“Thank you, David.” Anne craned her neck to look up at him. She was small, shorter than I was. And David was incredibly tall. They moved closer together. Anne could easily fit under his arm if they dared touch each other.
Bastian was watching them as well.
“Can I walk you to dinner?” David asked my friend. He flexed his hands as if they pained him. His shoulders were tense, his jaw rigid. He seemed to be preparing himself for a blow. The man who had joked about wearing Teenage Ninja Turtle pajamas was nowhere to be seen. He was replaced with a sad man. A broken man. But a man who looked at Anne Landes as if she were infinitely precious.
A twinge of sorrow shot through me. For Anne. For me.
This could go nowhere…
It could only end in heartache…
But sometimes the risk was worth the agony.
“Yes. I’d like that,” she told him, giving him another one of her smiles. Soft, sweet smiles I so very rarely saw. It lit up her whole face.
And the way David looked at her made the breath catch in my throat.
His shoulders relaxed. His hands loosened.
And his smile was just as luminous.
I wished I could see only the beauty of it.
Instead I saw unbearable certainty.
Bastian’s expression changed slightly. It became what I wished mine could be.
Hopeful.
“You guys go on. I’ll walk with Sara,” Bastian said.
Anne looked to me for confirmation that it was all right. Her loyalty to me would make her stay if I needed her to.
Yet she deserved something better. Even if I knew, deep in my bones that ultimately none of this would matter. Still, I liked to see her truly happy if only for a while.
“Go on. I’ll be right behind you,” I assured her.
David held the door open for her. He closed his eyes for a split second as she passed by, inhaling deeply. As though drinking her in.
And in the end, all that matters are those moments we allow ourselves to be whole…
The door closed behind them with a click. And then it was just Bastian and me. The tiny room felt even smaller.
I grabbed my sweater and jammed my arms through the sleeves. “We’d better get going.” I sounded too bright. Insincere.
I started to pull open the door to follow my friend when Bastian put his hand on my arm. I wanted to fold into him. To let him hold me tight and never let go.
I wanted it so, so much.
“Okay, David was somewhat right earlier.” Bastian’s gaze met mine. “Iwasworried about you.”
I tried to swallow. My mouth and throat were parched. As if I had been walking through the desert.
“Why would you be worried about me? You barely know me,” I scoffed. I tried to sound indignant. Unbothered. I had the sense that I wasn’t fooling him in the slightest. Because Ishouldpull my arm away. Because I shouldn’t let him touch me.
It wasn’t his right.
But I didn’t move. We stayed locked together. His hand around my wrist.
