Page 58 of Graves

“You drove here?” Mike asks.

“Yeah, want a ride?” Sam replies.

“Sure. I’m not in the mood for the subway. Yesterday, some guys approached me and offered to beat you up—Aran.”

Sam flexes his arms and scowls. “Let’s go and find these assholes. I’ll show them who’s beating up who.”

I say nothing and pretend I didn’t hear. It’s just another reminder that people hate me.

A little later, Sam and Mike say goodbye and leave. Liam stays on the couch while I get up to collect my notes. I kneel down and gather the scattered loose sheets next to an amp. When I stand back up, the world goes black for a second.

“Aran. Come on,” Liam calls from the couch. “We can all see you’re not okay. What’s wrong?”

“I just have a headache.” I wince and type a text to Fox.

“Headache? Then take something.”

“I don’t have anything.”

“Maybe I can help,” Liam says, opening his backpack. “Here. You can have these.”

A pill bottle flies toward me. I barely catch it. “What is this?”

“For headaches.”

I read the label but don’t recognize the medication. “What’s in it?”

Liam rolls his eyes and zips his bag. “Trust me, it works. Got it from Bobby.”

“Your personal pharmacist?” I ask sarcastically.

“Yep. Most trustworthy guy I know. Just say the word if you want something else.”

I eye the pills suspiciously.

“You can take one before bed. You look like you could use some sleep. Oh… and I’ll give you some of these too.”

With a mischievous grin, he holds up a few condoms like playing cards and slips them into the side pocket of my leather jacket.

Sighing, I pocket the pills and organize my notes, trying not to think about what happened with Koh last night.

He was so hot. I never thought he’d let me get that close.

“Want to grab food? Or did you already text your bodyguard-slash-driver?”

My phone vibrates. Fox is already outside.

“Another time,” I say. “See you Thursday?”

“Yeah, I’m driving up to Boston tonight. Tomorrow’s my grandfather’s funeral. I’ll be back Thursday morning. Oh, and if you want, I can stop by Sophie’s. See how she’s doing.”

I’m holding my jacket when Liam’s words send an ice-cold shiver down my spine, followed by a sadness that rolls over me like a steamroller.

“It’s fine,” I choke out. “Don’t go out of your way.”

“You’ve been back almost three weeks, Aran. Despite the tight schedule and the upcoming shows, everyone would understand if you took a day or two to go up and see your family.”

Liam has a deeply empathetic side most people don’t know about. He hasn’t shown it to me often, so every time he uses that tone, I feel exposed and want to run. But he’s my best and oldest friend. No one knows me like he does.