Page 160 of A Sky Full Of Stars

Nate laughs while Joel shakes his head. “Lainey Bennett,” he says like he’s shocked to see me.

“In the flesh.” I smile but it feels forced.

“It’s been too long. How are you?”

“I’m doing well.” I half lie. “I’m sure you know I’m working for Summer and Dylan now. Obviously, since I have Josh here with me.” I laugh but I guarantee it’s easy to see I’m uncomfortable. Which has everything to do with Nate and the last time I saw him. “Anyway. That’s me. You’re all caught up.”

Joel chuckles as Nate eyes me curiously.

“Thomas is living there too, right?” Joel asks with a smile as he bends down to lift a beautiful little girl into his arms. “This is Chloe, by the way.”

Chloe smiles as I say hi, but when she spots Josh in the stroller, her smile widens. “Looks like these two know each other well,” I say as Josh bounces in his seat.

“They do. I think it was love at first sight,” Joel jokes while I take advantage of the change in topic and lift Josh out of the stroller, placing him down on a blanket I’ve spread on the grass.

“It’s nice to see you all have kids around the same age. That must be fun.”

“It’s been great,” Joel says as he bops Chloe on the nose. “And I could talk about her all day but…we were having an adult conversation, right?” he asks and I play dumb.

“I can’t remember; I got distracted by Chloe’s adorable grin and beautiful locks.” I signal to her thick, wavy, caramel hair, and I think I’ve gotten away with my response until Nate enters the conversation.

“You were asking about Thomas,” he says to Joel before looking at me. “How’s that going?”

“Oh. I’ve barely seen him,” I lie with a flick of my wrist, catching Nate’s sympathetic smile from the corner of my eye as I answer directly to Joel.

“It’s good to see them getting along,” Joel says, his smile so genuine I want to hug him. “And it’s nice to have him around more often. It’s like the last of the family has returned home.”

I smile wide, but when I think about Summer and Thomas’s argument, a sinking feeling settles in my stomach. I really hope I didn’t just mess it all up for them. Maybe Thomas was wrong and Summer does actually care if we date. The conversation sure seemed to point that way, and if it wasn’t that, I almost feel worse, because what the hell happened?

Nate introduces me to his two-year-old, Addie, when she’s had enough of the swing, and the topic of conversation moves on to the kids. And while Josh isn’t mine, I feel a lot more comfortable knowing I have plenty to discuss if I refer back to my time volunteering.

We’ve been chatting for over an hour, playing with the kids, when Joel takes Chloe to change her diaper, leaving Nate and me alone. Well, mostly alone—we’ve still got two kids needing our attention, something I cling to. But unfortunately, that’s not enough to delay his first question.

“How are thingsreallygoing with Thomas?”

“And Summer?” I question him, knowing that’s not what he’s asking.

“Andyou?” he confirms.Dammit.

I huff out a sigh before giving him another forced smile. I don’t want to tell him anything until we’ve told Summer and Dylan…and Luke. “We’ve talked a lot and… Do you see him often?”

“I see him a bit. Why?”

“Are you worried? I know he’s still drinking on occasion, but do you think it’s an issue? Like before?” I hate talking about him behind his back, but since I haven’t been here for six years, I want to know if his friends have noticed anything.

Nate smiles sympathetically, and I hold my breath, waiting for his response. “Yes, I’ve seen him drunk since…back then. For the first year or so, whenever I saw him, he was completely sober. But then he started drinking a few beers here and there and… I didn’t think it was the same as before…”

“But…”

“But he’s trying. He wants to be better.”

I know that. He told me last night, but has he said something to Nate?

I nod and thank him with a grin just as Joel comes back. I want to ask more, but I should be asking Thomas, not Nate. I know there’s more going on. I saw it in his body language when he came home drunk last week, and it breaks my heart to think that no one reallyseeshim anymore. Other than maybe Nate. And I mean that in the sense that maybe he’s done a damn good job of projecting the life he thinks he should have. The life of a famous football player. The guy with all the money, all the women, all the fame.

The guy thatshouldbe happy.

But he’s not. At least not completely. Not at the deepest level. But he’s willing to work on it with me, as soon as we know what it is we need to work on.

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