Page 78 of Trust Me

“I mean, if you want to stay—”

“No,” I said, surprising myself. “My room kind of got taken over anyway. If I stay, I’ll probably drink more, and I don’t need you to carry me out of here.”

“Then let’s head home.”

He stood and held out his hand. I eyed it for a second, thinking about what I’d seen on the side of the house. This wasn’t that, but I still hesitated.

Ignoring his hand, I got to my feet. As I walked toward the house, I blinked rapidly to clear my head. The music inside pounded through my skull, making me wonder if I should stay longer. Dancing sounded like a good time.

Turning around, I stopped moving. Oli ran directly into me and made a startled sound.

“If I was on the list, who would it be with?” I asked.

His eyes widened, the first real sign of surprise I’d seen from him. Something about him not being ahead of a situation sent a thrill through me.

“Hypothetically,” I added. “I mean, it’s a party. Like spin the bottle, but I’m not kissing anyone.”

“Um . . .” He glanced around, but it didn’t feel like he was actually looking at anyone. “Not the girl you were dancing with.”

“You saw me?”

“From the moment you talked to her.”

“Damn.”

“Speaking of—” He grabbed my hand and started jogging through the crowd. I followed his gaze and saw Mila standing by the stairs. When she noticed me, she lifted her hand in a wave, but I turned away, continuing to follow beside Oli.

It was probably rude, but I had to agree with him. There was no spark there. If I was being honest, I didn’t think there had been with Sadie either. I’d been following a set of unspoken rules, going through the motions. It hurt when things ended, but I’d never considered going back.

As Oli tightened his grip on my hand, I didn’t pull away. Not until we reached the car and he opened the door for me.

“Buckled?” he asked after he sat down.

“Yup. You?”

His signature smile lit up his face. “All good over here, Broku.”

“Better be.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll kick your ass.”

“Sounds counterproductive.”

“So is letting you sleep in my bed.”

“How so?”

Waving him off, I leaned my head against the window.

“I want to see the stars,” I murmured. Looking at him, I watched the way it made his cheek twitch. “We’ll have to go search for them sometime.”

The faintest smile broke through, but he didn’t take his eyes off the road. “You promise?”

The hope in his voice twisted something in my gut. At that moment, I knew that he would take whatever I said next seriously, and I had a suspicion that, to him, a broken promise was a deadly sin.

“Sure, man.”

“To the stars, then,” he said, his voice carrying a note of genuine excitement.

Turning to stare at the sky, I swallowed hard. It was a good thing there was no storm tonight.