I let the quiet sit, wondering if he’s kind of like Harley and needs the space to speak on his own terms. And it’s a quiet I’m willing to endure because I want him to tell me more. Not just to sate my curiosity but because I want to know him.

But he doesn’t say anything, just finishes his beer and lies down next to me. Only a couple of inches separate us, and heat radiates from him, warming my already flushed skin. My heart rate kicks up, and as buzzed as I still am, I’m suddenly aware of every molecule of detail blanketing us in this moment. My eyes return to the stars, the close distance/eye contact combo too overwhelming.

“Sade?” My name rolls off his tongue like a promise.

“Yeah?” My lungs are so fluttery, I barely manage to get the one word out.

He clears his throat. “Thank you.”

His eyes burn into my cheek like the sunburn I know I’ll have in the morning, but I avoid turning my head. “For what?”

He inches his hand a little closer to mine, leaving just the tiniest sliver of space between our pinkies. “For including me. And accepting me.”

I brush my little finger against his. It’s the faintest hint of contact, but it zings through every inch of me.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt included.” His pinky finger moves over mine, locking them together.

I turn to meet his gaze, but his eyes are back on the sky above. “It could never work between us, Jack.” I mean it to come out as a joke, a pinprick in the tiny bubble of sexual tension that’s been steadily growing between us. But the truth of the words makes them heavy. He’s too good, too pure, a nice guy from top to bottom and back to front. And I’m none of those things. I’m the antithesis of those things. We’re two vastly different people from vastly different worlds, with lifestyles that could never mesh.

“I know.”

I suck in a breath, the words crumpling my heart like it’s a wadded-up piece of paper. It’s one thing to know I’m not good enough. It’s another to hear it straight from him.

His head shifts away from the stars, finally meeting my eyes. “I’m still an absolute mess, Sadie. I would wreck you. And I could never forgive myself for that.”

I tighten my hold on his pinky, mimicking the tightening in my chest. “Jack . . .”

He brings our joined hands up, kissing my palm before releasing my finger. “We should head back.”