Calum couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Rett’s crestfallen face, the hurt in her gray eyes. He could see the instant he proved he wasn’t good enough for her. He would always let down the people he cared about. She was no exception to the rule, no matter how much he wished otherwise. Turning onto his side, Calum stared through the window at the sky, at the millions of stars that dotted the navy blue. He wondered if Rett was staring at them, too.
It was finally cooling down at night. There was no more oppressive heat, though the humidity lingered. He made thechoice to keep the window open in case Rett came over. She hadn’t for the past three nights. School had been horrible without her speaking to him.
Calum sighed and sat up, carding his fingers through his unkempt hair. It wasn’t fair on Rett to treat her like he had. It wasn’t her fault the entire town used everything as fodder for gossip. Rett had to have known what would happen if she was caught in his bed, yet she’d slept at his side anyway. That meant she accepted the consequences, right? Deciding to apologize tomorrow, he pushed himself out of bed.
If he couldn’t sleep, he might as well walk off the excess energy. The midnight hours gave him the chance to roam without judgment or disgust.
Finding the tree was more difficult in the middle of the night. The flashlight in his hand did little to disrupt the black of the woods, and he stumbled over unseen roots and branches that had fallen. He pushed on. He needed the familiarity—the security—of the place he shared with Rett. He hadn’t planned on going there when he first set out, but there it was in front of him.
The thick branch hung over the lazy river as it normally did, and leaves rustled in the breeze. The moon stared down, a half-full ball of silver, at the world below. A twig snapped behind him, and Calum swallowed thickly. He never found out if bears were common in Oak Creek. His heart pounded, and he took slow, deliberate steps toward the tree. Surely bears couldn’t climb. How could he have forgotten everything he’d ever known about wildlife? It, admittedly, wasn’t much, but it wassomething.
“You’re an idiot.”
He whirled around to see Rett emerging from the shadows. Her hands were tucked into the pockets of her plaid pajama pants, and the sweater she wore draped down to her knees. Calum shivered in a gust of wind, cursing himself for notgrabbing a sweater for himself. He could smell the coconut from where he stood. She raised a brow as she approached.
“You really wanna end our friendship, what we got, because of some stupid gossip?”
“Everyone hates me.”
“News flash, Calum, they’d hate you even if I wasn’t caught in your bed,” she said. Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “People ’round here will always find something to get their panties in a twist over. But you don’t get to tell me we’re over without including me in that decision.”
“I’m… I’m sorry, but—”
“But nothing!” she shouted, and he reared back at the echo of her voice. “I’m part of this, too. It ain’t just you this affects. Don’t you think I hate the gossip just as much as you do? It’s what it is, though. We can’t change that.”
“I want to.”
God, did he want to. He wanted to run away from the small town and take Rett with him. Somewhere they could be themselves and not worry about what other people thought. Not have to deal with the judgment. All he wanted was to be happy with her. Her lips quirked as if she knew what he was thinking. She came closer, and Calum’s mouth ran dry.
The bark of the tree pressed through the cotton of his T-shirt, but all he could focus on was the taste of cherry and mint on his tongue. Rett pushed even closer, deepening the kiss. It was sloppy, graceless, but it was everything. It was so hard to believe that only four nights ago, she was falling asleep in his arms. In his bed.
“You pull something like that again,” she whispered against his lips, “I swear on everythin’ I’ll make you regret it.”
“I already do,” he whispered back.
She grinned into the kiss before wrapping her arms around his neck. His palms, clammy and damp, clung to her hips, and helet out a sharp exhale. His heartbeat increased with every second she spent kissing him like she was. It spoke more than anything he could ever have said.
nine
Rett
RETT HATED CALUM. SHE did. She knew he was avoiding her when he never came to English class. When he wasn’t in school for the rest of the day. He was pretending they hadn’t just shared dozens of kisses the night before or that she went home instead of falling asleep in his arms. He might have been able to pretend, but she couldn’t. Shewouldn’t.
It was everything she’d wanted since his night of confessions, and she refused to act like nothing ever happened.
Tiffany scoffed and turned back to her locker two days after The Night. “What?”
“You told everyone.”
“So?”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to.” Tiffany glanced at Rett over her shoulder, tossing her blonde hair from her face. “Don’t tell me you actually care.”
“About what? Calum, or the fact you felt the need to put our business all over town?”
“You know it woulda happened anyway. At least five people saw you boltin’ from Calum’s window like the Devil hisself was on your ass.”
