Evan took my cold hands in his warm ones, both of us holding our breath as the heat from his skin seeped into mine. ‘You have to move on from those people,’ he said. ‘Or you’ll never find out what your finished puzzle is supposed to be.’

I looked up at the stars, wondering how many were still burning and how many had already imploded into nothingness. And I wondered how many people had sat in this same spot, looking up at the same sky, at the same stars. Then I looked at Evan, and I wondered what would happen if I kissed him.

‘We should go,’ he said, shooting out of his chair unexpectedly. ‘Come on.’

‘Why?’ I asked as I followed his lead. ‘Where?’

‘I think the gentlemen by the door might be looking for you,’ he replied, sliding his arm around me and steering me away from the main doors. Over my shoulder I saw three security guards with their telltale black suits and ties, speaking into hidden microphones and heading in our direction.

‘Just keep walking,’ Evan instructed without looking back. ‘I know a place.’

I had to skip every third step to keep up with him until we stopped at the edge of the terrace, by a narrow gap between the balustrade and the wall. I peered over the edge and saw nothing.

‘Do you trust me?’ Evan asked, nodding down into the abyss.

‘Absolutely not,’ I answered. ‘You’ve got to be kidding?’

‘On the count of three,’ he said with a grin. ‘One, two, three.’

Then he jumped.

And so did I.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

‘Why would someone leave a pile of mattresses outside a hotel?’ I asked as the air returned back to my lungs a long moment later. We were lying side by side, loud confused voices above us in the dark.

‘They’re not mattresses,’ Evan said. ‘They’re crash mats. Every year they have acrobats perform on the terrace after the musical act, I watched them put them out this afternoon.’

A pale light from the lower level rooms of the hotel spilled out of narrow windows, casting a milky glow over everything and picking out the high points of his face, his nose, his chin, his sculpted lips. I raised my hands in front of me and found his chest, his heart beating beneath my palms. If I were to lean forward, just a couple of inches, our lips would be touching. Just the thought of it made me dizzy. Closing my eyes, I parted my lips and—

‘They won’t find us down here,’ he declared, pulling away from me and bouncing off the crash mat onto his feet. ‘You’re safe for now.’

I stared after him for a moment before coming to my senses. What was I thinking?