And really, that’s all I need.
Chapter 26
One month later….
Violet
‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ I ask, as I stare at the roundabout. It’s barely December but winter has rolled in and has turned the entire park into a winter wonderland. Ice glazes everything and all of the swings glisten with frost.
Luke nods as he brushes some of the snow off the roundabout. ‘Lana told you to do something childishly fun so here you go.’
I pull my coat tighter around myself, wishing I’d had time to shower before we came here. But Luke picked me up straight from the gym after my kickboxing thing with Callie and Seth, something I do at least twice a week. ‘But it’s freezing.’
He cocks an eyebrow at me as he brushes the snow off my gloves. ‘Since when does snow make you back down from a challenge?’
Snow is falling from the sky even though the sun is peeking through the clouds. ‘How did this become a challenge?’
‘Because I’m making it a challenge,’ he tells me cockily as he zips up the leather jacket he’s wearing and waits for me to get on the frozen deathtrap.
Earlier this week, Lana had suggested that I do something fun, something that I missed out on when I was younger. Luke came up with this idea when I couldn’t figure out one on my own. Said he played at the park sometimes when he was hiding from his mother.
‘Oh fine.’ I walk over to the thing that looks like a flying saucer with bars on the top of it and hop on. The chilled metal sinks through my clothes and freezes my skin as I sit down in the center and hold onto the bars. ‘Now what?’
He gets this goofy grin on his face and I know I’m in trouble. ‘Now you hang on.’ Before I can say anything else, he takes off running, holding onto the bars so it causes the roundabout to spin. The faster her runs the faster the thing spins until everything around me is a blur of shapes and colors. Then he jumps on himself and joins me in the center.
I’m laughing my ass off as my eyes fight to focus on something around me, but I just get dizzy, so instead I focus on Luke’s face.
‘See, fun, right?’ he asks, gripping onto the bar.
I nod, smiling as I stare up at the sky. ‘It feels like I’m in the center of the world and everything around me is moving.’
He chuckles. ‘There’s that philosophy class showing again.’
‘It’s a fun class,’ I admit, daring to let go of the bars and spin freely, feeling as though I’m flying. Luke’s hands clamp down on my legs as if he’s afraid the force is going to send me flying, which only makes my grin expand. ‘I picked a major today.’
‘Really?’
I nod.
He waits for me to explain but then grows impatient. ‘Are you going to tell me what it is?’
My smile takes up my entire face. ‘Physics.’
His grip tightens on my legs as the roundabout continues to spin. ‘Are you being serious?’
I look away from the sky and to him, nodding. ‘Someone told me I’d be good at it once.’
His lips quirk. ‘Sounds like a smart person if you ask me.’
‘Yeah, a real genius,’ I say with a grin. ‘We’ll see how it goes, though. I still might change it.’
‘I don’t think you will,’ he says as the roundabout starts to slow.
‘We’ll see.’ I grow quiet as the spinning slows to a stop and suddenly it feels like we’re grounded, but neither of us move. ‘How’s your job going?’
‘Good.’ Luke’s been working at the gym for the last few weeks and he seems happy about not having to work at the bar anymore. ‘I mean, I don’t want to do it forever, but it’ll get me through school.’ He pauses, then sits up. ‘Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I got a text from Ryler this morning.’
Ryler is Luke’s mute cousin that I met once when we were in Vegas. His dad’s an asshole and I felt kind of bad for him, especially since he also grew up in foster homes.
‘Oh, yeah? What’d he say?’
‘That he was thinking about starting next semester at the University of Wyoming and wondered if it’d be okay if he crashed with us for a few days when he got out here, until he found a place to live. I told him sure.’
‘Good, I feel bad for him.’
‘Because he can’t talk?’
I shake my head. ‘No, because he didn’t have a real family growing up.’
Luke looks at me with empathy. ‘Speaking of families, how have you been doing with all the trial stuff?’
I scoot closer to him as the wind starts to blow and snow flurries around us. ‘You ask me that all the time.’
‘I know, but I want to make sure you’re okay all the time,’ he says, brushing a snowflake off my cheek.
His touch warms me from my head to my toes to my soul. ‘I’m still doing okay, although I’ll be more okay when Preston starts trail.’
Luke shakes his head, anger flashing in his eyes, which happens every time we talk about Preston. ‘I still can’t believe he’s saying he did all that stuff because he blamed your family for what his father did. Guy seriously has some bolts lose.’
‘I know, but at least he’s behind bars, right?’ Although I wish he was being sentenced for more, that somehow he could be blamed for what his father did. I know it’s kind of selfish of me to want it, and that really I know he doesn’t deserve that, it’s just hard sometimes thinking about how his father is dead and will never actually pay for what he did. ‘How about you?’
He sucks in a slow breath. ‘I’m doing fine, but I’m glad I got my part over with.’
Luke was called up last week and questioned. He was really nervous about doing it, but the important part is that he did; he conquered his fear of his mother and let the world know what a monster she is.
‘Thank you for doing that.’ I press my lips to his and give him a soft kiss.
‘I’m not going to lie,’ he says. ‘I did partly do it for myself.’
‘I’m still glad you did it.’
‘Me too.’
We sit back and enjoy the quiet for a while until the wind kicks up, then he takes my hand and pulls be too my feet. ‘Ready to do the rest of Lana’s challenge?’
I instantly frown. The rest of the challenge is a lot harder than playing at the playground. ‘I don’t know if I can do it,’ I admit.
‘Yes, you can,’ he encourages, taking both of my hands in his and guiding me off the roundabout.