Page 110 of A Sky Full Of Stars

“She is.” He laughs just as his phone rings. “And she’s calling me now. Call him. You know you want to.” Without another word, he answers his phone and walks out the back door, leaving me in silence.

Taking his advice, I dial Thomas’s number, and the second he answers, I know that he needs me. So when Courtney pops her head through the door to check where I am, I tell her I’m leaving and pray there are no repercussions.

It’s not hard to find Thomas when I get to the bar he’s hiding in. With the median age of the patrons looking to be about fifty, he stands out like a sore thumb, and that’s with Thomas bringing the average age down. On top of that, he’s also the only one alone in a booth, with the other six drinkers hovering around the bar.

As I stare his way, it’s clear that he’s wasted just by looking at him. With hooded eyes, he rests his head against the back of his seat, the drink still locked in his grasp, close to tipping over. As I walk his way, my heart cracks, and while I don’t evenknow how his night went, it doesn’t matter. There’s more going on than his issues with Summer.

I’m worried he has a drinking problem, and I wish I’d asked him about it sooner, when I first questioned it. But how do I bring up something like that when for the past few weeks, he hasn’t even touched a drop of alcohol around me or called me drunk, and we’ve spoken daily.

No one looks my way as I move across the room; the server doesn’t even break from his conversation. But when I slide into Thomas’s booth, I feel the heat of someone’s gaze, turning to find another server exiting from the back, her eyes locked on me as she strides over, a scowl firmly in place.

“He doesn’t want company,” she says when she comes to a stop next to Thomas. “You’re not the first girl to approach him tonight. We had a biker chick in here earlier. He’snotinterested.”

Thomas’s eyes flash open and immediately lock on mine, a lopsided smile lighting up his features. “You’re here?” he says as his smile widens. “How are you here?” He speaks as though we didn’t just have a conversation, and that’s worrying. “Also,” he slurs, his eyes struggling to focus, “why are you on that side of the table?”

With a brow raised and my bottom lip trapped between my teeth, I shrug, making Thomas groan.

“Get over here.”

I get up, and it’s only when the server has to step aside to let me through that Thomas notices she’s there. “She’ll have water, thanks,” he says, his eyes quickly moving back to mine, making me smirk.

She looks my way, asking for confirmation with a pissed-off expression, so I smile and nod. I’m going to guessshe thought she’d have a shot with a drunk football player, but not tonight. Not on my watch.

Thomas doesn’t wait until she walks away before he pulls me into his arms, pressing a kiss to my temple. “I needed to see you. I knew with just one touch, you’d erase it all… you’d numb the pain.” I turn to face him and he drops his forehead to mine, breathing in. “Mmm, I was right,” he whispers, brushing our noses together.

My eyes briefly fall closed, but before I allow myself to get caught up in the moment, I pull away. “How did it go with Summer?” I ask nervously, holding my breath.

“Gooood. We talked aboutstuff, we laughed, Dylan was there. It was goood.”

That’s good. I think. So why are we here? “I’m really happy to hear that. Want to talk about it?”

“Nah, not tonight.” I knew that answer was coming even before he said it.

“Can I take you home, then?” I ask, not feeling entirely comfortable in our present situation, but also knowing he’s going to need a bed. Soon.

“Hell, yes.” Thomas lights up. “Always.” He tries to wink, and I can’t help but smile. I hate that he’s been through something to put him in this position, but he’s a little bit adorable tonight. Very different from the last time I found him drunk, and maybe that’s a good thing. Progress even.

“Come on, then.”

I shuffle out of the booth, as Thomas follows, and when he stands, I curl my arm through his, hoping I can give him some stability.

Flagging down the server as we walk, I grab my card to pay the tab, but Thomas cuts in, pushing my hand away, before waving his wallet in front of the machine.

“You are not paying for this mess,” he says, as I push open the door, the fresh night air drawing my attention to how stifling the bar was.

“That’s better.” I relax, as my eyes bounce between my car and Thomas’s rental, making the decision to go to his truck.

“Look at the sky,” Thomas says, pointing to the darkness above us. “It’s full of stars tonight. Like that song by Coldplay.” He starts singing “A Sky Full of Stars” and I have to bite back my grin. Once again, he gets the words wrong, but I let him have this one. He looks happy.

“I like this song for us,” he says suddenly. “Have I told you that?”

He hasn’t mentioned it, and as I think of the words, therealwords, it saddens me a little. Does he think I’m going to hurt him, or the other way around?

Ignoring what are probably random ramblings from alcohol, I ask Thomas for his keys, then help him into the passenger seat.

As I jump into the driver’s seat, I send out a little prayer that my car will be in one piece when I come back to get it later or tomorrow.

“Where to?” I ask, before switching on the ignition.

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