Page 57 of Stay Tonight


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“Tink, I’d never let you fall.”

She nods. “You first.” Her eyes are soft as she peers up at me.

“Fine,” I concede. “I’ll show you.” I sit in the chair that I opened and set up for her and demonstrate how to recline and lay it all the way back. “See. There’s nothing to it.”

“Damn,” Dad mutters. “That looks comfortable. Is that the chair that Orrin was talking about that we all need for when we go camping?” he asks.

“Yep. I tried it at his place and had to buy one for us.” I point to my chest and then back to Alyssa. “Here, try it.” I lock the levers back in place and stand, letting Dad take my place and explain how it works.

“This chair is bad for me. I could fall asleep,” he says, placing his hands behind his head. “Carol,” he calls out to Mom. “Honey, come try this out. We need these.”

Once Mom tries it out, Alyssa takes her turn. “Wow. This is so much better than the chairs that we usually use.”

“Right?” Jade agrees. “When Orrin came home with them, I was like, those things are too bulky to pack around, but after using them, it’s so worth it.”

“We better get snacks. The movie is about to start,” Mom tells us.

“I’ll go,” I tell Alyssa. She’s all kicked back in the chair, looking sexy as hell in her cutoff jean shorts, tank top, and flip-flops.

“Nachos, please.” She grins up at me. “And lemonade if they have it. If not, just a bottle of water.”

I lean down and kiss the top of her head because her lips aren’t an option. “You got it. I’ll be right back.” I can feel the stares of my family. They’ve seen me be affectionate with her, but normally I never would have leaned in to kiss her like that. Well, the top of her head, but she looked too damn cute. I wanted to taste her lips, something I can’t stop thinking about, but that wasn’t an option, so I had to improvise.

“What was that?” Archer asks, rushing to catch up with me.

“What was what?” I keep my gaze straight ahead. I’m grabbing us nachos first.

“With Alyssa.”

“The chair? We hang out so much I thought I’d be nice and buy her one too.” I chance a look at my brother, and he rolls his eyes.

“Come on, Sterling. What’s up?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” It’s the truth, well, for the most part. I do know that I’m in love with her, but I don’t know what to do about it. I don't feel like getting into it with him, and definitely not here with all the ears of Willow River in attendance. All I need is Maureen, Kennedy’s grandma, to hear. She’ll take the information and run with it, and I’m not ready for that yet. I’m still processing. Right now, she’s mine, in my heart, and my best friend for the world to see. Making a move could change things. Yeah, it could go in my favor, but there’s that fifty percent chance that it won’t. The fear of that other fifty percent is holding me back. That and I don’t know if I can trust my judgment because I want her to want me more than anything.

“I—” Archer starts, but I shake my head, stopping him.

“Not here. Please.”

He nods, pressing his lips together.

“Next,” the teenager working the booth calls up.

I step up to the window. “Hi, I’d like an order of nachos and a soft pretzel with cheese.”

“When have you ever passed up nachos for a soft pretzel?” Archer asks, his brow raised.

“I’m not. She’s going to find out there were pretzels and wish she would have gotten that instead. This way, she can have both.”

“You’re sunk, brother.” Archer slaps a hand on my shoulder as I shove my change into my pocket and step to the side for him to order.

I don’t comment. Not that he expects me to. We both know he’s right. I just need to figure out what to do about it. I’ve stepped up my flirting game, and I touch her every chance I get, but I still need to decide if the risk of losing her is worth it.

Once Archer has his food, we head to the lemonade stand. They also have sweet tea, so I grab one of each while Archer orders a sweet tea, and we head back to our area.

“Aww, man, I didn’t know they had pretzels,” Alyssa says when she stands from her chair to help me with the drinks and food.

“I know. That’s why I ordered you one.” I hand her the lemonade, and then the pretzel and the side order of cheese that I almost dropped three times on the way back to our seats.

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