Page 63 of Second Down Darling

We meet by the register where he has some fruity wine cooler for me and beer forhimself.

“Just like old times.” He winks, and my heart skips in mychest.

“Careful, stud. You have a gametomorrow.”

He nods. “I solemnly swear to only have one beer and a handful of junk food. We’ll save the rest for nexttime.”

Nexttime?!

Inside, I’m doing cartwheels. In my head, they’re graceful and smooth. Like how Roxy would do them instead of my twitchy, circus clownmovements.

We take off down a dark road until he pulls over through a path that opens up to afield.

“How’d you find this place?” I ask as I unload the food from thetrunk.

He grabs a blanket and the drinks and shrugs. “One of my first nights here, I needed to think. My mom was still helping us get settled, so she watched Asher. I went driving and found myself in this field. Lookup.”

We step out from behind the trees into a clearing, and my breath catches at the sight of so many stars. An infinitesimal number blink down at us. The crisp air is thick with the scent of cedar and damp earth and a hint of mesquite from the bonfire, and for a moment, I feel like I’m standing on the edge of theuniverse.

“This isincredible.”

“I knew you’d love it.” The smile he gives me hits me as intensely as the sight of the brilliantsky.

He lays out the blanket and pats the ground next to him. I sit and hand him my drink. I don’t have to explain anything. Those large hands squeeze the top, and a second later, the cap is gone, no bottle openerneeded.

I hand him his beer, and we switch drinks. After he opens his, he holds out the bottle neck, and I clink it withmine.

“Cheers,” we say at the same time andlaugh.

We sit in silence and stare up at thesky.

“A shooting star!” I point at the bright streak cutting across the inkynight.

He bumps his shoulder into mine. “What’d you wishfor?”

“How’d you know I made awish?”

He gives me a look, and I chuckle. “Okay, yeah. I made one. I wished for you to have a great gametomorrow.”

His dark eyes burn into me. “You know what I love aboutyou?”

At the word ‘love,’ all of my insides quiver. “Wh-what?”

“I love how much you care about the people in your life.” He reaches out and cradles my face. His rough palm sends chills all over my body. “It’s taken me a long time to realize something,cupcake.”

I swallow. “What’sthat?”

He drags his thumb against my bottom lip. “You’re the one I should’ve dated in high school.” My eyes immediately flood, and his eyebrows furrow. “I’m an idiot, Charlotte. I never appreciated what was right in front of me this whole time. Can you forgive mefor…”

He doesn’t finish the sentence, but I know what he’s trying to say. I don’t want to bring up my sistereither.

I nod and choke out, “It’sokay.”

His jaw tightens, and he shakes his head. “It’s not okay. It’s pretty fucking far from being okay, but I’d love to try to make it up to you. If you’ll let me. If you’ll give me achance.”

I’m so shocked, I can barely breathe, but once his words sink in, I melt like a piece of chocolate in the hotsun.

His thumbs take slow swipes across my cheeks to dry mytears.

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