Page 74 of A Sky Full Of Stars

I bark out a laugh and pull her into my arms, pressing my forehead to hers. “Damn, I really thought I knew that one.”

“It’s not… never mind. It was still nice.”

She arches her body to look up at me again, and her eyes shine in the moonlight. A small smile plays at her lips, drawingmy attention as she lifts to her toes and swipes her fingers across my brow. “If I look as drowned as you, I’ll be mortified.”

“You do.” I chuckle. “But you’re always beautiful and it’s no different now.”

She rolls her eyes for the briefest second as though I’m lying to reassure her, but she’s wrong. Even with her long, now dark hair plastered to her cheeks, she’s still the most breathtaking girl I’ve ever seen.

“Thomas, I—”

The doors to the bowling alley crash open, and while we’re pretty much hidden where we are, we spring apart, as though we’ve been caught in the act.

A silence settles between us as more people exit, the chatter building every time someone new steps out. We watch and wait, side by side, as the parking lot empties, and when the last of the cars drive away, I realize they must be closed.

“What time is it?” Lainey asks as she lifts my wrist in front of her face, trying to read my watch in the low light.

I pull out my phone and check the screen.Midnight. I almost don’t want to tell her, knowing what she’s going to say.

“It’s almost tomorrow.”

“Oh.Oh. You should be in bed.”

And you should be in my bed.“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. But I bet it’s past your bedtime.”

Lainey scrunches her face, and I can tell she’s about to argue until the lights go out, surrounding us in darkness. “I guess that makes the decision for us,” she giggles while my chest aches.

Unfortunately. “I think you’re right.”

“Can I take you anywhere?” she asks, reminding me I caught an Uber.

“Nah, I’m good. My driver said he’d be back around closing time. I’m sure he’ll be here in a few minutes.”

As my eyes start to adjust, I catch the end of Lainey’s frown before she smiles again. “Good night then?” Her face scrunches. “It was good seeing you.”

“Good night, Lainey. And thank you.”

She shoots me a confused glare as she gets in her car, securing her seatbelt, and after putting the car into gear, she rolls down her window to wave. Taking the opportunity she gifted me, I call out as she begins to pull away. “Oh and Lainey.” She stops, her gaze meeting mine as she squints in the darkness. “After that, there’s no going back tojustfriends. Not anymore.”

Stepping away, I wait by her car as she reverses, shielding my eyes from the blinding headlights as she drives past, enjoying the soft giggle I hear over the sound of the engine. I smile in case she’s watching, but as she turns the corner and the darkness takes over again, an unfamiliar tightness settles in my chest.

And I have no idea what it means.

After I’m dropped back at my hotel, I fall into bed around two a.m. and the second I’m quiet, everything hits me at once. My chest aches as memory after memory fires at me in quick succession, sending my emotions into chaos. I know I fucked up, but will I ever get my redemption?

It’s been weeks, and Summer still doesn’t want to speak to me. She couldn’t even answer her phone. And while I get that she needs time, I have to wonder… What if sheneverforgives me? I’ve made so many mistakes in my life, but even if I make a thousand more, it will never be worse than what I did to her.

And now I have to live with that. With those cruel words screaming at me whenever my mind stills or I close my eyes, reminding me of the hurt I caused, the venom in my voice playing on repeat.

I will never in this lifetime get the image of her scars out of my head, and while I may not have caused them, my actions made it worse.

But then, through all the darkness is Lainey. She’s like morphine—all she has to do is stand in my presence and she numbs the pain, making it all go away. I feel like a different person around her. But what right do I have to feel any kind of happiness? Or by the same token, what right do I have to be feeling any kind of pain? I’m not the one that was wronged; I’m the wrongdoer. I should be sucking it up and dealing with the consequences.

But I can’t shut it off on my own.

Lainey’s the only one that helps me forget, and I feel on edge without her.

When three a.m. hits and I’m still staring at the ceiling, I get up and grab a small bottle of bourbon, hoping some mindless television will help. But it’s not until I’ve almost cleared out the minibar that I must finally drift off, waking in a daze as the sun rises.

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