Page 160 of Stay With Me

When Vada runs into the little boy’s mom, she tells her that her mother, who died after childbirth, is in heaven watching over Thomas J.

Then she goes back to class for the last day and reads her poem that’s clearly about Thomas J. It’s equally sweet and heartbreaking.

And then the “My Girl” song plays as she rides off on her bike with her new friend, Judy.

“See, it gets a happy ending,” Tripp says.

I sit up and give him a look of disbelief.

“Are you serious? She loses her best friend.”

“That’s part of life, Sunny. Now she’s learning to cope and how to move on.”

I pull away, rolling my eyes and refusing to accept this movie as anything but a tragedy.

It has me wondering how much he thinks about Billy when he watches these types of movies. I’m not sure I could ever watch a sad one if anything happened to Noah.

“I hate this movie. Zero out of ten. Do not recommend.” I grab the remote and turn off the TV.

“So I’m guessin’ you don’t wanna watchMy Girl 2?”

“There’s asecondone?” I shriek. “What happens in that? Her dad dies next? Gets a puppy and then they accidentally run him over?”

The corner of his lip curls up as if he’s fighting back a smile. “No, she goes to visit her uncle to learn more about her mother and shares a kiss with her step-cousin at the end.”

“What? You’re lyin’.”

He full-on laughs at my reaction. “I swear. She’s only thirteen, and there’s no relation.”

“I still don’t trust it.” I fold my arms. “Now I need to watch somethin’ else to cleanse my brain and remove my memory of the past two hours.”

He stands, brushing dirt off his jeans, and then looks at me. “Find a new one to watch while I take a quick shower. Then I’ll make us something for dinner. What’re you in the mood for?”

“Hmm…I’ll let ya know when you’re done.”

He smirks. “Okay.”

Before walking away, he leans down to meet my eyes. “Are you alright? You’re not gonna stay out here and cry while I’m gone, are you?”

“No.” I sniffle.

He cups my jaw and brushes his thumb along my cheek. The way he looks at me has me in a chokehold and unable to move. Almost as if he’s trying to see into my soul.

“I’ll be back in fifteen.” He dips down, kisses my forehead, and walks toward his bedroom.

You’d think after over three months of living together, we wouldn’t continue to have this unspoken connection that is still there after one month of dating. Sometimes I daydream about what it’d be like to tell him I want to get back together and how nice it’d be to give into these feelings. The ones that hit me so strongly, there are times I forget I can’t just go up to him and kiss him because I drew the line between us.

After ten minutes of searching, I finally land on a new movie to watch.The Last Songwith Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. Surely a movie with her in it won’t be sad. It looks like a teenage girl reconnecting with her dad after her parents split.

As long as no one else dies, I’ll be fine.

The trailer has upbeat music and a Miley Cyrus song, which we love to see.

Plus, a little eye candy never hurt anyone either.

Bingo.

I cue it up and wait for Tripp. Lately, our movie nights have been few and far between with him working late. Sometimes I wonder if he’s purposely working more because being around me is getting too hard for him. I’m invading his home and space, and although he told me it was fine for me to be here, I might be overstaying my welcome.