Page 72 of Quake

There’s a parking spot right beside her, so I pull in and jump out, running around to the back to grab Pickles before Lark can even turn off her engine. I make my way to her door, opening it for her. She smiles up at me. “Didn’t want to stay for movies with your family?”

“Not when I could spend time with you. If that’s okay,” I add.

“I’d like that,” she says. Her eyes dart to her feet, looking away sheepishly.

An idea strikes me.

“Hey, would you want to go on a drive with me?”

“Now?” she asks, sounding surprised.

“If that’s okay,” I say, my shoulders sagging with the possibility that she might say no.

“That sounds nice, but I’ve got to let the dogs out first.”

***

Once all three dogs are snuggled up at Lark’s apartment, we head out to the parking lot.

“You mind if we take my car?” she asks, and my stomach churns.

I don’t answer for a moment too long and watch as her smile falters.

“I—” I swallow thickly. “I don’t feel comfortable with other people driving, and I’m not a huge fan of anything smaller or less durable than my Jeep,” I admit.

Understanding dawns on her, and she nods, grabbing for my hand. She squeezes it as we continue to walk.

“That makes sense,” she says, shooting me a reassuring smile. “So, where are we going?”

My legs feel unsteady as they carry me to my car. “There’s an overlook about thirty minutes from here. Almost no one is ever there. It’s just somewhere I feel like I can think.”

We drive there with my favorite playlist trickling through the speakers and my hand on her thigh the entire ride.1

I pull up, parking right in the middle of the dirt spaces for the best view.

It’s dark, so there isn’t much to see besides the trees surrounding us and the stars in the sky. They’re so bright out here, away from some of the light pollution in thecity.

“It’s gorgeous.” She gapes. “How’d you find this place? I’ve lived here my whole life, and I’ve never heard of it!”

“Alex used to bring me out here when I was getting too in my head. He always had a way of knowing when I was dwelling on or overthinking things,” I tell her, and for the first time, I feel like I’m able to speak freely about Alex without grief gnawing at my chest.

“He sounds like he was a really great person.” She smiles up at me. Her hand wraps around mine, still lying on her thigh, and she gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“He was. Sometimes, I felt like he was the only person who truly understood me.”

She averts her gaze before speaking her next words. Her voice is choked as she says, “Do you ever think that maybe people don’t understand you because you don’t open up to them?”

Her words don’t hurt me though. IknowI don’t open up to people, and that’s my fault. It’s just another reason I feel guilty. “I know that’s the reason. Genuinely, I do. But I don’t want to burden anyone, and I know my family is incredible. Absolutely wild but incredible nonetheless. I just haven’t worked through those insecurities, and everyone in my family has their own things going on. I know they’d never feel like I was a burden, but I still can’t shake that feeling.”

“Your familyisincredible, and they’ll love you no matter what, but maybe it’d be easier if you tried opening up to just one person first?”

I quirk a brow at her. “Are you asking to be that person?”

“I mean, I’d love to be, but it doesn’t have to be me. It could be anyone you feel comfortable with.” She sounds so honest, and it gives me the courage to actually agree to lether be that person.

I want her to be that person for me.

“Okay.”

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