Chapter 7

“I know,” Dru whispered back.

“I used to think he was so fucking cool…” Scott’s voice trailed off as Riley appeared on the sidewalk, several houses down, and he let his thoughts take over instead: so fucking beautiful, so damn perfect.He knew it was Riley even though he couldn’t see facial features yet: the baby blue coat, always undone no matter how cold it was; that strut Riley had learned from his older, high-schooler brother; the bounce, bounce, bounce of blond hair that Scott’s mother said was long only because Riley’s mother couldn’t let go of the seventies. Even now as a grown man, watching Riley move still made Scott choke up.

Little Scott dug into his coat pocket, reaching as if the coat had swallowed his arm and refused to give it back, grimacing as if it was using teeth at the same time, before pulling his hand back with a triumphant, “Gotcha!”