Page 86 of Ace of Spades

Sienna slipped her helmet back on and hesitated a moment before her hands slid around his waist. It felt like a knife twisting in my gut as she did.

Because that should beme.

And I have no right to say it.

Theo took off and I turned around and locked the front door, my hands shaking.

It’s just a stupid tradition. It doesn’t mean anything.

I told myself that over and over as I snatched my laptop from the table and killed the lights, marching up the stairs to my bedroom.

But it didn’t help. Because I saw the way she looked at me before she left.

And I saw the way sheheld onto him.

I should’ve gone to sleep and called it a night. Let kids be kids.

Instead, I’m now pacing my room nearly two hours later. Still no sign of Theo and Sienna coming back. Not that they would, the dare is an all-nighter.

I should know, I did it myself with Brody when we were even younger than them.

I try to shower, hoping it’ll calm me down. But I just end up staring at the tile wall, steam rising like the heat under my skin.

Every version of what could be happening up there plays in my mind on a vicious loop. Her laughing. Him trying to impress her. Her slipping, falling. Him catching her.

His hands on her.

My stomach knots so tight I double over the sink.

It should’ve been me.

I feel like we had a little bit of a breakthrough chatting at the bar last night. But now? It feels like that moment’s already slipping through my fingers.

I can’t take it.

I shut the shower off, get dressed in something warm and rush down the stairs.

I grab my keys. Slam the door.

I shouldn’t go. IknowI shouldn’t go.

But I do.

The drive to the cliffs is silent except for the roar of the engine of my truck and my pulse pounding in my ears.

The lighthouse sits at the edge of the world like a ghost waiting to be disturbed. The night is cold, the moon full, and the only sound when I kill the engine is the wind and distant waves crashing below.

I see the bike near the base.

My heart stutters.

I follow the sound of muffled voices. Laughter. Flashlights bobbing in the dark.

I don’t know what I’m going to say. I don’t even knowwhyI’m here.

The moment I step inside the lighthouse, I know something’s off.

The wind howls louder in here than it did outside. I can barely hear their voices echoing down from the upper levels. My boots crunch over dirt and broken glass. Everything smells like salt and rot.

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