Pieces of Summer

“He’s been avoiding me the past few weeks. When I asked him what was up, he rambled about nonsensical bullshit for a while. Chuck is terrible at keeping secrets for long periods of time.”

He sighs as though a weight is lifted off him. “Finding her would be the best thing that could happen to Aidan right now.”

“And me,” I remind him as we turn into Mika’s driveway.

“So you’ve stuck to the list for two months and think you’re ready to go full-time?”

I nod. “Haven’t checked off any boxes in over five weeks.”

“That’s impressive. Took me almost six months to go without checking off a box.”

“I have a little more incentive,” I mumble.

“You know you can’t ever get married if you do this, right? She’s not the typical bride type. She can’t plan a wedding.”

“Yeah. I read about it. A wedding of any kind would be too much stress. Even a small one without any times or planning could cause agitation. For now. Mika has improved drastically from what I’ve read in that damn book.”

“Speaking of which, she had another book come out. You died again.”

I grimace, thinking back to the book Mika once tried to stop me from reading. This was not that book. That book has yet to be published, but this one was, and I died brutally. Acid—pure burning acid—was injected into my veins in small doses.

“Yeah. Saw that. How many times can she kill me? I thought they made her stop killing someone named Chase.”

“She’s a cash cow. They bend their rules based on what she needs. You had to die in order for her to try and move forward again. She’s probably already written several others where you’re being killed. Aidan wasn’t killed. That’s a good sign.”

“Good for him,” I grumble.

Just as we get out to move Aidan inside, Whit’s car wheels in beside us. She gets out, and her eyes flick to the backseat Aidan is sprawled across.

“I need to talk to you,” she says, not looking away from Aidan.

“Kind of busy right this second. Can it wait?”

She looks up just as I heave Aidan out of the truck and wrap his arm around my shoulders, waiting on Hunter to get around here and give me a hand. I’d throw him over my shoulder, but he puked on me the last time I did that. I’d rather not get an encore.

“It’s about Mika. I know where she is.”

Aidan flops to the ground when I drop him on accident, narrowly missing the concrete, and he groans as he flips onto his back, spitting dirt out of his mouth.

“Where?!” I snap, watching her flinch.

“Promise you won’t let Aidan kill me when he sobers up?” she asks, taking a wary step back.

“Whit, you should be more concerned about me right now,” I growl.

“I know you won’t hurt me, but he might,” she goes on, pointing at Aidan who is cursing and trying to sit up.

“Where is she?” Hunter barks.

Whit reaches out, handing me a piece of paper, and Hunter tries to snatch it away. I don’t let him. I read it over.

“It’s a three—”

“No numbers,” I interrupt, hearing Whit swallow the rest of her words. “I have to go.”

“Right now?” Whit asks. “He needs to sober up.”

“Yes, now.”