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“See what you’ve done? I just made a new friend, and you had to go and ruin it.” Paige pretends to slap Kody in the chest before putting on a pout and crossing her arms.

“I said I was sorry, baby. What else do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know, but do something. I need girlfriends, Kody. You know how the other girls won’t be my friend because they all say I’m a grease monkey. I like Max and Sienna, and I really want them to like me too, so be nice.”

“But I’m always nice.”

“Debatable,” Sienna coughs into her fist.

“See? She’s making jokes. She’s fine, baby. Come here,” Kody says, pulling Paige onto his lap before proceeding to kiss her senseless.

“I’m going to gag,” Sienna groans, pressing herself as close to the door as she can get. “Are they always like this?”

“Worse,” Milo says with a chuckle.

Considering how much time Paige and Kody spend at the diner, I can confirm Milo isn’t exaggerating. Those two are usually attached at the lips in one way or another.

“Dude, put Paige back in her seat and make sure she’s buckled in,” Milo says, glancing at them through the rearview mirror.

“She’s safer in my arms, trust me.” Kody winks.

“If I get a ticket, you’re paying for it.”

“Please.” Kody scoffs. “I saw Chief Neptune and most of his deputies back at the school watching the game. They’re probably plastered after our win. I doubt there’s anyone even out on patrol tonight.”

“That’s reassuring,” Sienna mutters. “Good to know Fairhope’s finest take public safety so seriously.”

“That’s Fairhope for you,” Kody offers. “It’s not like Chief Neptune has his hands full with work. And we all know he doesn’t get paid enough to go after the real problem in this town—the drug dealers. If he did, half the doctors working up at the hospital would probably be in handcuffs.” Kody snorts. “Nah. The only crime that ever happens around here is the occasional break-in or some poor fucker stealing shit to pay for their next fix. Drugs, robbery, prostitution. That pretty much sums up this town’s crime scene. Nothing Neptune loses sleep over.”

“Kody, stop,” Paige says, her voice no longer holding any of that lovey-dovey quality from a second ago.

“Stop what? What did I say?”

“You said enough,” Milo cuts in, his tone the coldest I’ve ever heard.

Kody looks between the two of them, obviously confused about what the hell he said wrong. I turn toward the passenger window, not wanting him to see that his words struck a nerve he never meant to touch.

“I take it back,” Sienna announces. “Paige, you have my consent to keep your boyfriend’s mouth occupied. Better that than the alternative of having to listen to him talk.”

“See? I’m growing on her already,” Kody says with a chuckle.

“You’re really not,” Sienna scoffs. “Paige, I’ll be your bestie or whatever the fuck you want, but please shut him up already.”

Kody doesn’t even have time to reply before Paige’s lips are on his.

Not a minute passes before I feel Milo’s hand on my knee.

“Are you okay?” he asks softly, keeping his voice low enough that the trio in the back can’t hear him.

I nod. What else can I say?

That it sucks being reminded why I no longer have a mom? That one morning she went to work at the paper mill like she had a thousand times before, never knowing that by the end of her shift, both our lives would change forever?

All because of one stupid fall. A stupid fucking fall. That’s all it took for her to rupture two discs in her lower back. Add an overworked doctor whose answer to everything was to throw more pain medication into the equation, and life as I knew it ceased to exist.

A fall and a little bottle of opioids.

Those were the culprits behind everything that went wrong with our family.