When Constellations Form (Light in the Dark 4)

Xander continues to peruse the menu. He finally makes up his mind and lays the menu on the end of the table.

Our waiter returns with our drinks, complimentary bread, and takes our meal order.

I dig into the bread. “Oh, God,” I moan. “That’s delicious.”

Xander’s brow raises in amusement, his lips quirking. “That good, huh?”

“So good.” I dip it in marinara sauce and take another bite.

He slides the whole breadstick basket over to me.

“Smart man,” I remark, grabbing another breadstick.

I wouldn’t normally be such a pig, but it’s almost one and I’ve only eaten a couple of crackers today.

I finish the second breadstick and push the basket back to him. “Hide them from me,” I plead with him.

He chuckles and takes the basket, placing it on the booth beside him.

“So,” I start, sipping at my Sprite, “I guess we have a lot to talk about.”

He sits back in the booth, stretching one of his arms along the back of it. The gesture stret

ches his ash gray t-shirt tight across his chest. I might drool a little bit, but damn the boy looks good.

“Things are going to change, that’s for sure,” he agrees.

“Prue’s going to be a big sister,” I joke. I play with my straw wrapper. “I guess it’s a good thing we got the house and not a condo.”

He smiles. “True. It wouldn’t have been fun to have to move again.”

“How are we going to tell everybody?” I ask, tapping my fingers against the table.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. We’ll figure something out.”

“Your mom is going to freak.”

He grins. “Oh, yeah,” he agrees. “She’ll probably try to move in.”

I laugh. “That honestly wouldn’t surprise me.”

Sarah, Xander’s mom, has been dropping hints for the last few months that she wants grandchildren. I was adamant in telling her that we wanted to wait a couple of years, so I could get established with a job. So this will be welcome news to her.

Our waiter brings our food to the table and I inhale the heavenly scent of the Alfredo sauce.

I dig in and it tastes as good as it smells.

Three bites in and disaster hits.

“Oh, no.” I shoot out of the booth, running for the bathroom.

“Thea?” Xander calls after me.

The swinging door to the bathroom swishes closed behind me and I run for a stall, dropping to my knees. Normally I’d be freaking out about how unsanitary this is, but all I care about is making it to the toilet and not throwing up all over myself.

I empty the contents of my stomach, my body heaving.

The door to the bathroom swishes open. “Thea? Are you okay?”