The Davis Years (Indigo) Read Free

mumbled, blinking his eyes against the sunlight filtering through his window blinds.
    “Hi,” Codie said. She was amazing. It was almost painful to keep in touch with her because she’d done so much with her life and he’d done so little with his. Still, he couldn’t imagine life without her.
    “ ‘Sup?” Davis asked with a yawn.
    “Davis. Please don’t tell me you just woke up.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s nearly dinner time.”
    “Okay. I won’t tell you then.”
    “So, how are things?” Codie tried to sound casual, but he knew better. She’d called almost every day since the funeral. And they’d buried his dad four months ago. It was his own fault. Stupid drunk. Davis refused to let himself feel badly about it.
    “Same old, same old. How about you? How’s work going?” Codie had taken a year off after graduating from U Penn’s Wharton School to work for Americorps, and now she had a shiny new job on Wall Street complete with all the bells and whistles. Even with the slump in the economy, Codie hadn’t been at a loss for job offers. Davis had always thought of her as a force of nature. Whenever he said something about that, she laughed him off and told him she was nothing extraordinary.
    “Just loving it. I can’t believe they’re letting me do so much. I just graduated.”
    “I’m sure they’re ecstatic to have your slave labor. I mean, you graduated top of your class from U Penn. Why wouldn’t they drool all over you?”
    “Anyway, what’s going on with you? What’s new? You’re not getting off the hook that easily.”
    Davis took a deep breath. He didn’t want to talk about it, but he needed to tell Codie because she’d understand. “Jemma’s back in town.”
    “What’s she doing there? How long has she been there?”
    “Um, I dunno. I’d guess she’s back here for Emily Rose’s wedding.”
    “Haven’t you talked to her yet?”
    “Nah. She came over yesterday, but I pretended I wasn’t home.”
    “What? Why?”
    “I guess because I don’t know—what to say to her.”
    “After the way you guys left things? The way you talk about her? Like she’s the one that got away or something?”
    “We never really dated.”
    “I know that, but you know what I mean. I would have thought you’d fling the door open and grab her.”
    “I’m not the guy I was then. And I wasn’t a great guy then. But at least I wasn’t a loser.”
    “I don’t think you’re one now. And I don’t think Jemma would, either.”
    “Codie, I live in my dad’s house and I might be homeless if my brothers decide they want to come down here and start stirring things up. I’m a server, and not a very good one, at a crappy restaurant and I just—I suck.” Davis stared at the ceiling, thinking about how true his words were.
    Seth, the attorney he’d hired with the life insurance money, kept trying to call him about the house, but Davis couldn’t bring himself to return the calls. He was afraid Seth would tell him that his brothers’ attorneys had finally gotten in touch with Seth’s office. And that they wanted to sell the house. He didn’t trust his brothers. They wouldn’t care if he had nowhere to go. Sure, he hadn’t seen or heard from them since the funeral, but they could attack without warning. They’d done it before. And with the way they had easily deserted him, leaving him alone to grow up in that house with their father, obviously they didn’t give a crap about what happened to him.
    And since he didn’t want to deal with any of that, he hadn’t called Seth back yet.
    Codie’s voice interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to their conversation. “You should at least talk to her. As much as you beat yourself up over what happened, don’t you think you should do that at least?”
    “Maybe,” Davis said, trying to get Codie to drop it more than anything.
    After they said their goodbyes, he rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his sheets. He knew Codie