“I’m sorry. I should have texted.”

“It’s okay,” she replies.

“I’ll be home soon, okay?”

Sydney glances at the whiskey again.

“One of the guys will drive my truck,” I add.

“Okay.” She stands and walks away, passing Cassia.

I’m expecting Cassia to follow Sydney. To leave.

She doesn’t. She walks right up to me and leans down. I have a clear shot down the front of her shirt. Despite all the whiskey I’ve drunk, I feel my dick twitch.

It’s déjà vu to the night we sat in my driveway. I wonder if she realizes the same, especially when she grabs the bottle.

Last time, I stopped her, and she ended up in my lap.

This time, I don’t move.

“What the fuck are you doing, Holden?” she asks.

For a second, looking at her, I forget how to breathe. The night air around me seems to stiffen and constrict, crowding in around me.

“Coping.”

Her hazel eyes glance between Grace beside me and the bottle she’s holding. She scoffs. “Yeah. I see that.”

I stand so suddenly she has to take a step back. Grab her wrist and pull her away, off into the grass.

“Don’t act like I owe you anything,” I say. Because it feels like I do owe her something, and I’m not sure why. She’s better off without me. I have nothing to offer her.

Cassia’s eyes flash with brown-green fire. “Owe me? How is me caring inconveniencing you, Holden?”

I grind my molars. “You shouldn’t have brought Sydney here.”

“Well, I did. If you don’t want people checking up on you, maybe you shouldn’t disappear and get drunk.”

“Whatever.” I turn to leave. I shouldn’t be having a conversation with her right now. I’m too drunk, too volatile.

I freeze when I hear the crack of glass. I glance between Cassia and the broken bottle, some disbelief breaking through the haze of whiskey as I stare at the two broken halves on the edge of the court.

“You’re going to walk away from me? Again?” She shakes her head, anger twisting her expression. “Sydney wasn’t the only one worried, you know. She isn’t the reason I’m here. You made me think…” Her voice cracks, and it breaks something in my chest too. “It’s been weeks, Holden. Not a fucking word from you.”

I scoff, attempting to act unaffected. “Life doesn’t work out exactly how you want it to, Cassia. I’ve had some shit going on.”

“I know that, Holden. You think I don’t know that?”

“I don’t know. What has ever gone wrong in your life? You have the happy family. You know exactly what you want to do with your life.”