Page 77 of For One Night Only

“I thought you were in therapy. We call that ‘projecting,’ ” she says, but her jaw is tense and her eyes are wide, like she’s freaking out a little.

I raise my hands. “How is that projecting?”

“Oh, come on, you’ve clearly been pining after Valerie, or you wouldn’t be here—you certainly wouldn’t be fucking her. Dude, I love you, but watching this is so painful. You’re going to go back to your boring life with your noble day job in a couple of days, and it’s going to hurt you again.”

I swallow thickly, because I’ve been worried about the samething. “I thought you wanted us to keep working together. If that happens, maybe Valerie and I can figure out…something.”

I shove my hands in my pockets, leaning against the cold concrete wall. I haven’t been able to get Valerie out of my head for years—I don’t think I can just walk away completely again.

“Is that what you really want?” Keeley asks.

I think about life back home—working with the kids, being close to Cam and Leah, taking Sebastian Bark on hikes every weekend. It’s not a bad life. I’m comfortable, and mostly happy.

But it’s nowhere near perfect, and it’s definitely not glamorous. I spend most of my free time doing lesson prep. Any savings I can manage get drained to nothing whenever Mom needs help. The nights alone in my town house are brutal. There’s no room for Valerie in that life.

And I don’t know if I can go back to a life without her.

Still, it’s hard to trust that Valerie would really want to take this path if the Glitter Bats reunite for good. Would she be content making music together until we become classic rock, or are her dreams bigger than that? She’ll be running back to TV the moment The Network calls. What then?

I’d be pushed to the sidelines of her perfect life. I want her to achieve her dreams, but I can’t give up everything for nothing. If I knew for sure she was all in, that might change things. But maybe it wouldn’t.

After finding our way back to each other this summer, losing her again would tear me apart.

“I honestly don’t know,” I say.

She lowers her voice dramatically, as if it’s a secret. “You only have like two days to figure it out.”

I sigh. “Enough about me. Let’s talk about what you want—are you going to ever tell Jane you’re in love with her?”

“Obviously not, because it’s not true,” Keeley says, staring petulantly at the floor.

“So you’re just going to suffer in silence,” I say, all too aware that it never works.

Her eyes snap to mine with a flash of something I’d almost call panic. “Hell yeah I’m going to suffer in silence, because what if she’s not into me? I don’t even know if shelikes girls.”

“Well, maybe you should just talk to her about your feelings, because you’re very good at making her blush.”

“I’m not the only one,” she says, crossing her arms and glancing in Riker’s direction as he comes around the corner. “Did you know those two are the only ones who really stayed in touch before this summer? I mean, the three of us hung out a few times, but I…most of the time I wasn’t included. You can’t tell me there’s nothing…”

She trails off as Riker comes over. He’s let the stylist cut his hair into an actual shag, and they’ve managed to wrangle it into messy curls with some extensions. “Why do you look like that one dude fromStranger Things?” Keeley asks, elbowing him.

Riker’s eyes light up. “IwishI could be as badass as Eddie Munson. Taking that as a compliment.”

“There is the wholebatconnection,” I say. “You look good.” Like me, Riker is a styled-up version of himself. He’s in a tight black tank and black designer jeans, and he’s got a flannel half on his arms. There are black leather bracelets on his wrists, and he too has been subjected to extra eye makeup, although less intense than mine.

Riker flexes. “I know, I’m a dreamboat. Feel free to keep complimenting me.”

Keeley punches his arm, and the two start trading friendly jabs. I fall quiet, letting them bicker like old times, knowing there’s no real reason for me to intervene.

And then Valerie emerges from wardrobe, and she takes my breath away.

She’s exuding pure sin in black leather pants and a tight black crop top, practically a corset that gives her already-perfect cleavage a distracting lift. Even in platform Doc Martens, she walks with remarkable grace. She’s wearing a choker around her neck and bloodred lipstick, evoking both Taylor Swift’sReputationera—arguably her hottest—and something entirelyVal.

“Oh my god, those pants should be illegal,” Keeley says.

Valerie spins around slowly, and I have to swallow thickly because there’s no hiding a hard-on in these jeans. Her ass looks like it was carved out of marble.

“Damn, Quinn,” Keeley wolf whistles, lightly smacking Valerie’s ass.

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