Page 128 of Touch the Sky

“Was gonna be the last time.”

They look at each other again, and even though neither of them cracks a smile, I could swear they’re trying not to laugh.

“C’est vrai!” I growl. “It was!”

Natalie holds up her hands in surrender. “Okay, so if you’re not hooking up anymore, and Tess wants the job, then can you just explain all that to Shel?”

The way Tess looked at me in the field flashes through my mind like a bolt of lightning, leaving everything burnt to a crisp.

I shudder.

“I do not think that is an option. When we were out looking for Shel, Tess told me…”

I wince and dig my nails into the tops of my thighs.

“She says she wishes she never moved to the farm.”

Natalie gets up from the papasan chair and hip checks me so I’m forced to move over and make room for her. The three of us are so squished on the two-seater that Maddie is practically sliding to the floor, but I’m suddenly too exhausted to do anything except let my head slump against Natalie’s shoulder.

“Tess was probably just really upset,” she tells me. “I mean, her kid was missing. She was freaking out.”

I shake my head as much as I can without rolling off her shoulder.

“I think it’s more than that. Shel is her priority, of course, and after what happened tonight…”

I squeeze my eyes shut. I’ve never wished I could turn back time as much as I do now.

“I just don’t think she’ll stick around,” I whisper.

The two of them try to comfort me, but I jump to my feet and begin pacing the room. My lungs feel like they’re being squeezed too tight to breathe.

“I should have known,” I mutter. “I should have known she’d never stay.”

I make it all the way to Natalie’s tiny kitchen—which isn’t saying much considering it’s basically just the other half of the living room—and brace my hands on the counter, breathing hard.

“You weren’t just hooking up, were you?” Natalie asks once I’ve calmed down enough to turn around and face the couch again.

Maddie looks like she’s close to tears herself.

“She means a lot to you,” she says in a soft voice.

There’s no point lying.

“She does.”

My chest gets even tighter, but the truth still finds a way out.

“I…I think I’m falling for her.”

I gasp and clutch at the counter again as it all comes crashing down on me.

I’m falling for her, and there’s nothing to catch me now.

My friends scramble up from the couch and come running to my side.

“Hey,” Natalie soothes while Maddie rubs my arm. “It’s okay. You mean a lot to her too. We can all see it. I think she’s falling for you just as hard.”

I shake my head.