Page 35 of Stars Like Confetti

"Sorry." I let their shirt drop.

Sophie just stood there with her shit-eating grin, sipping at her coffee like she was innocent this whole matter.

Again, I'd thank her for the—loving--abuse and manipulation later.

"Why do you think I was so hard on you about coming here?" She turned to my partner.

Partner. I smiled to myself, taking a brief moment to bask in the knowledge that Theo was mine again.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Theo."

They extended a hand, accepting the one Sophie offered them. "Likewise. Looks like I'm going to have my hands full with the two of you."

"Well, I didn't entirely plot this whole thing. I did my research and I hoped, but I'm glad that it paid off. You are a very hard person to find."

Theo snickered. "And you still did it. I don't know if I should be scared or impressed."

"Both," I murmured.

Laughing, Theo glanced from Sophie's coffee to my empty hands. "Should I grab you a drink?"

After glancing at the stack of paperwork Theo still had to handle, I shook my head. Maybe I could peel myself away from their side for a few minutes… but I didn't have to be happy about it. I needed to tell Sophie that I was leaving Tennessee—for good.

Theo tightened their arm around my waist and leaned down, planting a passionate kiss on my lips. "I'll see you at dinner, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

. It didn't matter how many years passed, or how many times I was lucky enough to feel Theo's lips on mine. Every kiss was just like the first. Their hand wrapped so tightly around my waist that their hand rested on the opposite hip; the way they held on for a millisecond longer than they probably should, as if they couldn't get enough. The small peck they delivered when they finally pulled away, like they were fighting an invisible battle to end the kiss. My stomach flipped, warring with the nausea churning my gut at the thought of having this conversation with Sophie. Fanning my face, I led her to the small tables outside the built-in café

By the time I made my own iced coffee and took the seat in front of her, I had to sit on my hands to hide how much they trembled.

"Should I apologize?" Sophie asked, breaking the tense silence between us.

"What?" I said incredulously. "No, why would you think that?"

"Because you look like you're about to vomit all over the table."

"Because I'm moving back to Atlanta." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. It wasn't how I planned to tell her, but the news was out now.

To my surprise, Sophie let out a large breath and collapsed into her folded arms on the table. "Oh, thank fuck for that."

"What?" I laughed. "What's the matter with you?"

She raised her head and propped her chin in her hand. "I thought you were going to hate me."

"Oh, I do." I dodged the straw wrapper she threw in my direction. "But not enough to disown you for doing something I've spent years trying to get the balls to do myself."

"There's surgeons that could do th—ah!" She chose paper as her weapon, I chose ice. "I'll accept that as a thank-you," she said.

"It's the only one you'll get after that comment." I couldn't let her ego get too big, after all. "Does that mean you don't hate me for leaving?"

Sophie smiled sadly and shook her head. " The minute I decided to track down Theo, I knew it was a possibility." She swiped her finger through the condensation on the side of her plastic cup. "Will you finally tell me why you never tried to find them?"

For a long time, I couldn't even admit that to myself. I turned my gaze down to my coffee, tracing shapes into the water droplets. "Because I was scared of the outcome," I murmured so softly that I wasn't sure Sophie had even heard me. But of course she did because you never got lucky enough for best friends not to know you inside and out.

"Did you really think that they'd forget about you?"

"Most people would have. I think I might have if I were in their position. Even as a teenager I was… a lot."