Page 63 of Awestruck at Dusk
They both hugged me, and I said goodbye.
Nathan walked up to me and reached for my hand to lead me out. Every step I took felt as if my feet were two chunks of lead, trying to fuse with the floor. It’d been the most exhausting day ever.
The servers quickly took our laminated numbers to retrieve our phones. Once outside, I realized Lily, Joel, Nina, Aiden, and Zara had followed Nathan and me out.
“What are you guys doing? You should all stay,” I said to them, shooing them with a limp hand.
“Do you want me to come home with you?” Nina asked. She seemed somewhat worried. “You know, to keep you company and make sure someone puts you to bed.” She laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh a weak laugh back because, yeah, I wouldn’t mind the company. And Nathan wasn’t coming with me. My father had already delivered that warning.
“I can help too,” Zara joined in.
Nathan smiled a tight smile back at them. He was surely grateful for them offering to help when he couldn’t.
“You stay,” I said to Lily and Joel.
“But—” Lily began to say.
I hugged her to make her stop from making up an excuse to leave when she didn’t have to. “Your friends are all still in there. You can’t leave.”
Zara’s phone rang as we walked toward the SUV. She said yes a bunch of times and hung up the phone. William showed up in his Porsche a few seconds later and parked behind us. I quickly looked away. I was a mess and a half. I’d never want him to see me in this condition.
“I’ll meet you guys back at the apartment,” Zara said, rushing toward William. “We’ll be right behind you.”
I laughed bitterly on the inside. Zara could be bathed and in her pajamas by the time we arrived if she wanted to. That’s how fast I knew William liked to drive his car.
Zara was barely closing the door when William’s engine roared as he sped off into the night.
Behind you,my ass.
Come Here
DAVID JUMPED ONthe third-row seat of the SUV, and Nina, Nathan, and I sat together in the second row. Aaron, whom I hadn’t seen since I arrived, drove the car alongside Amena. He’d stayed outside this entire time, posted at the entrance.
“Where’s CJ?” I asked Nina, trying to keep my voice down.
“He—left. Right after he congratulated you for your birthday after the concert,” she replied, widening her eyes at me. Yeah, it was best to talk about that later. David sat right behind us, and something told me it had something to do with him.
“I wish you could spend the night at my place,” I whispered to Nathan, resting my head on his shoulder.
“Oh, I’m staying, love,” he said confidently. “There’s no way I’m leaving you tonight. Thank you for offering to come Nina, but I’m staying.”
“Mr. Saunders, we have to comply with Mr. Murphy’s request,” Aaron said from the driver’s seat in a stern tone. “We can’t allow you access to Miss Murphy’s apartment tonight. I apologize.”
“Aaron, come on. We’re all grown-ups here. And Billie’s not a child anymore. For God’s sake, she’s twenty-one years old.”
“Nathan, I think it’s—” I began to say.
“What a sack of bollocks,” he said, cutting me off. He took a deep breath, trying to reel in his temper, or so it seemed. I had to reassure him.
“Nathan, I’ll be fine. Nina and Zara will be there with me,” I said, my voice sluggish. “I just need to sleep. I’ll see you all day tomorrow.”
Nathan replied with a snort and turned on his phone. A ton of notifications dropped in, filling his screen. I let him be, hoping that would distract him. He was drunk and in a bad mood, it was evident.
I shut my eyes, unable to keep myself awake any longer, but Nathan woke me up a few seconds later, saying, “What the bloody hell is this, Murph?”
He startled me, probably unaware that I had just shut my eyes. “Wha—what’s, what?”
Nathan scrolled through pictures that had been sent to him through iMessage. I focused on the screen and saw Lana was the sender. She’d sent him all the photographs from Tobias’s premiere. Well, the ones with William and me on them.
