“No shit! You’re Callahan’s little sister?”
She smiled, which made her blue eyes glitter. She had a kick-ass smile, and rosy coloring, as if she’d just run a 5K race. “That’s right.”
“See, I knew you were cool.” I took a gulp of milk.
“So,” she picked up her sandwich. “If your break is only a week old, you must be in a lot of pain.”
I shrugged while chewing on a bite. “The pain I can handle. But it’s just so fucking awkward. Getting dressed takes a half hour. And taking a shower is ridiculous.”
“At least temporarily.”
I froze mid-bite, dismayed by my own stupidity. “Shit, Callahan. Listen to me bitching about twelve weeks in a cast…” I put down my sandwich. “I’m kind of an asshole.”
She flushed. “No, I didn’t mean it that way. I swear. Because if you can’t complain a little bit, then neither can I.”
“Why not?” I think I’d just proved that she had every right to bitch. Especially with assholes like me running around.
Corey toyed with her napkin. “Well, after my accident, my parents sent me to a support group for people with spinal cord injuries, which is how I ended up…” she waved her hands over her lap. “Anyway, the room was full of people who can’t move a whole lot more body parts than I can’t move. Many of them can’t feel their arms. They can’t feed themselves, or turn over in bed. They couldn’t even get out of a burning building, or send an email, or hug someone.”
I rested my face in my hand. “Well that’s uplifting.”
“Tell me about it. Those people scared the crap out of me, and I never went back. And if I can whine — and trust me, I do — you might as well gripe about hopping around like a flamingo.” She picked up her sandwich again.
“So…” I didn’t have any idea whether this was too personal a question. “When was this?”
“When was what?” Her eyes evaded me.
“The accident.”
“January fifteenth.”
“Wait…this January fifteenth? Like, eight months ago?” She gave me a tiny nod. “So…last week you said, ‘fuck it, it’s September. I’d better move across the country and get on with it?’”
Corey pounded her soda, quite possibly to escape my scrutiny. “Well…more or less. But seriously, what is the proper mourning period over the use of one’s legs?” She looked me full in the face then, one eyebrow raised.
Fuck. This girl probably just cured me from whining for the rest of my life, right there. “You are hardcore, Corey Callahan.”
She gave me a little shrug. “The college offered me a year’s deferral, but I didn’t take it. You met my parents. I didn’t want to sit home and watch them wring their hands.”
My phone rang, and I had to give Corey the universal signal for “just a second” while I picked up Stacia. “Hi, hottie,” I answered. “I’m sitting at a table against the back wall. Love you too.” I stashed the phone. “Okay…wait. So a little tender loving care drove you into a different time zone?”
“The three of us were half insane last year. This was best for everyone.”
That hadn’t occurred to me, but it should have. When you have an accident, it doesn’t just happen to you. “I can almost see it. My mom drove me batshit crazy last week. But I probably deserved it.”
“Your mom was pissed about your broken leg?”
“Sure she was. It’s not like I broke it saving babies from a burning building. My mom missed a couple days of work taking care of me, and now there’s a whopping E.R. bill, too.”
“Your coach must be spitting fire,” Corey pointed out.
“You got it. I’ve heard the ‘You Let Everyone Down’ lecture several times already.” I began to watch the door for Stacia. A couple of minutes and a half a sandwich later, a gorgeous girl appeared in the archway. As she stood there, scanning the tables, I couldn’t look away. Stacia had it all. She was tall, and yet somehow curvy, with flowing yellow hair and the bearing of a princess. When she spotted me, her big hazel eyes lit up. Then she pointed those long legs in my direction. And the first thing she did when she arrived beside me was to kiss me full on the mouth.
We’d been dating for most of a year, and it still shocked me every time she did that.
“Stacia,” I said after she released my lips. “This is my new neighbor Callahan. She and her roommate Dana are in Beaumont House, too.”
“Nice to meet you,” Stacia said quickly, with the barest glance at Corey. “Hartley, are you ready to go?”
I laughed. “Babe, you don’t know how hard we had to work for this food,” I said. “So give me a few minutes to finish it.” I pulled out a chair for her.
Stacia sat down, but didn’t bother to conceal her irritation. She stabbed at her phone while I took my time with my cookies and milk.