifted the other two, and we downed those also. I smiled. “You know, all four of those were for me.”

“I know. Just saving your liver a little.” I watched as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a quarter. The same quarter he would always flip between his fingers nonstop. It was a weird habit that he’d been doing way before we even met.

“I see you still have that coin of yours.” I laughed.

“Never leave home without it,” he replied with a chuckle before placing it back into his pocket.

I studied his face, concern filling me up inside. He probably didn’t know it, but sometimes his eyes looked so sad. “How are you?”

His shoulders rose and fell. “It’s just nice to see your face again. It’s been a while, buddy. Plus, you kind of just vanished after…” His words faded off. Everyone’s words always faded off when they were about to mention Steven’s death. I thought that was a good thing.

“I’m back.” I nodded and poured us four more shots. “Emma and I are here to stay. We just needed a bit of air, that’s all.”

“You still driving that piece of shit car?” he asked.

“I definitely am.” I bit my bottom lip. “I hit a dog the other day.”

His mouth dropped open. “No!”

“Yup. The dog’s okay, but my crappy car hiccupped and ran into the thing.”

“I’ll check it out for you,” he offered.

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I can pretty much walk everywhere now that I’m in town. No big deal.”

“It will be a big deal when winter comes along.”

“Don’t worry, Tanner Michael Chase, it will be all right.”

A smirk found his lips. “You know I hate when you use my full name.”