Page 52 of Bone’s Choice

“Don’t you fucking start,” I grumbled.

Ma laughed harder.

Jesus Christ.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat at this table and laughed this much.

Eventually, Hazel got herself under control. She wiped beneath her eyes. “Okay. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

She laughed again. “Not even a little.”

And there it was again. That pull.

Only now it wasn’t just because she was pretty. That would’ve been easier.

“So,” I said, “you inherited Diane’s house.”

“Yes. Diane.”

“Got it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t push it.”

Her smile widened.

“And you just decided to stay.”

“I figured, why not?”

That didn’t make any fucking sense to me.

Not because it was stupid. Because I couldn’t imagine doing it. Picking up my life and leaving everything. Starting somewhere I didn’t know anyone. Every part of my life was here.

Ma.

The club.

My brothers.

Grave Casket.

Peace View.

This road.

This town.

I’d spent years building roots so deep I didn’t know where I ended and the Grave Prowlers began.

Hazel had looked at everything she’d known and decided she could leave. “Doesn’t that scare you?” I asked.

She thought about it. “A little.”

“But you did it anyway.”