On The Rebound (Steinbeck U #1) - L.A. Cotton Page 0,119

said quietly. “I wouldn’t have ended up here if it wasn’t for Declan’s accident...”

“And Calli might not have ended up here if it wasn’t for Mom’s death.”

“Yeah.” My chest tightened. “But what I can’t figure out is if that’s really fucking tragic or some kind of poetic justice.”

“Does it matter? Life threw you both a curveball and then gave you the one thing you needed to come out the other side. Lucky,” he muttered. “I think it makes you both as lucky as hell.”

“I haven’t won her back yet.” My eyes slid to his, my lips pressed into a thin line.

“You’ve got this. She loves you, Zach. She never stopped.”

“How do you—”

“Because she told me. She looked me in the eye and told me. And do you know what? I wasn’t angry or pissed, I was relieved. Because it means she’s stronger than we ever gave her credit for. It means we didn’t ruin her.”

I flinched at his words. But he was right.

Calli was strong… and beautiful… and humble. She was fucking perfection, and I would spend my life making it up to her if that’s what it took.

“Okay,” Callum stood up, draining the rest of his beer. “It’s time. Are you ready?”

I accepted his offer of a hand up and nodded.

“Let’s do this.”

Calli

“Uh, Callum, where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” he said cryptically as he drove suspiciously near to Zach’s apartment building.

“Seriously?” I hissed when I realized he was pulling off the road into the parking lot. “You said we were going to hang out at the bar with Josie.”

He wanted to meet Xavier. It was weird, having him pull the big brother card, but I couldn’t deny I liked it.

I liked it a lot.

“Zach didn’t sleep with Victoria, Calli.”

“I know.” I pressed my head against the car window. I think I’d known it the second the words tumbled from her lips, barbed and cruel. Victoria wanted me to think she’d had sex with Zach. But by the time Callum had come to pick me up, I’d calmed down enough to realize the truth.

Zach was many things, but he wasn’t a cheat. Which meant Victoria was a liar. Still, I’d been upset and confused. She was there, in his apartment, forcing herself between us.

I’d spent the night with Josie watching cheesy romcoms on her small laptop screen. I wanted to confront Zach, but I also needed to get my head straight. Because being with him, being with the King of SU came with baggage. There was the team, girls like Victoria, his family...

I needed to figure out where and how I fit into all of that.

Besides, I hadn’t heard so much as a word from Zach all day. It didn’t exactly instill me with hope.

“So if you know, why have you spent the day hiding—”

“I haven’t been hiding,” I protested, “I’ve been regrouping.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Callum chuckled, and I finally glanced over at him. “This is nice.”

The words hung between us.

“Yeah, it is.”

“For what it’s worth, Calli, I am sorry. For the divorce, Mom… everything. When she got sick, it was like I let my guilt grow into this living thing inside me. And then Declan had the accident, and I was a mess. I didn’t know how to process everything… I didn’t know how to swallow it all and do the right thing.”

“You know, just because she’s gone, doesn’t mean you can’t make your peace with her.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it... a lot. But I’m not sure I could go alone. I was wondering if...” He stared ahead, his face pale and etched with shame.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” We shared a sincere smile.

“Word of advice?” Callum said, and I nodded. “Go easy on him. She played him too, Sis.”

“I can’t make any promises.” I gave him a wry smile but didn’t move.

“This is the part where you get out of the car.”

“I know... I just need a minute.” I stared up at the building. Zach was in there, waiting for me. It felt like everything we’d been through, all the heartache and pain, had been building up to this moment.

“Okay,” I said, gripping the door handle. “Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need luck, Calli. Zach has loved you since you were an awkward eighth grader, and something tells me he’s going to love you for a long time yet.”

God, I hoped so.

Because my heart wouldn’t survive Zachary Messiah again.

I didn’t even manage to knock on his door. It swung open and Zach stood there, his eyes glittering with