~ Cole ~
Pain woke me up.
Just a slow, dull ache spreading across my ribs like my body was reminding me I wasn’t twenty anymore.
I sat at the kitchen table while Mara flipped eggs on the stove.
Lily sat beside me stacking blueberries into a tower.
Very serious work.
“You’re moving like an old man,” Mara said without looking at me.
“Rude, I'm still a bit young.”
“That’s what old men say.”
Lily snorted.
“Mom roasted you.”
“I noticed.”
I shifted in the chair.
Bad idea.
My ribs protested immediately.
Mara noticed the tiny flinch.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re hurt worse than you said.”
“I’m sore.”
“That’s not the same thing.”
“I’m at least functioning.”
“That’s not the same thing either.”
Lily proudly held up a blueberry tower.
“Look.”
“Impressive architecture,” I said.
“
