Stay in Heartache? He was sure that would be Sarah’s preference, although he could move on and scout other locations in northern Tennessee or Kentucky for future episodes.
One thing was certain, he needed to figure out what was going on with her. Because whatever it was must be serious. It would take all his willpower to stay here and wait for Sarah to confide in him when what he really wanted to do was catch that plane to Miami by himself and interrogate every last kid in her school until he found out what had her spooked.
For now, he needed to leave Erin’s and put tonight outof his mind. It had been welcome. Incredible, even. But this wasn’t the right time in his life to make choices for himself.
Chapter Eleven
Sarah thought aboutchecking her phone for the tenth time in an hour. But the last time she’d looked she’d gotten a Twitter direct message from “lockeduplove47”. It totally creeped her out that someone from her mom’s hometown wanted to connect with her. For her last night in Heartache, she didn’t want to think about the past. The soccer game had ended. Everyone was leaving the bleachers to climb up a nearby hill so they could have a party in the middle of nowhere. It sounded fun, and Lucas had told Ally he’d be there even though he hadn’t put in an appearance at the game.
Sarah really, really needed to have fun tonight. Stressed about leaving Heartache, she had called her counselor on her “for emergencies only” private line to confide about the letter from Brandon. She’d regretted the confidence as soon as the words were out. Sure, it had felt good for a nanosecond to share the truth with someone, but what if her counselor told her dad? Theresa had said Sarah needed to think hard about going to her father with the information orelse they’d need to “revisit” the issue. Did that mean Theresa would tell him anyhow? He’d lose it.
Plus, what if he made her open the letter? The thing felt like a bomb in her purse that she had to handle carefully. What if there was some weird detail in there about her mom or her mom’s death? She couldn’t stand for the whole nightmare to come back just when they’d finally, finally put some space between them and that awful night. She couldn’t go backward. Refused to return to the days when she woke from nightmares five times before dawn and cried through the hours she didn’t sleep.
“Hey, New Girl.” A guy’s voice called from behind the bleachers. “Are you coming down or do I have to go up there and get you?”
Her heart raced.
She turned on the cold metal seat to see Lucas standing on the grass while kids flooded out of the stands to either head toward the parking lot or up the hill for the party.
“It depends,” she shouted back, a tingly excitement taking hold and chasing away the worries about everything else. “If you keep calling me New Girl, you’re going to have a tough time getting me to go anywhere with you.”
He folded his arms.
“Is that how it is?”
“Definitely.” She had no idea where this boldness had come from. She’d been taking other kinds of risks this year, but not with boys.
Especially not ones she genuinely liked.
“Then I guess I didn’t make the same impression on you that you did on me.” He didn’t seem to care that other kids noticed them talking.
A few even pointed and whispered.
Would he really make a scene like this unless he’d broken up with the girlfriend?
“Is that so?” She edged closer to the bars where she peeped through to watch him.
. The lights had gone out right after the soccer game and the sun was setting, but her eyes had adjusted to the growing dimness. Hints of purple edged the sky.
“You’re really not coming down here, are you?” he asked.
“Not unless you remember my name.” She was pretty sure he remembered her name.
Although she worried just a little that he hadn’t given in and said it yet.
He nodded slowly. Watching her. Then he walked toward the bleachers.
A thrill shot through her. He was coming for her. By the time he rounded the corner of the bleachers, the seats were empty except for her. He didn’t bother finding the stairs. He stepped up onto the first level and took big steps diagonally to her.
The shortest distance between two points…
Her breath caught in her throat when he reached her. He stood a step below and leaned over her. One hand landed on the metal seat on either side of her butt.
“Hey,Sarah.” He drew out her name in a way that made her shiver.
“Hey.” She felt nervous inside, not like the night at the playground where she’d been on edge. “You did know my name.”
“Of course.” His dark eyes wandered over her face as if he was going to memorize her. “I just wanted to wait to use it until I was nice and close to you.”
