Where There's a Will (Lost Boys, #1)

by Jessie Walker

There’s only so much time a person’s allowed to grieve before it becomes an inconvenience, I’ve come to learn. Before the clock speeds up, and the world goes on spinning without you, you either pull yourself out in time to catch up, or you get left behind. That’s just the way it goes. And like I said, it should hurt. Sting a bit. But it doesn’t.

It’s a powerful thing—grief. Death. It can rip two people apart who were once impenetrable, yet bring together two practical strangers. My parents didn’t understand. My friends didn’t understand. But Mason does.

I let him down. I broke my promise. I ruined us. But here’s the kicker⁠— He ruined me first. Maybe, just maybe, this is my chance to fix that.

Waylon taps the mic a couple times, waiting for the crowd to quiet. Smirking, he presses his mouth to where his fingers just were. “Hi.” Annnndddddd there goes my boxers.

“I don’t think she’d want you to be sad,” I tell him after a moment. “You never had a mom, but I do, and I’m pretty sure that’s, like, a rule or something. Moms don’t want their kids sad. Especially on birthdays.”

I. Kiss. Him. This boy. My best friend. I kiss him. His eyes remain wide and unblinking, finally, finally locked on my own. Our mouths are pressed together firmly. We’re chest to chest, heart to heart, and I wonder if his burns like mine.

Because the truth is? She wasn’t just anything. She was one of my best fucking friends—the first friend I ever had. The best, purest person I knew. She was everything good about me. Mason. The three of us.

He’s shattering. I’m shattering. Maybe together, we can stay whole.

It’s you, it’s you, it’s always been fucking you. Don’t you fucking get that?

“You can tell me anything, Waylon,” Ivy says after a while. “I hate that you felt like you couldn’t. Like you had to hide something so big from me.”

“You deserve to be loved, Waylon James. More than anyone I know.