I started to smile back, thinking I liked his grin.
“Has Carson been hanging around here a lot?” he asked, pulling me down on the couch beside him, holding my hand.
“I really don’t know.” I glanced down at our joined hands. His was so much larger. “He was here on Friday, but …”
“You don’t remember. Right.” He squeezed my hand. “I keep forgetting that. Oh, I almost forgot this.” He let go of my hand and stood, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a tiny, flat blue box. “I wanted to give this back to you.”
“Back to me?” I took the gift box, sliding my finger under the lid.
“Yeah, you … you left it at my place before you … well, before everything happened.” He looked away, swallowing. “I put it back in the box for you.”
Removing the lid, I picked up the piece of cotton. A silver chain peeked out, and at the end was a crooked heart. Tiffany’s. I knew a damn Tiffany’s box when I saw one, but I didn’t know the boy who’d given it to me. “I’ve worn this?”
Del nodded, taking the box and setting it aside. “Nothing about this necklace seems familiar?”
I shook my head. “Why did I take it off?”
His lashes lowered, shielding his eyes. A long second passed before he responded. “You wanted … to take a shower.”
“Why did I want to take a shower at your place?”
Del’s brows pinched, and a flush stained his cheeks. “You didn’t want to go back to your house without showering, because we’d …”
My gaze dropped to the heart, and understanding slowly crept in. “We’ve had … sex?”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and nodded.
Heat swept over my cheeks and down my neck. We’d had sex, and I didn’t even remember. “Was that my first time?”
Del shook his head, blowing a little breath. “No. We’ve been dating for several years, Sammy.”
I wasn’t sure what was worse: having this epically awkward conversation or not even remembering my first time with him. Hands shaking, I clasped the silver chain around my neck. The slight weight felt unbearably heavy for some reason. A tide of frustration rolled over me, itching under my skin. How could I not remember any of this? Tears built behind my eyes, and the urge to run kicked me in the stomach again.
“It’s okay.” Del forced a smile. “Your parents warned me that you wouldn’t remember anything. And you don’t, right? Not even the night you disappeared?”
My knees felt weak as I stood. “I don’t remember anything. I had to ask my mom yesterday when my birthday was.” I let out a choked laugh as I faced him. “The doctor says I might get my memories back, though.”
He shifted on the couch, his eyes deepening until they were almost as dark as his pupils. “Is there anything I can do to help?” His voice turned serious. “Because I’ve always had your back, Sammy, and I always will.”
I frowned, thinking that was a strange way to put things.
“Anything?” he prodded again.
Doubtful. But as I stared at him longer, I realized that maybe he could. “I saw you the night I disappeared?” When he nodded, excitement hummed like that rapid beat of hummingbird wings. This was a start. “What were we doing besides …?”
“It was late Saturday night, and we were just hanging out and talking. Among other things,” he added with a grin, “we were watching old videos of my baseball games.”
Stimulating. “Do you know when I left?”
“It was around nine. I wanted us to go hang out with Trey, but you got this text.”
“Wait. Who’s Trey?”
Del leaned back, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. I didn’t even have to remember my mom to know she’d freak if she saw that. “Trey is a good friend of mine. He was Cassie’s boyfriend, but they broke up a few days before … she went missing.”
“She had a boyfriend?” I sat beside him, eager to learn more.
He nodded. “They fought. A lot. Their arguments were pretty much a source of entertainment to everyone.”
“Did we fight?”
“No. Never,” he said quickly. “We had—have a perfect relationship.” He leaned over, brushing his lips over my cheek. “Just like our parents.”
Warning bells went off. From what I’d seen, my parents did not have a perfect relationship. Since I came … came home, I hadn’t even seen them touch or even be in the same room together longer than a few minutes. I fiddled with the silver heart. “So … I got a text, and I left?”
“Yeah.” He sat back. Disappointment pulled at his lips, and I felt as if I’d done something wrong. “I think it was from Cassie, but you didn’t say. You left my house mad.”
“Mad at Cassie?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. You and Cassie had this—”
“Rivalry? That’s what my brother said.”
“He’s not lying. Cassie … wow, how do I say this without sounding like a dick?” He exhaled slowly. “Cassie wanted to be like you. She always has. In her eyes, you had it all. She copied everything you did. If you didn’t like someone, she didn’t like them. If you wanted someone, she wanted them. Everyone knew it.”
I arched a brow. “Okay …”
“I’m not trying to talk bad about her—especially under the circumstances. God, she could be dead.” He saw me wince and immediately apologized. “Sorry, but you know what I mean. Cassie caused problems. Even with us.”
“I thought we didn’t fight.” Unease started to form hard little balls in my stomach.
He looked away. “We didn’t fight fight. Like I said, I have your back. But sometimes Cassie could be … inappropriate when you weren’t around.”
“What do you mean?”
His gaze flicked to mine, then focused on the massive deer head on the wall. “She’d come on to me, even though we were together and Trey’s my bud.”
I expected to feel a rush of jealousy, but I felt nothing. “Did you like Cassie?”
Surprise shone on his face. “Yeah, I mean, she could be cool.” And then his eyes narrowed and lips thinned. “Why are you asking?”
My mouth opened, but nothing came out. I had this impression of having asked the same question before, only with a lot more emotion behind it. Anger was there. Disappointment, too. But there was nothing else attached to those emotions. It was as if my feelings were balloons floating away with nothing to tether them down.
I shrugged. “You just sound like you didn’t like her. I don’t think Scott liked her, either.”
“Cassie could be hard to get along with.” He shifted closer, placing a hand on my bent knee. Instantly, my muscles locked up. “I don’t know what happened the night you two disappeared. I don’t even know if you guys were really even together. And I don’t want to talk about her. I want to talk about us.”
“Us?” I squeaked.
He held his free hand out to me. “Come here.”
My pulse shot way up, and I didn’t want to come here. But he was waiting with this patient smile on his handsome face, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. This had to be hard for him. I was his girlfriend, and I couldn’t recall a single detail about him or our relationship. I scooted over until my legs were pressed against his.
His hand found the back of my neck, guiding my head to his chest. He let out a ragged sigh, brushing his lips over my forehead. “I really didn’t think I was going to be able to do this again. It’s like getting a second chance.”
“It is?” I whispered, confused.
“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss on my temple.