Free The Push: A Sequel to The Pull by Sara V. Zook

anything else. I’m going to tell him he’s being overbearing, and that will be the end of it.”
    “See how good that does you. That only drives people like him crazier.”
    “Oh, I forgot,” Livvy continued. “You have experience in this area.”
    I raised my eyebrows.
    “You know, crazies. Some of your ex-girlfriends were not all there upstairs, isn’t that right?”
    I grinned. She had me there. “Yeah, they weren’t that normal, I guess you could say, but I can tell you one thing for certain, none of them baked me any pies!”
    That got Livvy to laugh again. It was nice to see her smile, even if it was only a temporary escape.
    “I do think he’s harmless. I’ll admit, I am a little weirded out, but harmless.”
    “Liv, you live in a delusional world. He wants to rock your boat.”
    “Okay, Shane, I get the point. I do.”
    Now I’d irritated Livvy. She had enough things to worry about, but I wanted to make her aware of this situation with Sean. He’d invited himself into her life, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t going to be the last she’d see of him.
    “Are you tired? You can take a nap on the way,” I suggested.
    Livvy exhaled loudly. “If I’m hungry, I’ll eat. If I’m thirsty, I’ll get a drink. If I’m tired, I’ll let you know! I don’t need a babysitter, Shane!”
    Her outburst hurt. Maybe I was being way too overbearing myself. I hadn’t meant to. I didn’t say anything back, just figured I’d let her take some time to herself and not bother her by talking anymore.
    After a few minutes, Livvy turned toward me as I drove. “Sorry, Shane. I didn’t mean that. I mean, I did, but I didn’t mean for it to sound like that. I know you’re just being nice and you didn’t deserve it.”
    “It’s fine, Liv, really. I understand,” I told her, my eyes focused on the road before me as I watched for the next exit I needed to take.
    “No, it’s not fine. I just want to believe I can be okay on my own. If no one else has faith in me, it makes me doubt myself that much more.”
    “This sadness thing can be overwhelming. I saw it with Darin when you were in a coma. I saw what he went through, and it wasn’t pretty. I don’t want that kind of thing to happen to you, Liv. I know I’m being a little over-protective. I’m the one who needs to be apologizing.” I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out. It was a text from Gwen telling me a simple I love you. A dull ache in the pit of my stomach added to my agony. California felt so fucking far away.
    “You miss her.” Livvy’s words were more like a statement than a question.
    “Yeah.”
    “When are you going back home?” Liv asked.
    I bit the inside of my cheek, typed a quick reply that I loved her too, then put the phone back in my pocket. “I have some time off that needs to be used up. Gwen suggested something the other night. She thought maybe you’d like to come out to California for a while and stay with us, you know, hang out.”
    Livvy didn’t say anything for a while. I could see her picking at the skin on her fingers as if she were deciding what to say. “I don’t want to burden anyone,” she finally said.
    I laughed. “Liv, you know you’re one of my favorite people in the whole world. You’d never be a burden to me.”
    “You say that now…”
    “I’ll say that always,” I quickly told her.
    Livvy sighed and leaned her head against the window again. She was curling into a ball as if she were cold. I didn’t want to ask her if the temperature was right in the vehicle, not after she had just straightened me out earlier about the food/tired thing. Maybe she was just trying to hold herself together. God only knew the turmoil that was going on inside that head of hers. She’d found the love of her life—twice—and lost him, just as things were settling into place for them. Liv was brave, she’d get through this without acting like a zombie like Darin did when Liv had been sick. I’d make