Page 10 of When Sky Breaks

“Um, excuse me. Yeah, hi. Okay, hate to break up this little love fest, but I need to talk to Sky.”

Breaking from the kiss, I flinch at the voice behind me.

Johnny curls his fingers around my forearms to keep me from moving. A painful rhythm pounds inside my chest.

How? Why is he here?

Johnny clears his throat. “In case it isn’t obvious, allow me to clarify. I’m Sky’s boyfriend, and we’re busy.”

Before the word boyfriend registers, the voice at my back speaks again, this time with a swell of annoyance I know all too well.

“Right, right. Okay, well, I’ll clear things up for you, man. Sky’s my sister, and I need to talk to her.”

Finally, I whip around, steeling myself for the inevitable moment.

Trek’s sharp blue eyes regard Johnny behind me before shifting to mine and softening around the edges. “Hi, sis. Been a long time.”

CHAPTER FOUR

sky

The world shrinks, fading around me. Before I go nuts on Trek in this very public place, I examine the man I haven’t seen since I loaded my car up for college.

Trek’s not a boy anymore. Handsome with auburn hair cut in a modern style atop his head. His cheeks have hollowed with age, and scruff lines his jaw like he hasn’t shaved in a few weeks. I bet the girls go crazy over that and how he now fills out his clothes properly. No more lanky legs in skinny jeans the boys used to wear. He’s broad-shouldered and has grown several inches too.

I try hard not to miss him as I narrow my eyes and harden my voice. “Why are you here? How did you even know where I’d be?”

He shifts his gaze to where Phoebe and Graham sit.

“Phoebe? She told you I was here? Why?” I’m stunned as a flare of betrayal bites into me. Meddlesome Farris should be her name. “I’m gonna kill her.”

Johnny slides his hands down my arms, and I flinch, startled he’s still here, witnessing this bullshit. “How about we go back to the table? Maybe your friends can clear this up for you. And me.”

His tone grates my already sensitive mood. He doesn’t seem excited about being blindsided at a bar by a person he didn’t know existed.

I never told him about Trek. Doing so meant telling him more about my sordid past, and the point of casual is not having to. Then he had to throw in the whole boyfriend comment, further delineating lines I had already mocked up to perfection.

“Fine.” I shake loose Johnny and stalk through the throng of people to our table. Phoebe looks up at that exact moment and widens her eyes once she notices who trails behind me.

Graham scrunches his brows as she lays a hand on his arm.

“Oh hey, Trek. Uh. Didn’t think you’d be coming out tonight. That wasn’t the plan.” Her palpable cringe brings more ire to the surface.

“Phoebe, why? What plan?” I say, moving her drink over a little too forcibly. I flick what sloshed out off my hands and wipe them on my jeans.

“Just hear him out. It’s important.”

Trek guides me to face him by the elbow. “I didn’t want to do this here, but you haven’t been answering your phone, and Dad wouldn’t tell you himself. Have you listened to the last voicemail I left you?”

One second away from losing my tightly veiled temper, I shrug him off and cross my arms. “What do you think? No, I haven’t. I haven’t opened anything you’ve sent me either.”

Letting out a deep sigh, he glances at Phoebe. “We’ll be back. Sorry to ruin the mood, but it couldn’t wait.”

Phoebe nods, and a rush of trepidation extinguishes some of my anger. I don’t believe for a second that Trek would show up at a bar just to talk to me about forgiving him. This feels different. Ominous.

Icy fear trickles down my spine. What could he want?

Johnny’s tall frame stands to the side, his calculating eyes assessing the situation like he would in a treatment meeting at the hospital. Except he won’t have all the facts. I refuse to drag him into this.

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