Page 59 of My Lucky Star
“I don’t know. I haven’t emailed Lindsay yet. Maybe she didn’t mean it. Maybe she won’t send the script.”
I wanted to shake her shoulders, but worried I couldn’t stop touching her if I started. “You need to work on those trust issues.”
Chapter 20
Aria
TRUST ISSUES. THATcouldn’t be right. I’d never been betrayed or cheated on. Discarded, yes. Exchanged for something better, also yes. But not really betrayed. To betray someone, you had to first commit to them, and people didn’t commit to me.
I shook my head at the thought as I leaned against my car. “Things work out... for other people.”
“But not you?” Cem cocked his head.
I felt a stirring in my gut, a desire to be more open with him, to see what he could handle if we really were friends. I hadn’t seen my Auckland friends in months and felt so alone I would probably end up dating Felix just to have someone to talk to.
I nodded at my car. “Let’s go for a drive. I want to show you something.”
Cem was sitting in my Toyota before I even made it behind the wheel, grinning at me like a Labrador who’d been promised a walk.
“Aren’t you going to ask me where we’re going?” I cast him an amused glance as I reversed down the driveway and steered up the road, away from the town center.
“I like surprises.”
“In that case, close your eyes.”
He did.
I laughed. “Are you sure? It’s a twenty-minute drive.”
“You don’t think I can keep my eyes closed for that long?”
I turned on the radio, searching the channels for something mellow to match my mood. I settled for Ed Sheeran.
“I know this one,” Cem exclaimed, humming along.
He had a lightness to him I craved, as if he was buoyed by life where I was getting sucked under. I felt jealous yet elated to be near him. With Cem, I couldn’t sink any deeper. He had so much good luck and optimism, almost enough for both of us.
