Chapter 16 – Stella
STELLA
“Are you okay?” Holly asks as we wait in line for the bathroom during intermission.
I check my phone to see if I have any texts from Beau. I don’t, and shove my phone back into my clutch with a little more force than necessary. “Yeah.”
“Liar. What’s going on?”
“Tomorrow we go back to Valley and then the next day Beau leaves for Colorado. Christmas vacation is over.”
“You made it work before this, you two will be fine.”
“Yeah, but that was before . . . everything.”
She gives me a sympathetic smile.
“I think I love him, Holly.”
“Oh, Stell.” She wraps one arm around my shoulder and squeezes. “That’s good news. I’m so happy for you.”
“Then why do I feel so awful?” The back of my eyes sting with tears I refuse to shed in public.
“Did something happen today? You seemed fine earlier.”
“I told him I wanted to stay here for New Year’s Eve and he said no, that I should be there for Felix’s birthday.”
“First off, I would be so sad if you missed it. So would Felix. We always ring in the new year together. And second, he’s right. He doesn’t want you to do something you’ll regret.”
“It’s not even his actual birthday.”
“That’s semantics and you know it.”
“Why doesn’t he want to spend his last night in Arizona with me?”
“I’m sure that he does.”
I’m not so sure. I’ve brought as much drama to his vacation as I have fun.
Maybe he’s decided I’m not worth it and this is his way of letting me down easy.
He’s made no bones about the fact he isn’t a relationship guy.
And now he’s in one and we can’t even go to a party together because my brother hates him.
My head spins and I can’t make heads or tails of the thoughts racing through my brain. Irrational or not, I worry that the happy, fun bubble Beau and I have been living in has officially popped.
As soon as we get home from the theater, I text him.
Me
Home. Want to come over?
Beau
To your house?
Me
Felix isn’t home. He’s gone for the night.
Beau
How about we go to a party? I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.
He takes me to the house of a friend, of a friend from high school. The place is huge and the backyard is filled with people. Beau introduces me to his friend Lonnie and a bunch of other people he went to school with.
He isn’t drinking, but fills a cup of foamy beer for me.
I sip it as we mingle. Even sober and not playing any games, he is the life of the party.
Guys pat his back and bump his fist, eager to hear how he’s doing and offer congrats on his season, while girls bat their lashes and send him not-so-secret smiles.
“Do they not see me standing here?” I ask, after one hugs him a little too long and tells him to call her sometime.
“They’re just being nice.”
“Mhmm.”
“Damn you’re sexy when you’re jealous,” he whispers in my ear and then kisses down the column of my neck. He pulls back to stare into my eyes. The look he gives me takes the wind out of me, but before he says a word, a familiar form snags my attention across the yard.
“What is he doing here?” I mutter.
Beau follows my gaze to where Felix and Teddy stand next to the keg.
“They went to a bowl game. He’s not supposed to be in town,” I say, mostly to myself. My sexy boyfriend takes a step away from me, and the look on his face is something close to shame or maybe guilt.
It breaks my heart for him. And for me, if I’m honest. I want to bring him home and introduce him to Holly and my parents, go to parties without worrying about who we’ll run into. I want to stop sneaking around. Beau deserves that. He’s done nothing wrong.
“I’m gonna talk to him,” I say. “I’ll be right back.”
“No.” Beau grips my hand tighter. “I’ll talk to him.”