“Got drunk and decided to feel up one of his brother’s friends.”
“A dude?”
“A girl,” she scoffs. “With boobs twice the size of mine.”
Naturally, my gaze drops to her chest. She has absolutely nothing to feel inadequate about. “I find that hard to believe.”
“You haven’t seen her. Trust me.” She begins walking again, this time ahead of me. “Why do guys think it’s okay to do stupid shit when they’re drinking?”
“My guess is he wasn’t actually thinking at all,” I say, a half pace behind her.
“But what if he was?”
“Did you ask him?”
“No.” She flicks a glance over her shoulder. “It was all I could do not to cut his dick off.”
I smirk as we come to a clearing on the trail that overlooks one of the best spots on the lake, especially at night. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
“I’m not making out with you.”
“We already established that, but I like that you’re thinking about it.”
She takes me in again, visibly relaxing. “You’re something else, you know that?”
“So I’ve been told.” I start toward the water without her, but I eventually hear her footsteps crunch behind me on the path. “See, you do trust me.”
“I’m actually thinking about drowning myself.”
“That would be a shame.”
“It would solve my problems.”
“Maybe, but it would sure as fuck complicate mine.”
She laughs again as we reach a small beach. The trees that crowd the banks bow away from the opening, clearing out even more up top and giving way to a wide, unrestricted view of the majestic midnight sky, lit up by a million stars and a full, silver moon.
Hayden gasps and, in that moment, I’ve accomplished my goal for the night. A goal I didn’t even know I had until that moment.
“This is stunning,” she exhales. “I can’t believe I’ve never seen this spot before.”
“It’s pretty nondescript in the daylight.” I help her down the slight embankment and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the sand with the water tickling our feet. “But at night, it becomes this.”
She tips her face toward the sky and something about the way her mouth falls open in wonderment warms me. She always seems to have it together, so seeing her so relaxed—and knowing I helped her get here—feels like a victory. “I haven’t seen this many stars in forever.”
“Sounds like you need to get out more.”
“Too many lights in Green Bay. It’s hard to find a view like this.”
“Then maybe you should come here more often.”
“Maybe I should.” She flicks a glance my way, her eyes reflecting the twinkling lights above. “I feel like I should make a wish, but I’m not sure which star I saw first.”
“Eh, that’s only a nursery rhyme. Just pick one.”
“What if I have more than one wish?”
I chuckle. “No rules for that, either.”
“Hmm.” She closes her eyes for a moment and then quickly opens them again, as if trying for that first star all over again.
“Here.” I shift behind her and take one of her wrists in my hand. “Close your eyes again and, when I tell you to, open them and focus on the star right above your index finger.”
“Um, okay.” She laughs almost nervously and the movement causes her ass to brush against my thighs. “Give me a minute. I have to choose my wish.”
I hold my breath for obvious reasons.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
“Eyes closed?”
She nods, so I lift her hand and use my finger to straighten and brace hers, choosing a random spot in the sky. For some reason, I close my eyes, too. I haven’t made a wish since I was a kid, but something about being with her makes me want to.
“On the count of three, open your eyes.”
“Okay.” Her voice is soft and almost childlike. Vulnerable, even. And I love that she’s sharing it with me.
“One...”
She shivers and, with my arm running the length of hers, I feel the goose bumps rise on her skin.
“Two...”
Her intake of breath has me holding my own, as well. And then...
“Three.”
I open my eyes and claim my star just as it bursts into silver light and streaks across the sky.
Hayden gasps. “That’s mine!”
Mine, too. But I’m positive that’s where the coincidences end.
She probably wished for things to work out with her preppy boyfriend.
While I’m the fool who wished they wouldn’t… so maybe she’d give this small-town guy a chance, instead.
And six years later, I’m still the fool.
It doesn’t matter that she touched me today or that I can still feel the heat of her hand on my arm.
It doesn’t matter that she looked at me with the same kind of mixed emotion in her eyes that she did five summers ago when she finally gave me that chance I’d wanted so badly.
It doesn’t matter that we created a life together or that I can still feel her coming undone beneath me.
She’s always been his and she always will be, and I’m a fucking idiot for holding out hope that a stupid wish made by a fool heart could ever come true twice.
Speedometer set at seventy-five, I grab my phone, scroll to the contacts, and hit the name without thinking twice. She answers on the first ring.
“Hey, Mikayla, it’s Jesse. Sorry it’s taken me so long to call.”
Chapter 7
HAYDEN
“I don’t think we have enough food.”
My mother blinks at me from across her kitchen, where all of the various salads, hot dishes, and desserts, not including the cake and ice cream, are ready to be moved to the patio.
I made five different dishes, Mom made four, Hannah brought three, and Lane’s mom brought the biggest veggie tray I’ve ever seen. Dad also has fifteen pounds of burgers, brats, and chicken breasts ready for the grill, too.
“I’m just not sure it’s enough,” I say again, wringing my hands together in a moment of semi-panic.
“Honey, we’re expecting sixteen people, three of which are under the age of six. I think we’ll be fine.”
“Maybe I should have Lane get some chicken from the deli, too.”
“Hayden...” Mom laughs and comes around the table to place a hand on my arm. “This isn’t your first go-round. We’ve had plenty of birthday and holiday parties before, and we always have five times more food than we need.”
“We have more people today, though.” I bite the inside of my cheek nervously.
“Sweetie, there’s only one extra person on the guest list.”
“Uh huh.”
Her dark eyes twinkle knowingly and she reaches out to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Baby girl, what are you so nervous about?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that, aside from Jett’s baptism three and a half years ago, we haven’t spent more than a few consecutive minutes together.”