Pull

“Holly.” The girl who had arrived with the bigger guy smiled warmly and held out her hand.

“You know who I am.” Sam waved from across the coffee table. His eyes flickered downward and then back up at me before giving a nod. The type of nod guys give other guys when you finally decide they’re cool enough to possibly hang out. At least he didn’t want to run me over with his car anymore.

All heads turned toward Alyssa. I knew it was a small town.

No doubt everyone in this room was aware that I had been pursuing the girl like some lovesick high schooler who’d never kissed a girl before.

I waited for her to say something. She wrote her name down on the piece of paper and smiled at everyone but me. In fact, her eyes quickly darted past me as she greeted the group. “I’m Alyssa.”

“I know you from school,” Holly said. “I mean, you were in a class below me, but it’s good to see you.”

Alyssa blushed and nodded.

Aaron pulled Holly tighter against him and kissed her forehead.

“Now that that’s out of the way…” I leaned forward. “I think it would be good for all of us to state why we’re in grief group. I’m not going to spout any crap about the circle of trust or anything, but you’re all aware you’ve had to sign gag orders, so everything that’s said inside this house, stays here. Are we clear?”

I was a little shocked that I had taken control so completely.

My voice seemed strong, confident, and crazy as it sounds, once I made that little statement, I felt that way. I felt like I was doing exactly what I should be doing.

Heads nodded in my direction.

“Good.” I leaned back. “Who’s going to go first?”

“I will,” a voice said from behind me. All eyes flickered up to meet the intruder. I turned around and greeted the guy. He must have been about nineteen, maybe twenty by the looks of him.

“Sorry.” He shrugged and offered a smile. “I knocked and then some huge dude answered the door and told me you guys were already starting.”

“That would be Bob.” I nodded and offered a smile. “I’m Demetri.”

The guy laughed warmly. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it would be impossible not to know that. How you doin’, man?”

“Can’t complain.” I motioned to the couch. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

I turned back toward the group and noticed that every single person was looking at the newcomer as if he was some sort of ghost. Even Aaron’s eyes were bulging.

Holly began to cry softly into his chest, and Alyssa’s jaw was clenched so tightly I thought her teeth were going to fall out.

What the hell?

Small towns blew, that much was true. I was clearly missing out on something important, but we only had another half hour of group left, and I had tons of stuff I needed to get through.

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name?” I asked the guy.

He held out his hand. “Connor. Connor Austin.”

Why did that name, of all names, sound familiar? I could have sworn the football stadium was called Austin Stadium. Must be from a rich family or something.

“Cool.” I leaned back in my chair. “You still up for pouring your guts out?”

“Yup.” He leaned forward. “I know I’m the last person you guys want to see.”

“Why’s that?” I asked. I couldn’t help it.

Connor got really silent. None of the group members were moving. It was as if the entire mood of the day had shifted.

Everything I had done didn’t matter. Not with Connor sitting there.

“Since it looks like I’m the outsider…” I cursed and ran my fingers through my hair in irritation. “Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on?”

Connor’s face snapped to Alyssa’s; she was still looking down. “I killed someone.”

Not what I expected. I tried to play it cool. “Care to expand on that, Connor?”

“It was an accident.”

Well, that was a relief.

“I was driving to an away game. The rain was coming down in sheets. I couldn’t see a thing. A deer ran out in front of me, and I swerved. I didn’t see the truck. I didn’t know he was on the side of the road —” A sob escaped Connor’s throat. “He pulled out into traffic the minute I swerved away from the deer, so I was in his blind spot. By the time I pulled back in, I side-swiped him. The truck ran into the telephone pole.”

Alyssa bolted from her seat and ran out the door. I got up to go after her, but quickly sat back down. This was my group. I couldn’t just leave them.

Connor cursed and clenched his fist. “I killed Brady Stevens that night. Star quarterback of our football team, my best friend in the whole world.”

“Did he die instantly?” I asked. Call it morbid curiosity, but I wasn’t sure how far this grief went. Did the guy go into a coma?

Was he paralyzed for a while?

“No.” Connor sucked in a breath. “His girlfriend was with him. Nobody knows how, but his body shielded her from the impact. When she woke up, she started doing compressions. He died at the hospital.”

So the girlfriend was still living.

My mind flashed to the sweatshirt Alyssa wore all the time.

“What was his football number?”

“Fifteen.” Everyone answered in unison and looked at me and then at the empty spot Alyssa had just left.