I eased the bedroom door shut behind me, careful to keep the noise to an absolute minimum. Gavin looked wrecked, an utter mess from the toll Daphne’s disappearance took on him. The way he’d opened up like that to me, the way his whole body had been wracked with tiny tremors, filled me an uneasy combination of elation and utter terror.

He’d needed me there, wanted to lean on me in one of his darkest hours. That fact alone made my heart soar. But the truth of the matter—that he couldn’t lean on me, that in the near future it wouldn’t even be an option—dismantled me. The thought of him suffering and me not being there to comfort him tore a huge, gaping hole inside me.

We’d both let things go too far between us. That was the danger of living in the moment. We’d both leapt from an airplane, hands entwined, with the full knowledge we had no parachutes to soften our landings. So while the fall had been exhilarating, more than I could’ve ever hoped for, the impact that was coming was going to destroy us both.

My eyes were still crusty with sleep when I wandered out of the bathroom. The few hours I’d managed to grab weren’t as much as I wanted, but they’d have to do. Something was sizzling in the kitchen, the smell of it drawing me toward the kitchen.

Daphne’s bedhead rivaled Gavin’s, though she’d had the foresight to pile it on top of her head in a crazed bun. Her oversized tank top hung off one shoulder, and her tongue poked out from between her lips as she concentrated.

“Making something good?” I tapped my fingers on the kitchen counter.

“Not good.” She squeezed a bottle of honey, making a swirling pattern out of the amber liquid on the slice of bread. “Amazing.”

My gaze scanned her work area—honey, some cheese, bread, basil.

“Don’t make that face.” She shook her head at me. “You can’t judge my honey basil grilled cheese until you’ve tasted my genius.”

Well, I could see she got her modesty from Gavin.

I held up my hands in surrender, and took a seat opposite her to watch her work.

“So,” she placed two more slices of bread on the griddle, “what is the deal with you and my brother?”

Suddenly, I had the pressing urge to retreat back to the bedroom. Gavin’s snoring be damned. “What has he told you?”

“Nothing.” Her eyes narrowed as she gave me a once-over. “Which means there’s something to know.”

I leaned my arms on the counter. “He tells you about all the women he dates?”

“First, I think ‘date’ is a bit of a strong word.” She concentrated on separating two slices of cheese. “Second, don’t be ridiculous. Like I’d actually want to hear about all the groupies he ‘spends time with.’ But he always mentions them in passing, jokes about them. You, on the other hand, he hasn’t said one word about. Not one. Which, for someone who spends their life dealing with words, is incredibly odd.”

I huffed out a quick laugh. “Are you sure music school is the way to go? Some law school is seriously missing out.”

“Huh. So he’s mentioned me to you. That’s interesting.”

“Is it?”

“It is.” She took an extra slice of what looked like provolone and ripped it in half, offering me a piece. “So, why didn’t you go with him yesterday?”

I wasn’t sitting in an interrogation room, but I swear I could feel the lights burning down on me. “I have a thing with planes.”

“A thing with planes or a thing with meeting our mother?”

“Your mother?” That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, though realistically I’m sure that would have been quite the experience.

“Yeah, you know, the woman who birthed us. Don’t you have one of those?”

“Yes,” I answered tightly. “But she’s dead.”

Some of the hellfire left her eyes at that. “Oh, sorry. Your dad still hanging around at least?”

“He’s the only family I’ve got left,” I admitted, then nearly punched myself for the slip.

She sucked her lower lip into her mouth. Turning around, she scooped up one of her famous sandwiches and slipped it onto a plate, which she set in front of me. “Look, I don’t want to give you a hard time, but my big brother, I love the hell out of him. He’s always had my back, no matter what. He shouldered everything when Dad left, he’s been our rock. He worked through high school so Darlene didn’t have to stop taking her art classes. He helped Lilah through law school, he sends money to Val all the time for her adventures which he disguises as birthday or Christmas or Flag Day presents. And he’s always had my back, bought me my cello.” She sighed. “What I’m trying to say is he spends so much time looking out for us, but I’m not sure we ever really think to do the same. He’s Gavin. He’s solid and happy and the most dependable human being on the planet. But this feels different. I want to make sure that you’re not going to hurt him.”

