Page 38 of When Sky Breaks

I halt my incessant steps. “What? What did she say?”

“Nothing really. She was shopping for stuff for the haunted house. She’s helping Foster’s guys with the project this year.”

I completely forgot about the festival. “Shit. Colonel asked me to take pictures of the construction for the paper again.”

“Which means you’re gonna be seeing her a lot more as well.”

“Right, right, okay.” I try to let that settle in, but my stomach rolls.

“And maybe take a breath, chamo. It’s going to be all right.”

I cast my eyes to the ceiling. “You know that’s not true.”

“Well, I’m trying to be optimistic here for your sake.” He chuckles.

“Fuck. I’m nervous.”

“What is it you want from her?”

“I don’t know.”

Anything and everything.

“It’s pretty obvious to me by your crazy heavy breathing and mild panic attack. You haven’t gotten over her. I mean, hell, you even bought a fucking?—”

“Don’t say it. I know, okay, I know. It’s just…” I sigh and pinch the back of my neck.

“Yeah, I feel ya. You fucked up.”

I don’t say anymore. Benny knows I left Sky without saying goodbye. How I fucked her and left her. He knows I cut off all contact with anyone from this place except him. And Colonel. However, Benny doesn’t know how much I lied to her. He doesn’t know I was behind the house fire, so he isn’t aware of just how deep a hole I’m in.

“But, I’m here for you. I know how much you care about her. Just take it one moment at a time. Remember when I fucked things up with Kayla, and she left me in the doghouse for a week before we talked it through? I know it’s been years, but if you both still have feelings for each other, it’ll work out.”

I sigh, resting my head in my palm as I slump onto the back of the couch. “Thanks, man. Oh, hey, tell your mom I’ll be over in a few days to work on the spare wing.”

“Will do.”

Tossing my phone onto the cushion, I fall over the back of the couch and hang my feet over the edge. It’s going to take more than a week in a hypothetical dog house for me to make it up to Sky.

The question is: Do I deserve her after everything I’ve done?

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

sky

Everything blurs once I leave the cemetery. My face flushes despite the fall breeze through the open car window, and my hands shake like leaves on the steering wheel. My scarred palm itches and I suppress the urge to burst into tears.

Seeing August from a distance is one thing. Up close and it’s like all the magnets in the world pressed into me, moving me closer and closer toward him. Perhaps just to sucker-punch him for eviscerating my heart. Or drag him in for a hug. I don’t know which of the two is worse.

He was leaving damn flowers for Chase. That has to mean something.

Then I remember despite the pull, despite my heart demanding his presence, our past fortified my walls. This current August is foreign. I have only a vague understanding of why he’s back. Every year between us is tied to an acute pain brought to the surface by a single interaction. I’m that sad eighteen-year-old all over again.

It’s one thing to work on forgiving Trek. He only has a section of my heart. But August? He held the whole damn thing in his palms before he crushed it.

Before I get to my street, I ask Siri to call Phoebe. She should be home or at least on a break, and I need to talk to someone right now, or I’m liable to keep driving and see how far this tank of gas will get me.

“Hey girl, what’s up?”

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