not even moving far. Seriously, it’s like a couple miles away.”
“Yeah, but a couple miles isn’t close enough for me to walk to whenever I want.” She frowns at me.
“You know,” My eyebrows raise as a thought comes to me. “You guys could always come too, you know. Get your own place on the land. Jackson said it was like ten acres or something.”
She stops scrolling through her phone. It slips through her hands and falls into her lap. “That… is the best idea ever!” She shrieks, standing up as she starts pacing. “Seriously, could you imagine it? We could get out of this fucking park.” She stops, looking over at me. “Don’t tell Easton I said that. He’d get pissed.”
“Why?” I frown at her. “It’s the fucking trailer park of The Grove. Everyone hates it.”
“Because I feel so superficial when I turn my nose up about places like this. I’m really not like that anymore and it’s not even because everyone is so damn poor.” She winces. “Sorry. It’s just like… this place has such a bad vibe. The entire place does. Do you feel me?”
I nod, knowing exactly what she means. “Yeah, I do actually.”
“Ugh, thank God. I get such a bad feeling when I come here. And I’ll keep coming here as long as Easton or you live here. But the thought of leaving this place for good? Holy shit, that pumps me up. It’s like… the thing with Corey’s dad happened in front of Easton’s house, Jackson’s entire house feels like a portal to hell, Logan’s dad hasn’t been at his house since Logan died… that house is practically abandoned, and your house…okay. Your house isn’t that awful, and we did have that dope ass party here. But your mom and Jed are a piece of shit and the rest of this place makes the entire park feel like a bad omen.”
“No, I get it, completely.” The sickness of grief fills my stomach. So many bad things have happened here. The park should almost be demolished, leveled to the ground to rid the bad that’s happened on this soil. “You should talk to Easton about it.”
She nods. “No, I’m definitely fucking talking to Easton about it. This is like the best idea we’ve had in such a long time.” She claps her hands. Wesley snaps his gaze over to her, letting out a dopey smile when he sees her. “That’s right, isn’t it? Your auntie and your mommy can live by each other for the rest of their lives.”
He lets out a giggle, kicking faster as excitement gets the best of him.
“How are you and Easton, by the way? Things have seemed tense lately.”
She sighs, walking over to the kitchen and grabbing another handful of dishes for me to pack. “It’s not like we’re tense because of us. We’re just tense. Well, he is, I guess. I’m just irritated because he’s been walking around with a stick up his ass. I think it’s work. With whatever is happening in California, combined with Randall gone… I think Easton is feeling a lot of pressure. Then his trainer wants him to be training and fighting all the time… it’s just been a mess.”
I nod. I can sense as much. Whenever I see Easton, he’s whispering with Jackson about something, or going off to talk on his phone. He hasn’t been around much, and I think he’s on his way back from California today, actually.
“I just worry about him, you know? I worry it’s going to be another Logan situation.”
I bite my lip, memories bringing me back to my first love. It still hurts to think about him. About his blonde hair and playful smile. I miss the way we meshed so easily. Sometimes it’s easier to think about me and Logan being together. We barely ever fought, if at all. With Jackson, it’s always an uphill battle. But then I look down at the gift Jackson gave me, and how happy we’ve been lately, and I know the stepping stones of life have been placed correctly.
“What about your mom? You’re at Easton’s house almost all the time now. Does she not care?” I need to change the subject off of Logan. She notices, too, because she lets it go with ease.
“My mom is so wrapped up in her boyfriend, she barely notices I’m gone. I think we’ve gotten to this okay spot where we both have our own lives. I’m an adult, so there’s not much she could