Blaze (Steel Brothers Saga 21)

I haven’t thought about it in… Well…in ten years…

Diana recovered quickly, and we were all so glad that we didn’t take a lot of time or much of our own resources researching who was responsible.

At least not that I know of. I went back to Denver after the weekend.

Back to law school.

Honestly I never thought I would return to the western slope. My life wasn’t here. It was in Denver, at a high-powered firm.

But things change.

As I drive from the restaurant to the hotel, Callie sitting silently beside me in the passenger seat, I think about that homecoming game.

About the bonfire afterward.

Jesse Pike and I aren’t friends. We’ve never been friends. We’re rivals, despite the fact that we played for the same team four years ago in high school. He never got over the fact that I was chosen as MVP that year when he was the quarterback.

As far as raw talent goes? I might actually have to give him the edge. Of course, I’m the one who scored all those touchdowns. He just threw the passes.

My little sister Diana is a freshman this year, and of course, being the beauty that she is, she will be representing the freshman class on the homecoming court. Jesse’s sister Rory has been named homecoming queen, and his other sister Callie sophomore attendant.

So the school invited both of us back to announce the homecoming game.

Jesse is a rocker now. His dark hair is long and pulled back into a low ponytail. He has a dragon tattoo on his left upper arm. And his ears are pierced. He wears small diamond studs. Actually, they’re probably cubic zirconia.

We tolerated each other during the announcing of the game. In fact, I think we did pretty well. We joked, as if we were old friends.

Even though we’re not.

His sisters are both gorgeous, of course. The Pikes are as good-looking as the Steels. Good genes, obviously. It’s his sister Rory, the queen herself, who begs us to come to the bonfire.

“Come on, Jess. It’ll be fun.”

“Don and I aren’t in high school anymore.”

“So what? Come on.”

I agree to go, if only to keep a close eye on my little sister. I remember the Snow Creek High School bonfires. They can get pretty wild.

So Jesse and I go, but we don’t stay long.

Later that evening, I regretted my choice. I followed Dad in my car as he rushed Diana to the hospital in Grand Junction.

Alcohol poisoning. Except that it wasn’t just alcohol. The shit everyone was drinking that night had been laced with at least two other substances. PCP. Street name angel dust. And crystal meth.

That’s what the blood work showed.

How much had Diana drunk? No one seemed to know. Mom called all her friends, waking them up, asking.

Only one drink.

Maybe a full cup.

Two cups.

Diana didn’t drink at all.

All answers that Mom got.