This Strange and Familiar Place by Rachel Carter

Author:Rachel Carter
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publisher
Published: 2013-04-28T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

In the middle of the night, I wake to the sound of hushed voices. My eyes crack open. Wes and Tag are sitting at the table. There’s a bottle of something between them and they’re passing it back and forth and taking small, wincing sips.

Almost all of the lamps have been switched off except for a small one that rests near their feet. It gives off just enough light to see their bodies, but their faces are blurs of shadow.

“I haven’t had this stuff in years,” Wes says as he takes a sip of the dark liquid. “God, it still burns, huh?”

Tag laughs sharply, then stops abruptly and looks over at me. I squeeze my eyes shut, but Wes just shakes his head. “Don’t worry about her. Lydia’s a heavy sleeper.”

It is strange to hear Wes talk about me with someone else, and I stay perfectly still, trying to catch every word.

“How’d you two hook up?” Tag asks. “And don’t give me some shit about not being together. You never stop looking at her, not even for a second.” He laughs softly. “I remember how it used to be. Girls always around, thinking you were older than you were. But you never had any use for them. This one is different, though. She’s wearing your watch.”

“It’s complicated.”

“It’s always complicated.” Tag grabs the bottle from Wes’s hand. “So where’d you find her?”

Wes doesn’t say anything, and Tag scowls. “Come on, man. Just tell me how you met her. She’s clearly not one of us.”

“She’s not like anyone I’ve ever known.”

“An easy life. It’s written all over her.”

“No.” Wes’s voice changes, hardens. “Not easy. Especially not since she met me.”

Tag tilts his head as he studies him. “She’s not here against her will, man. Anyone can see that. Girl’s into you.”

Wes looks down at the table. “I’m not good for her.”

“You’re trippin’, man.”

He is silent again, and Tag sets the bottle on the table with a dull thump. “What are you involved in anyway? What’s got you running so scared?”

“Nothing.”

“Ah, cut it out with that crap. You disappear for years and then you come back all . . .” He makes a karate-chopping gesture.

Wes laughs a little. “What does that mean?”

“Like James Bond or something. You used to be clumsy. Always falling over shit. You couldn’t fight to save your life. And now you’re vaulting through windows like you’re in some action movie. What happened to you?”

“I grew up. We both did.”

Tag leans forward, until the outline of his body is close to Wes. “I know you wouldn’t have left if you didn’t have to. You weren’t like the others. Did something . . . ?”

Wes shakes his head. “I’m sorry I left. But there’s no mystery here. I was gone, I came back. That’s all.”

“Yeah, right.” Tag takes a long swig from the bottle. When he drops it back down, he seems to have come to some kind of decision. “You know, Nikki and LJ weren’t born on the streets like us.

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