To Amir’s relief, Jae joined the rest of the Pride Riders for their pre-Thanksgiving weekend outing, and he came alone. Hayden and Noelle were talking to him when Ken pulled into a parking space, and from their relaxed postures Amir guessed that Hayden had been less confrontational and was trying to ease the subject into their conversation. It was good that Noelle was there as well. She was Hayden’s second cousin and had been part of Hayden’s recovery team when he realized he had crashed through rock bottom and was spiraling out of control.
Ken, as usual, misread the situation entirely. “Jae looks fine to me,” he said. “Pretty sure you’re going to lose that bet you made. C’mon, Amir, don’t look at me like that. I understand that you’ve got concerns about the guy, but look at him. Does tha
