Page 103 of Connectio

“Yes, of course.” I turn into him. “It’s me who needs to ask you for forgiveness.”

Will rears back a little, brows pinched.

“No, I do. I’m sorry for holding us back. I’m sorry for not being completely honest with you, and I’m sorry for not trusting you with the real me.”

He cups my cheek. “Lib—”

“Don’t touch me!” Carly shouts.

We snap our heads to where she’s standing a few metres away.

“Don’t ever touch me again.” She wrenches her arm from Derek and storms past us on her way out of the marquee.

“Carly!” I call after her just as Derek stops next to us.

“Fuck!” he snaps.

Will grabs his arm. “Mate, there’s kids around. Watch your language.”

He runs his hands over his shaved head. “I’ve fucked up.”

I point my finger at him. “What did you do?”

“I…. Shit!”

Torn between leaving to go after Carly and staying to tell Will everything I need to tell him, I choose my best friend when he says, “Go. We’ll talk later.”

I nod and leave, soon finding Carly outside.

“What happened?” I rest my hand on her back, her shoulders bobbing as she sobs.

“I… I just want to leave.”

“Okay. I’ll get Will to drive us home.”

She wipes her eyes. “Will?”

“Yeah. He won’t mind.” I wipe a tear from her cheek, my heart breaking at her distress. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and sort it out?”

She shakes her head adamantly. “No.”

“Okay. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I head into the marquee again. Derek is standing with Bryce and Lucy, his head in his hands. I don’t know what he’s done, but whatever it is, it looks bad. Shit!

Not wanting to leave Carly alone for long, I approach Will who’s with the guy he was talking to earlier. “Hi. Sorry to interrupt—”

“Elizabeth, have you met Matt?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“He plays bass in the band.”

“Oh, that’s right. Nice to meet you.”

Matt tips his head, flicks his eyebrows, and grins while looking me up and down.

I narrow my eyes at him but focus back on Will. “I know this is a big ask, but would you mind taking Carly and me home? We came here with Derek, and she doesn’t want to see him right now.”