When they head inside Kieran’s trailer, I ride back to Frankie’s, my head spinning. They don’t trust me like they used to.
If Sam and his gang figure out who I am before I finish this, if they realize whose life matters most to me…
Cole might be the price they decide I should pay.
COLE
Morning hits like punishment. Sunlight slices across my bedroom, the kind that feels rude on principle.
I squint at the ceiling, vaguely aware I never really slept. Maybe an hour. Two at most. 7:12a.m. That gives me eighteen minutes before Noah wakes up, ready to roar through the morning routine.
I am absolutely not ready. I feel like a crushed soda can. My body’s heavy, my brain fogged with the same looping thought: Xaden, Xaden, Xaden.
God, I tried not to. I tossed and turned, rearranged my pillow like that ever helped anyone. But he was in every dream I didn’t quite fall into. Every memory I couldn’t stop from playing, like a sad little film reel from a better life.
And for some reason, my subconscious went straight for the sultry ones. Yes, sultry. Who even uses that word? Besides heroines in Harlequin novels. Which I have definitely never read, by the way.
Last night my brain decided to replay one of our dates. Not that we were calling them dates, we just ‘hung out’. Not like in school, where we sneaked out somewhere private to kiss, or where Xaden’s fingers lingered on mine when he suddenly needed to give me a pencil fifteen times per class.
Evenings were different. He picked me up, walked me to the passenger side and insisted on opening the door for me. Then he kissed me like I was fragile and burning at the same time.
***
That night, Xaden drove us to the overlook.
“You always drive me to places with good views,” I said.
Xaden looked at me like I was the view, brushing my knuckles with his thumb.
I noticed he was still wearing his jacket and asked if he was cold. He got all tongue-tied, and it was so unlike him I almost panicked he wanted to break up with me.
But then he took off his jacket. And I saw the tattoo.
A beautifully made constellation on his bicep.
“I wanted something that reminds me of our first kiss,” Xaden said bashfully, and I just looked at him, eyes full of wonder. Thinking he’s the most amazing, loveliest boy in the whole universe. I ran my fingersalong the stars while Xaden was looking at me like he couldn’t believe I was really his.
“Do you like it?” he asked, almost shyly.
“I love it,” I said, blushing, because when he looked at me like that, I just… melted.
“Good,” Xaden said softly, leaning closer. Then he whispered: “Cole — I love you.”
I remember climbing over the console, straddling him, kissing him until we were both flushed and dizzy.
I remember running my fingers along the stars and saying I loved him.
I remember his breath catching in his throat, and how I had never been happier.
***
I’m still thinking about it when I hear Noah’s door creak down the hall. Tiny footsteps. Then the sound of something being dragged. Soon, Noah appears in my doorway, hair sticking up like a science experiment gone terribly wrong. He’s got his new stuffed triceratops on a leash. It’s almost his size.Thanks, Mom.
He stares at me. “Dinosaur the Dog is hungry. You look like a raccoon.”
I blink. “What?”
“You got big circles around your eyes. Are you turning into a raccoon?”
