Page 136 of His Wicked Revenge

After some time passed, we pulled up to an opening of either grass or dirt. I’m not quite sure because the moon isn’t bright tonight. Which I guess makes it the perfect time to stargaze.

His car stops, and Leo shifts the gears into park. As I go to open my door, he grabs my hand. When I look at him, he shakes his head and then releases me. Getting out of his seat, I watch him round the front of the car and realize what is happening.

He opens the door for me. I smile like a schoolgirl with a crush, my cheeks burning pink as his hand reaches for me. I take his hand in mine, allowing him to help me out of the car.

‘What a gentleman,” I say playfully.

“Just because I’m mad at you doesn’t mean I can’t do nice things for you.” He smiles, dropping my hand to shut the passenger door.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a lookout.” He stares off into the distance with me. “My mother would bring me out here when I was feeling sad. We would pack a picnic and look at the stars until it got too cold out.”

As he looks out at the spot of land, my head tilts back to stare up at the stars. I’ve never seen this many shining so brightly in the sky.

“Wow,” I whisper.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

I dip my head in response as he leaves my side to walk toward the back of the car. “I’m surprised there aren’t a lot more people here.”

The trunk opens, and Leo pulls out two baskets. One with food and the other with blankets. The latter he holds out for me to take.

“It isn’t well known. I’m not even sure how my mom found it.”

With the baskets in our hands, Leo walks to the spot where he wants to set everything up. He lays a blanket on the floor from my basket and then sets the food out nicely.

While he gets everything situated, I walk away from him and to the cliff's edge.

The sound of the waves crashing below might have been calming if we were on a beach, but with how high up we are, it does nothing to ease the nerves in my body. I sense a presence behind me and feel the warmth of Leo’s arms wrap around my body.

“Afraid of heights?”

“I’m not too fond of them if I’m being honest.” Peering over the edge, I notice the rocks lining the bottom of the cliff. My body shivers, but not because it is chilly. “How far of a drop do you think that is?”

“Mmm, a good 300 feet.” Kissing my cheek, Leo reassures me, “You’ll be fine. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Nodding, I allow him to pull me back from the edge and take me to the blanket. As I sit down, he hands me a blanket, which I drape over my lap.

In front of us are two types of pasta, garlic bread, and an unopened bottle of wine. Leo takes two glasses out of the picnic basket as well as a wine opener.

“That mine.” I point to it.

He examines the object in his hands and smiles. “It is. Sorry, I never gave it back to you.”

“It’s fine.” I sigh. “Just had to buy a new one.”

He laughs while twisting the handle on the opener, which makes the metal worm sink into the cork. The little arms raise fully, and then he pushes them down—a soft popping sound echoes through the silence around us.

Pouring two glasses, he hands me one and then dishes the food. The containers he packed everything in kept the pasta hot. Thank goodness, because although the gesture is sweet, it would have sucked to eat cold pasta on a cold night.

As we ate, he asked me more about Eliza and how she was doing. He says he wasn’t surprised that she was released. I told him about my lunch plans with her, and he agreed that it might be good for me to have another friend.

Other than his sister.

He didn’t say that, but it was implied. After bumping into Stephanie at the store while I was with Chloe, I think Leo is wary of me being friends with his sister. That’s too bad. I like Chloe and wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her.

The entire dinner was full of casual conversation and felt easy. When we finished, and he cleared everything out of the way, we lay on our backs, staring at the stars. His hand found mine and intertwined our fingers. The warmth from his touch coursed up through my arm and flooded my entire body. I feel like I don’t need this blanket anymore.