Page 73 of Fall onto me

“I don’t know if I’m ready for this all to be over,” I mutter.

I want a second chance at my junior and senior year. I’ve busted my ass to graduate after my coma, but nothing will ever bring back the time lost. Still, I can’t dwell on what is gone, only what is to be.

“Pshh, I am! I cannot wait to get out of school.” Kate sighs.

We all shout and cheer when the guys rumble onto the field, then Foster leans down to whisper in my ear. “We’ll have a million moments like this, baby girl. He didn’t take anything away from us.”

It seems like the sun is shining brighter as it sets. The rays cast down and ignite a stream of light between us. Golden hour, a perfect moment to end our day.

Barnes sends him a text as Brett makes another goal.

Barnes: We got him.

He’s gota bounce in his step that I’ve never seen before. “What should we do tonight?” I ask.

He kisses my forehead. “We have our whole lives ahead of us.”

“I think we should go take Sophie for midnight milkshakes at Jack’s.”

Foster raises a brow. “Brett’s afterparty?”

“There are so many people going, and honestly after everything, I just want a moment to relax. I’ve had enough college parties.”

We win, and Brett has already been pulled away from the team to talk to a recruiter. All we can do is stand by and watch, so when he turns to us and sends a thumbs up before going to speak to his coach, we know something great has just happened in his life.

But that will have to wait, because now, we have all the time in the world to spend with our friends. Tonight is about celebration, and we need to celebrate with our family.

* * *

The moon hangshigh as me and Foster talk in the parking lot of Adeline’s apartment. Trying to steal kisses before we pick up Soph. “She’s going to be so excited.”

“There’s still the matter of my father.”

He shakes his head. “Listen to me.” He grabs my shoulders. “Eventually his past will come and bite him in the ass, but it’s not our problem. We’ve fought enough enemies.”

“But my mom—”

“Can we please, just for one night, not do this? Everything is finally okay,” he pleads. “Finally. I promise you, I’m working on it, Sky. Barnes and I are building a case, but all we have so far is taxes, which means he’ll be locked up in some five-star prison for five years eating lobster. If we move too fast, we fail.”

He’s right, I know he is. But with the Keeper being locked away now, I feel like exacting revenge. “But I can put him aw—”

“You look so fucking hot tonight.” Foster cuts me off with a dimpled grin.

I sigh, “You’re distracting me.”

He raises his brow. “Is it working?”

The reflection blankets our bodies creating a dusting of shimmers on his skin. He twirls me around, and my gown flows with the wind as I swirl. Our hands drop, and right before we bridge the gap for a kiss, something falls between us …

It’s unbearably loud, a horrible smack against the hard pavement between us. The shrill of cracking bones pierces our ears before a thick, deafening silence.

I dare a look down and nearly pass out. I grab Foster’s chin and with all of my might, I push it up towards that shimmering, setting sun. “Do not look down,” I warn, hoping that the rays will blind him so he will never have to see what I’m seeing now.

But just like her, the sun has fallen below the treetops, and its shimmer is gone.

Adeline is a crumpled, lifeless mess at my feet. A thick, bloody piece of duct tape covers her mouth. No movement, no heartbeat. Just a broken tangled set of limbs that were once Foster’s beloved Grandmother.

“Who is that?” Foster asks, still looking up, his eyes trained on something I can’t see. “On my balcony.”

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