Page 181 of Mountain Boss

Where I kept my head down in class, Sterling apparently got sent to the principal’s office on the regular.

We keep telling stories.

Keep tracing patterns on each other with our fingertips.

We keep sharing.

We make up for all the times we didn’t talk.

And when Sterling curses, pointing out that the sunrise is starting to glow around the curtains, I feel like I know him.

I feel like we’ve known each other for years.

I feel like I can call Sterling Black my friend.

Chapter 135

Sterling

I reach downto the hand Courtney has on my chest and lace our fingers together. “Go to sleep, Honey.”

“But it’s almost time to get up.” She yawns, and I close my eyes at the feeling of her open mouth against my bare skin.

“There’s nothing for us to do until the groups come back, and that won’t be until eleven at the earliest.”

Courtney lets out a sleepy hum. “You’ll stay?”

“Yeah.” I give her fingers a light squeeze. “I’ll stay.”

And as she slips into dreamland, I think about everything we talked about.

Think about the things I told her that I haven’t told anyone.

Think about the series of events that brought her to me.

I hate that part. Hate all she’s been through. Hate how she’s had to do it all on her own.

I understand what it’s like. But I hate it for her.

And as I follow her into unconsciousness, I do something I haven’t done in a long time.

I think about the future.

Chapter 136

Courtney

I feellike I’ve had a permanent blush all day, so I thank Helios for removing the sun from the sky and making it dark enough that no one can see the color in my cheeks anymore.

“Court, you want another beer?” Simpson asks as he stands from his spot next to me.

I automatically glance at Sterling, even as I tell Simpson yes.

Sterling is on his third as well. And I have to admit, the idea of drunken sex with that man isveryappealing.

“Thank you.” I accept the opened bottle from Simpson.

When I woke up this morning—at eleven, when the alarm Sterling set on my phone went off—I was alone. But his side of my small bed was still warm.

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