Page 92 of Wild Stars

I bite my lip, nodding.“Yeah.But I think I scared him.”

Richie gives me a half smile.“We’re a fucking mess, aren’t we?”he says, his voice slightly slurred.

“Yeah, we kind of are.”

Richie pulls another piece of pizza from the box.

“Well, if we’re gonna both be messes, at least we’re hot ones,” he says seriously, and I can’t help but bust out laughing.

Richie laughs, too.

“More like hot shit on a burning sidewalk,” I say as I shove him.

And for the first time in a long time, I feel like Richie gets more than I think he does.

* * *

After a long day of sightseeing,press, and rehearsal, I’m more than happy to crash in my hotel room.

My phone rings, and I debate shutting off the ringer entirely, but on the odd chance Matty might actually text me, I don’t want to miss him.

So, I grab the phone, answering it if only to bitch at whatever extended car warranty assholes I have to to stop calling me, when I recognize the number as my Doctor back in LA.

I breathe a sigh of relief as they read me my results.I’ve never been good at tests, and this might be the only one I passed with flying colors.

And probably the only one that really matters.

I lean back on my bed, letting my exhaustion and my relief take hold.

* * *

When I wake up,it’s to the sound of a knock on my door.

One glance at the clock, and I note it’s barely nine thirty, which means I’ve been out for nearly two hours.

I rub my eyes as I head to the door, opening it to see Matty.

Dressed in his usual funeral attire, with a literal bouquet of roses.

Black roses, to be exact.

“What the?”

“I’m sorry,” he says the words definitively.

“For what?”I ask, feeling like the air has been sucked out of my lungs.

“Can I come in?”he asks, his voice like velvet.

It’s not commanding, demanding, or stern.

It’shopeful.

I can’t help but nod, appreciating the sight of him looking absolutely perfect with a bunch of flowers.

For me.

I step aside as he enters, closing the door softly behind him.

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