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“Holy fuck, we have to go right now or I’m seriously going to fuck the living shit out of you.” I shake my head, stepping away from her.
Sorrell’s pupils are blown, her cheeks flushed. By the look on her face, she was just imagining all of the dirty shit we’d get up to if we let this fire burn a little brighter between us, too. She laughs, and the sound makes my chest ache with joy. Her eyes travel down my body, settling just below my waistband. “You’d better hope that your hard-on settles down by the time we reach town, or you’re gonna be getting some strange looks, baby.”
Baby.
It’s a trite term of affection, one that would have made my skin crawl and my teeth itch a long time ago, but I used tolovewhen Sorrell called me that. This is the first time she’s called me baby since the accident, and the sound of that word on her lips makes a lump form in the base of my throat.
“Sorry. Was that—was that dumb?” Anxiety clouds her eyes. “I don’t know why I said that. It just…came out.”
“No. It wasn’t dumb. That’s…what you always used to call me,” I tell her slowly. “Before.”
I can’t tell if that makes her happy or if it freaks her out. She just nods, taking my hand. “Okay then. Let’s go, baby. I’m fucking starving.”
23
SORRELL
It’s bitterly cold outside.Overhead, a sea of stars bristles above us in the expanse of velvet black, distant pinpricks of light that I find myself appreciating for the first time since I arrived at Toussaint. The night is close and dense like a shroud. It presses in from all sides, clinging to us as we make our way down to the parking lot.
Yeah, that’s right.
There’s a goddamn parking lot. It’s nearly half a mile away from the academy, located on the other side of the hill behind the school’s gym. With the lockdown in place and weekend passes revoked, none of Toussaint’s students were permitted to venture over there. It’s a miracle that no one ever mentioned it in passing, but…then again, why would they? Frankly, I feel stupid when I first see it.
Down the grassy slope leading away from the hillside, the small lot is half empty now, with half of the senior year either in Seattle or down in Sumner, there are still plenty of vehicles sitting in the numerous numbered spots. Had I have known about it, I probably would have stolen a car in order to escape weeks ago. I would have hot-wired one of the older models and bailed as soon as I could have. Only, I probably can’t hot wire a car. I just thought that I could.
Theo is quiet as he drives us into town. The silence is comfortable, though, and I relish it as we cut through the dark, winding our way to an unknown destination that Theo insisted on keeping a secret. A part of me is disappointed when we sail straight down the lit-up main street, heading to the very outskirts of Sumner.
Pulling into a tiny restaurant’s parking lot, I grin when I see the name of the place:The Golden Palace.“Chinese food? Chinese food is my favorite!”
Concentrating on the rearview mirror as he parks the car, Theo spares me a sheepish sidelong look, and realization hits me like a lightning bolt.
“Urgh. You already knew that, didn’t you?” I say.
“I might have already known that,” he admits. “It might look kinda seedy, but the food here is incredible.”
“Have we been here before?” It seems like a stupid question. Sumner isn’t very big, by all accounts, and there can’t be that many restaurants. Wemusthave eaten here before the accident. For some reason, I want to know, though. For sure.
“We have,” Theo confirms.
“And I like it?”
Theo kills the car’s engine. He smirks devilishly. “Why don’t we go find out?”
I can’t wait. Theo jumps out of the car and runs around to the passenger side, rushing to open my door for me. This gentlemanly side to him is a far cry from the guy I first met at Toussaint. He smirks at me, more handsome than ever, but his expression changes as I climb out of the Mustang. Pain flashes across his face. I slam the car door, rounding on him. He shakes out his hand, wincing.
“Oh my god, are you all right?”
“Yeah, it just spasms sometimes. The nerve damage gets triggered by the cold.”
“You havenerve damage?”
“Ah. Yeahhh, kind of. I can do most things, and it won’t bother me, but playing can hurt a lot. The tape helps a little. Makes my fingertips burn a little less. Looks crazy, but…whoa. What’s up? You okay?”
“You aren’t going to be a concert cellist anymore.” Lani told me that, the day on the grass when I quizzed her about why he was always alone. I remember feeling super upset and uncomfortable about her comment. Now I understand why.
Theo looks a little uncomfortable. “No, I’m not.”
“Because ofme.”
