Page 30 of Sparks Fly

I tipped my head back toward the sky. “Confession,” I said after a moment. “Sometimes I come up here and smoke a joint. I don’t smoke often, just when I really need to exhale.”

Addison laughed softly and shook her head. “I’ve never smoked pot in my life,” she admitted.

I turned toward her with a raised brow. “Not even once?”

“Nope,” Addison said with a small grin.

I snorted quietly. “You might be the goodest good girl I’ve ever met,” I teased.

Addison rolled her eyes, though a blush crept up her neck. Like she enjoyed being called a good girl. I filed that away for later.

“That’s a fair assessment,” she said. “But I don’t judge.”

“I know,” I replied with a slight smile. “That’s what’s weirdly hot about it.”

She lifted her whiskey glass to hide part of her face as the blush deepened, and I let myself look this time. I noticed the shape of her mouth, the line of her neck, and the way the city light softened the angles of her face.

Before I crossed a line I was sure she ready for yet, I looked away.

The city hummed quietly around us. I usually tuned it out, but tonight it felt like background music.

“You know the first time I realized I liked girls?” Addison asked after a moment, her voice quieter.

I turned toward her. “When?”

“I started wondering when I was around ten, but I really knew when I was fourteen. At summer camp.”

Her gaze drifted as she told me about a counselor with braids, a bonfire, and the feeling that had settled inside her like a secret she didn’t know how to carry.

Something shifted in my chest as I listened. It wasn’t attraction this time. It was the weight of her trust. She was handing me something fragile, and I knew how rare that was.

“Did anyone ever know about her?” I asked when she finished.

Addison met my eyes. “Not until you.”

My heart thudded harder than I wanted it to.

“I was twelve,” I told her. “Her name was Dana.”

* * *

We talked for hours after that. I brought the pie up to the rooftop, and we ate it straight from the tin with two forks and drank more whiskey.

Eventually, Addison checked her phone and sat up. “Oh my God, it’s almost 1 a.m. I should probably get home.”

We headed back inside, and she called an Uber. We had both had too much to drink to drive.

When her car arrived, I walked her downstairs and kissed her cheek.

“Night, Sunshine.”

She smiled softly. “Good night, Sawyer.”

I watched until the car disappeared before heading back upstairs.

After changing into pajamas and climbing into bed, my phone buzzed.

Addison: Tonight was perfect. Thank you.