Bring Down the Stars (Beautiful Hearts Duet #1)(35)

“It’s not all that dishonest.” Connor got up and grabbed his wallet and keys from the front table. “You just wrote what I was thinking but couldn’t say.”

No, I wrote what I was thinking and can never say.

“You’re on your own now, Drake.” I gave my shoelace a jerk and grabbed my phone and earbuds. “I’m going for a run.”

“Okay,” Connor said, sounding bewildered. “Hey, man. Thanks.”

I found a faint smile. “Don’t make her wait.”





I ran all the way down Pleasant Drive, past the shops and cafés of the small town. It was quiet for a Saturday night, and my thoughts were loud. I put on a radio app that tuned into the Amherst station. Over the eclectic mix of songs, I played my mantra:

Forget her.

Get over it.

Move on.

I ran to the end of town, where the lights gave way to dark swaths of uninhabited land. I stared out at the black nothing, turned around and headed back. The DJ in my ear announced the next song.

“Here’s ‘Ocean Eyes’ from the sixteen-year-old prodigy, Billie Eilish.”

I froze, hands on hips, listening and breathing hard as a young woman sang about a man she’d been watching from afar. How she fell into the depths of his eyes and his diamond mind.

I tore the earbuds out and paced a small circle, anger burning a hole in my chest.

“It’s me,” I said to the night. “It’s fucking me. Not him.”

I sucked in a deep breath. I had to tell Connor I had a connection with Autumn I couldn’t explain and if I didn’t admit it out loud, it’d burn me up from the inside.

I started to jog back to town, then ran. Hard. Another race, only this one meant more than anything I’d done on the track last weekend. I raced to Connor, to tell him the truth, and maybe he’d understand.

Or maybe he’d tell me I was too late…

I was too late.

From across the street, I saw them sitting at a tiny table at Claire’s Café, leaning into each other. Connor reached out and cupped Autumn’s cheek, drawing her closer so he could kiss her.

He kissed her.

They kissed.

Their first kiss, and I had a front row seat. Because I’d helped make it happen.

A cold lump settled into my gut and my skin shivered under the sweat of my run.

You made your bed, Turner. Now they’re going to lie in it.





Autumn



“Do we call this our second date?” Connor Drake’s grin was charmingly sheepish. “Or is it my second chance at our first date?”

I smiled. “How about, First Date, part two?”

He turned his grin all the way up to eleven. “That works.”

God, he really is beautiful. And more sensitive than he lets on.

I waited for him to prove that in person and talk to me like he said he wanted to in his texts. Instead, a short silence fell. I glanced around the café, with wood furnishings and caramel lighting. Under the table, my foot tapped the backpack of anthro texts I’d brought just in case.

“I like this coffee shop,” I said, finally. “Just don’t tell my boss at the Panache.”

Connor made an X over his chest. “Cross my heart.”

The silence threatened again, and we broke it at the same time.

“Connor, I—”

“I wanted to—”

The tension cracked a little, but there was a tightness in my stomach instead of butterflies.

“Go ahead,” I said.

“No, ladies first.”

I wrapped both hands around my mug. “Okay, well… I read our text exchange on the way over here a dozen times. What you wrote…about Mark being blind?” I tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “After what happened…my sense of self really took a hit, you know? I thought I was the blind one for missing the signs, so what you said…it was really nice to hear.”

“I’m glad,” Connor said. He shifted in his chair, leaning a little over our table. “I’ll be honest too; I don’t always know what to say in the moment. You know how you can think of the perfect clap-back at someone ten minutes after you needed it?”

“I totally do.”

“I’m like that when it comes to finding the right things to say when someone—a girl like you, for instance—needs to hear them.”

“A girl like me?”

He nodded. “You’re different than anyone I’ve ever gone out with, Autumn. But in a good way.”

In a good way. Not exactly poetry, but then his voice softened as did his gaze as his eyes held mine, unwavering.

“And I want you to know that what your ex did…he was an idiot. I don’t want you to feel like you’re going to get screwed over again. Not with me. Whatever pain he left you with, I don’t want to add to it.”

That tenseness in my stomach loosened, and I let out a sigh.

“Thank you for saying that,” I said softly. “I’d begun to think it was too soon to be dating again. Maybe it still is?”

Connor shook his head. “I hope not. What you said about my sports bar idea…that meant a lot to me. More than you can know.”

“I’m so glad, Connor. And I know this is only our first date, but I think it’ll be better for both of us if we take things slowly.”