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer that. I’d always known what kind of guy Gavin was, it was one of the many, many things I loved about him. But I couldn’t promise Daphne I wouldn’t hurt him. The hurt was inevitable. Did it make it any better that we’d both walked into this knowing full well that was the only way it would end?

“Eat your grilled cheese before it gets cold.” Apparently she wasn’t really looking for an answer. She took a healthy bite of her own and smiled.

I was a bit hesitant about the taste combinations here, but I’d never been one to be all that picky about food. There was only so much you’d say no to when you’d spent a solid thirty days eating nothing but PB&J.

My mouth filled with one of the most delicious tastes at first bite. I covered my mouth with a hand as I chewed. “This is amazing.”

“Told you.”

* * *

Daphne’s nose scrunched up as she stared down at the guitar. “Does this sound right?”

“Kind of?” I laughed.

She strummed across the strings of the guitar we’d pilfered from Gavin’s music room. We’d carefully selected this one since it seemed the oldest and least likely to be very expensive. She tilted her head to the side. “What the hell do you need six strings for when four works perfectly fine?”

Slowly and clunkily she moved through another few bars of the song. It was almost recognizable if you knew what you were listening for. And you were listening really, really hard.

Gavin’s bedroom door squeaked open. “What the hell is that song you’re massacring.” He stretched, gripping the doorjamb. The edge of his shirt drifted up just enough to give me a peek of the thin line of his happy trail.

“It’s Bon Jovi.” She scowled at the guitar, like she could stare the instrument into submission. “‘Wanted Dead or Alive.’”

“I thought you were a musical prodigy.” He sauntered over to us, still yawning.

“Guitars are the devil’s instrument.”

“Pretty sure that would be the violin.”

They both chuckled, but I missed the joke entirely.

Gavin looked at me quizzically. “‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’?”

“Really, Gav?” Daphne arched an eyebrow. “Dating someone who doesn’t know her music?”

He rolled his eyes. “Says the girl who has nothing but derision for Lynyrd Skynyrd?”

“What kind of respectable musician has that many y’s in their name?”

“Between the two of you . . .” He ruffled his hand through Daphne’s hair. He sucked in a deep breath and his gaze sharpened. “Do I smell honey basil grilled cheese?”

“I left you four in the refrigerator. Consider it an apology for the whole misunderstanding.” She strummed out another chord and cringed.

“I’ll consider it the beginning of your very long and likely unending apology.” The microwave beeped as he tapped on its buttons. “You’ll have to work a little harder when it comes to everyone else.”

“Ugh.” She set the guitar down, balancing it carefully against the coffee table. “I’m never going to live this down,” she said to me under her breath.

“Well, the way to Gavin’s heart is through is stomach so I think you’re headed in the right direction.”

“Is that how you wooed him? With a decadent grilled cheese?”

“Hardly.” A laugh shook through me. “The first time I met him I almost broke his nose.”

“Hey, hey!” Gavin shouted from the kitchen. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you’re whispering about it it’s probably something bad.”

Daphne ignored him. “Did you punch him?”

“No. God no.” I reached inside my shirt and pulled out my necklace, cradling the worn penny in my palm. It was still warm from where it’d been resting against my skin. “We both went for the same penny.”

The wheels in her head turned so loudly I could hear them. “How long did you say you’d known each other?”

Well, shit.

Gavin’s reappearance saved me from having to take a trip down that rabbit hole. I had to be more careful about what I said around Daphne. She made it really easy to talk to her, but she was sharper than a damn tack.

In one hand, Gavin carried his carefully piled plate of grilled cheeses, in the other, the sandwich he’d already eaten almost half of. “I’m not sure I’m a fan of the bonding that’s happening here.”

From the depths of his pocket, his phone or maybe it was still Ben’s phone, shrilled out an obnoxious beep. Stuffing the half-eaten grilled cheese in his mouth to free up a hand, he dug it out and gave it a quick scan. “What now?” He complained around his mouthful.

He passed the phone to us so we could read the text.

Felix: Need you downstairs ASAP. Emergency.