The Man Who Never Looked Away novel Chapter 320

Charley rolled his eyes at him.

The group chatted and laughed as they hiked up the mountain. At a fork in the trail, they ran into another group of people.

They were all familiar faces.

Tobin Jensen was sitting on the ground with his pant leg rolled up, sporting a scraped knee.

Garnett was crouched in front of him, examining the injury.

Joel was standing right beside them. It was a Northwood High class reunion.

Lavinia didn't miss a beat, keeping a firm grip on Nemo's leash as she continued walking forward.

"Hey, isn't that Lavinia?" Tobin's voice carried over to them.

Garnett snapped his head around. Seeing Lavinia, he froze for a second before quickly standing up.

Lavinia didn't look back.

"Lavinia, didn't you go to med school? Someone's hurt over here, and you're just going to walk right past?" Tobin raised his voice, lacing it with blatant provocation.

Joel nudged him hard with his elbow, muttering, "Don't start."

Lavinia stopped, turned around, and shot him a withering glare.

Saul leisurely strolled over to Tobin, leaned down, and flashed a mocking, overly-friendly smile at his knee.

"Where exactly are you hurt? You want me to kiss it better?"

Garnett seemed completely oblivious to whatever Saul had just said. His eyes cut straight past everyone else, landing solely on Lavinia, and he started walking toward her.

Charley stepped forward, smoothly positioning himself right in front of Lavinia, completely shielding her from view.

"Let's go. Ignore them." Charley hovered a protective hand behind Lavinia's back.

"Lavinia!" Garnett caught up, stepping into their path. "Why are you—"

Garnett shot a cold glare at Charley.

Charley, who was half a head taller, stood with his arms crossed, staring down at Garnett with icy detachment.

"You go your way, I'll go mine. We don't need to bother each other," Lavinia said, stepping around Garnett to keep walking.

"Mr. Harper, you clearly don't understand." Jocelyn had wandered back down the trail. She stood next to Saul and smiled faintly. "In Cantony State, no one in their right mind would ever turn down a perfectly raised farm chicken."

"Especially since it's the absolute best cut," Saul added helpfully.

The group seamlessly volleyed the conversation back and forth, casually laughing and joking as they clustered around Lavinia, smoothly bypassing Garnett to continue their trek up the mountain.

Lavinia pulled back slightly on an overly-excited Nemo, coaxing him softly, "Slow down, Nemo. There's plenty of chicken and meat waiting for us."

Garnett stood frozen in place, staring at their retreating backs.

He remembered how she used to have hardly any friends. In just six months, she was suddenly surrounded by a whole new circle of people. And he didn't know a single one of them.

Joel walked up next to him and asked quietly, "Do you want to tag along with them? I can take care of Tobin."

Garnett's fists tightened. "Do you honestly think there's any room for me to fit in there?"

He turned around and walked back toward Tobin.

Watching his retreating back, Joel let out a barely audible sigh.