Page 66 of A Sky Full Of Stars

“Yes, you will.” While her tone doesn’t fill me with confidence, at least she didn’t tell me to fuck off.

“Thank you, Cory.” My words are simple but they pack so much meaning. She’s done so much for Summer, I’ll always be grateful for her, even when she delivers bad news.

“I’m sorry again. Bye, Thomas.”

I hang up and the tension leaves my shoulders. I get that Summer needs time, but I’ve never been good at waiting. The unknownpainsme. I need to make it up to her. I need to know she’s okay. I need to knowwe’reokay. Not being able to talk to her, even on the phone, is torture.

But what else can I do?

I jump up to grab myself another drink, but before I’ve made it to the minibar, the answer comes to me. I can’t fix one relationship, but I can try to fix another. I can try to make things right with Lainey.

So, without wasting another second, I throw on a hoodie and call an Uber.

Destination: Heartwood Falls.

I may have no idea where to find her. But I’m not giving up until I do.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lainey

Luke goes on and on about some twins he has in his physical development class, and all I can think about is when Thomas told me that Luke shares girls with his friends. A full body shiver runs through me as I remember, and bile rises in my throat. I’m not against threesomes, at all, I’m just against thinking about my brother having one. No one should know that information about their siblings.

“I don’t know which one to go for,” he continues while I imagine plucking my eyelashes out one by one.

“Why not both?” I blurt and freeze.What the hell? Ugh.I did not mean for that to come out of my mouth.

Luke’s nose scrunches in disgust and I almost laugh. Yeah, Luke. It’s not fun talking about this with your little sister, is it?

He stares at me for a good minute before finally answering. “Nah, I think I’ll go for the blonde.”

“Good for you. Why are you here again?” I change the subject, needing to get myself out of this nightmare, and it works.

“I told you. I was supposed to catch up with a friend in the city but he canceled.”

Actually he didn’t tell me at all. He turned up at my apartment thirty minutes ago with a sour look on his face and grunted something about his bullshit friends.

“Who?”

“Thomas.” He throws his hand out in a “whatever” fashion, pretending not to care, while my jaw drops. “He’s here for the game on Sunday.”

I shut my mouth before Luke notices and frown sympathetically. It’s not uncommon for Luke to stop by on his way to or from the city, because I live about twenty minutes closer than he does, but I don’t usually question him. Now I wish I hadn’t. I’m not sure which is worse. Yes, I needed to move on to get his stupid threesomes out of my head, but joke’s on me because I’ve just replaced Luke’s issues with my own. Now that I know Thomas is here, less than an hour away, I’m suddenly anxious to see him.

“Want a drink?” I say, hoping to change the subject for the third time, catching Luke nodding after I’ve already started walking toward the kitchen.

“I’ve got juice,” I say, not bothering to mention I have soda too. Growing up, we never really had soda at home. In fact, we were lucky if we had anything other than milk or water with our parents always pushing for a healthy lifestyle. Not that we listened—we got our treats elsewhere. But because of that, neither of us really drank soda. I hadn’t even tasted it until I mixed it with alcohol for the first time, and I’ve got to say, it’s an acquired taste.

“Actually, I’ll take a soda if you’ve got it,” Luke says, making me huff out a laugh.A taste Luke has obviously acquired.

“Alrighty then.”

As I pour the drinks, mine a water, Luke mindlessly flicks through the papers on the counter, scoffing at something he sees. When I look over, he’s holding a photo of Heath, his face doing nothing to hide his feelings.

“How are things withyour man?” he asks, the sound of his voice rising to match his expression, refusing to say his name. His tone bothers me, so naturally, I make him uncomfortable.

“It’s amazing. We have sex, lots of sex. All the time.”

“Jesus, fuck, Lainey. What are you doing?”

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