Four years earlier
Erin
“Comfy?” Tyler asks.
“Uh-huh.” He has his muscled arm around me, and my head is resting on his padded shoulder. At seventeen, he’s already tall and strong.
We’re lying on the shore of Lake Monona, in Olin Park. It’s late and the park is closed, but we jumped over the locked gates. It’s the beginning of summer, and the air is cool and crisp. The sky’s darkening. The stars are coming out one by one¸ twinkling like jewels. The crushed grass scent mingles with Tyler’s musk, and his heart beats a steady rhythm under my ear.
“Don’t you wish we could stop time?” I whisper. I want to hang onto this precious moment. I have a feeling the good times won’t last, and I don’t know why. I’ve never been superstitious before.
“No,” Tyler says, and turns to brush his lips on my forehead.
“No?”
“Nope. Don’t wanna stop time. I want to live my life out with you. Finish school, study, get a job. Move in together, grow and change together.”
My heart stutters in my chest. We never talked about the future, and his words fill me with warmth. “Really?”
“Yeah.” He tilts his head back. “It’s the first time thinking of the future doesn’t scare me.”
I raise myself on my elbow to look at his handsome face. “Why would you be afraid of the future?”
He doesn’t respond immediately, and I stroke my hand down his rough cheek. One side of his mouth tips up in a half-smile. “Aren’t you?”
Touché.
“Maybe. It’s just that everything’s perfect right now.”
“Yeah,” he says. “Yeah, it’s perfect.” He glances back up at the sky and points. “See all the stars?”
I nod against his shoulder. “They’re so bright.”
“You’re the brightest one, for me.”
Chapter Eight
Erin
“Hey, girl. Will you be okay on your own here for a couple days?” Zane asks as I come out of the bathroom, rubbing my long hair dry with a towel.
“Yeah, sure. What’s up?”
He shakes his head. His tall Mohawk is a bright purple these days, and he’s added a stud to his ear. From the little I know about Zane, this isn’t a good sign. Adding more metal to his body means he’s stressed.
He sucks on the barbell in his tongue. Another sign of distress. “Have to go check on my sis. That’s all.”
His sister isn’t well, that’s all I know, and his casual reply sends warning bells inside my head. “Is she okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. I just need to take care of her kids for a while.”
I give him a once-over. He has dark circles under his eyes. “Anything I can do?”
“Nah.” He gives me a faint smile. “Just take care of the apartment and Tyler.”
I freeze in the act of wrapping the towel around my head. “Tyler?”
Zane huffs. “I’m worried about him, okay? I told Ash where to find him, but the fucker isn’t ready to talk to his brother yet, and Tyler doesn’t look too good. Like, worse than when he first arrived.”